Friday, July 24, 2015

a growing craze - coloring books for grown ups!

As promised, wonder | wander | world is featuring our own coloring book projects along with some fun colorer's groups you can opt to join. We believe it is never too late to be coloring outside the lines and out of bounds!


Art throughout the ages captures and captivates varied creative expression and emotional communication from both its creator and its viewer.

Today more than ever we seek individual and personal avenues to express our creativity and develop our creative self-expression.



In answer to our cry, the contemporary art world and today’s art publishers have minted a humongous selection of coloring books, pages and free downloads.

All guaranteed to provide kids and grownups, beginners and experts with the stimulating sensory techniques and calming artistic tools we so crave. 

Eager and excited to color, we forgot to scan originals.

Our first two attempts at inking and coloring.
Original mandala by Angela Porter, Entangled

Coloring books for adults are topping best-seller lists and flying off the shelves by the millions. Creative Haven at Dover Publishing has an extensive selection.

Individuals with varying degrees of artistic aptitude can let loose and let those creative juices flow. From nature-centric mandalas to steampunk designs, there is a coloring book for just about every aesthetic predilection.

wonder | wonder | women love mandalas!

Inked in more intricate lines & expanded out to page edges.

Metallics don't show up well in this scan.

Extreme close up to capture metallic sheen of gel pens.

wonder | wander | women got excited and created some gems of our own. These are from the Entangled coloring book by Angela Porter

There are coloring books about Mid-Century Modern Patterns by Jenn Ski, Day of the Dead by Sarah Walsh, Geometric Patterns by Lisa Congdon and Animal Kingdom by Millie Marotta. There are hundreds of coloring books about fairies, dragons, medieval times, flowers, ethnic designs and animals. 


Used Sakura Pigma Micron 0.1 & Staedtler triplus fineliner 0.3 pens, 
Faber Castell ECO & Koh-I-Noor colored pencils & Fiskars gel pens


Artist Valentina Harper has four creative coloring books with Fox Chapel, with another six or seven in the works. Thaneeya McCardle, an eclectic artist who lives a nomadic lifestyle, does folk-art types of illustrations with international themes. Former greeting card designer Joanne Fink has a large following with her Zenspirational coloring books. 

Original art shown here.

Replaced the innermost circle with my own art. 


Mental Floss magazine has even featured a list of some pretty bizarre coloring book choices.

If you are inspired to start your own projects and need some guide and support, here are some colorer’s public groups you can check out and join. You can join closed groups too, you just have to send in a request first. 

5 comments:

  1. Nice article! I'll include the link to it in my own article on coloring at sallybahner.blogspot.com.

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    2. Wow that's great - thank you Sally! I just read your article - it is so wonderful that you share your experience and helpful tips so generously. Happy trails!

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  2. I love what you have done with my colouring sheet designs! You certainly have taken the colouring craze to a wonderful new level :-) Angela.

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