by NOT A BOOK, Virginia Falkinburg
on 1 October 2015
Style: cardstock, Contains Extras, Perforated pages, single page illustrations
Pages: 54
Format: Card cover, Spiral Bound
I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the product or the content of my review.
Goodreads
Packed full of patterned flowers this very well made floral coloring book will keep you coloring for hours.
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Colorful Flowers Coloring Book Review
I’ve long been an admirer of the Colorit brand of coloring books.   They have put a lot of thought into their image and the way the coloring books they produce are presented.  This type of attention to detail generally indicates to me that they are in the coloring market for the long haul.  I have previously purchased a Colorit coloring book for myself last year, before I started writing reviews. In fact, it was probably one of the first coloring books that I wasn’t too intimidated by to color in.       I was really chuffed when Colorit asked me to review their books and sent a couple to me!
Cover & Layout
The first thing you notice about the Colorful Flowers coloring book is how thick it is and the top spiral binding.   The front and back cover features thick card which is very sturdy with a colored image on it to use as inspiration if you wish. This serves to protect the illustrations inside.  I was surprised how well such a large book shipped, arriving without any dents or dings, which often my other books get in the shipping process.
The top of the book is wire bound in black.   This makes it easy for colorists that are both left and right handed to use the book and easily color and remove the images.
The book measures approximately 28cm x 21.5 cm (11 in x 8.5 in) (excluding the spiral binding).
The cover image has been reproduced as a title page in a monochrome.   I do think that this would have looked nicer as line art that colorists could experiment and practice with.  This is followed by a copyright page.   A beautiful nameplate page follows which is surrounded in art work to color using the whole of the page.   A blotter follows that you can use behind the page you are currently coloring to absorb any wet mediums.
The hand drawn art work has all been printed on card stock quality paper, which is acid free, according to Colorit.    The paper is bright white and very high quality.  As well as having spiral binding the paper is also perforated!  The actual image, to the perforation, measures approximately 26.5 cm x 21.5 cm.
One image has been printed per page on the paper.  All of the images have been portrait orientated.
Excluding the ancillary pages, there are 50 illustrations to color in the book.
Illustrations
All of the Colorit books have a particular theme for the whole of the book.   This book is based on flowers that have zentangles or doodle patterns within them.
There are pages in the book that contain one giant flower to color and others that are an abundance of florals.  Some of the flowers have large areas that have been pre-filled with solid black which some colorists may feel limits their color palette.       The cover art has been reproduced in the book to color in with additional line art added replacing the text area.
The patterns for the book consist mainly of circles, lines, swirls and petal type shapes throughout the 50 illustrations.     If this was the only coloring book that I owned, I may want far more variety in the patterns.   The fact is though, most colorists have a number of books and enjoy alternating between them. I won’t tell you how many I have just in case my hubby starts reading my blog 🙂
The first thing that you will notice about the book is the line art.   The line color is crisp, black and very well defined.    The line weight varies between, medium, heavy to solid black.   For me, because I do not see as well as I did 10 years ago, this is a blessing.  I do not need to find my glasses to color!  Due to the strong outlines this book is particularly suited for colorists with visual issues.   For colorists that are used to a finer, delicate line, this may not be the book for you.
The art work fills the entire page.   This means that each design has a lot of elements to color and can give the appearance of busyness.    None of the drawings have any white space for colorists that love to add in backgrounds.
Because there is so much detail and pattern on the whole of the page, even though the images are not complex, you still need to focus when you are coloring to ensure that you do not get confused about which element you are coloring.
The bulk of the images using larger spaces for the pattern work making it easier for those, like me, that do not enjoy fiddly bits or may be hindered by health issues.
This is the type of book that is good to have on hand to just enjoy the relaxing aspects of coloring.  You do not have to blend, shade or fiddle about but can achieve wonderful results with just solid color.   This makes it a great book for colorists of all ages and skill levels.
Colorful Flowers Volume 1Â Video Review
Enjoy the video review of Colorit Colorful Flowers Volume 1
Using the Colorit Colorful Flowers Coloring Book
I almost always color on a clipboard so I can curl up on the couch and watch tv at the same time 🙂  Obviously, this method would not work for complex and technical imagery where I would have to have a table and all my tools at hand.     I removed the image from my book that I wanted to work on and put it on top of a piece of copy paper on my clipboard. I always have a piece of paper underneath the project that I am working on with my clipboard.   I dislike the feel of the plastic clipboard underneath and having that piece of copy paper softens the texture of the board for me. None of the mediums that I used bled through or marked the piece of copy paper.   Usually, when using alcohol markers there will be bleed through that will show on the next page.
It was so relaxing coloring while watching Criminal Minds, that I ended up coloring three pictures. The first and second picture use Bic Markers
Colored with Bic Markers
Bic Markers as one layer with pencils over
Markers did not bleed through to the next page but you can see shadowing on the reverse as you would expect
The paper is very good quality that is used in the Colorit books. It is not designed for wet mediums like watercolors or Inktense. I like to live dangerously, so I tried my Inktense pencils on them 🙂 I applied two layers of Inktense with my water barrel pen, allowing time to dry between each layer.     No color seeped to the reverse of the page, but there was some page buckling and curling.  I’m pretty confident with some heavy objects on top, that I could flatten the page out.
Inktense pencils with a water brush all over, twice
Where to buy Colorit – Colorful Flowers – Volume 1
The Color It range of books is a tad more expensive than most coloring books on the market.    This is a reflection of the value provided in the book with the high quality paper, perforations and spiral bounding, as well as the number of hand drawn images.   The printing and binding on this type of book is always more expensive than those books that do not have these features.
In the US you can buy here and in Canada here. There only appear to be private sellers in UK and the cost is prohibitive.
Currently in the Colorit range of adult coloring books:
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Bonus
When you purchase the book Colorit also provide you with 1o exclusive additional images that you can download, print and color.
Happy coloring x
Lea
Pretty coloring!
Thanks DeeDee!