Coloring for the Holidays

Front Cover

During this holiday season, I will be sharing my thoughts regarding some of the coloring options available for those last minute decorating ideas. I will review coloring books, postcards, gift tags and various other options available through Amazon or Michaels. As an effort of full disclosure, I have purchased all of these items myself and I am not being compensated for my thoughts/reviews.

The first item I would like to share is the holiday coloring book by Design Originals called Merry & Bright. I purchased mine from Michaels but it is also available through Amazon. It retails for $5.99.

Colored by Russ Romano

This is the page that I chose to color using my Copic Markers. The book offers a variety of different styles of coloring from six different artists. You can find designs from Hello Angel, Jenny Newland, Robin Pickens, Thaneeya McArfle, William Vanderdasson and Valerie McKeehan.

The illustrations include bold line designs, lettering, thin line designs, micro coloring, and mandala/zentangle type designs. I will define these terms as I go (these are my descriptions and include my preferences/biases).

The design I chose is by Valerie McKeehan and is in the lettering style. This design is primarily based on hand lettering or font usage. When I need an easier (read faster) coloring assignment, I choose one of these images. There isn't a lot of cryptic deciphering necessary. These are broad areas needing color.

I do appreciate that each page is attributed to its designer and is printed at the bottom of each page.

NOTE: As a courtesy to the publishing company and the artists, I will not be providing an uncolored version of the page. Some enterprising people on the Internet have found ways to take these uncolored images and print them for their personal profit. I do not wish to contribute to that enterprise. As an artist who is dependent on these types of products, I want to support the artists so they can receive what is due them through commissions/book sales.

Inside Back Cover

I have included a photo of the inside back cover so you can see some of the other styles available in this book.

Back Cover

People ask me often why I separate the pages of my book when I color. I primarily use markers for my coloring and many times I forget to insert a coloring sheet. I also like the liberty I get when I can rotate the page without having to worry about spines and resist putting my wrists against a stack of paper. As you can see below, there is quite a lot of bleed through when using alcohol based markers. The quality of paper is good and would probably be good for any non-wet medium. On the back of each page there is a quotation written in light grey ink. There are also lines for writing. I don't know why this is done since it becomes useless when using markers. I am very happy to report that there wasn't any feathering of the ink so the paper receives ink very well.

I really like this book and will eventually color more pages. I also have some ideas for the finished pages that I will share at a later time.