Category: Aisling’s Books

Do I color my own coloring pages? Yes, I do.

As a coloring book artist, I think it’s important to color your own drawings, so you understand the experience.

It’s why I create lots of different kinds of coloring books. Some people want big, bold areas to color. They want to complete them in one sitting.

Others want tiny, detailed areas, and pages that take a long time to complete.

And some want a mix of both in every coloring book.

My “Good Vibes” coloring book is a mix. This video shows one of my more detailed designs, and how I colored it. (It was a stressful, not-enough-sleep week, and coloring this was a way for me to get the tension out.)

I’ll post more videos like this, as I color my own pages. They may give you some ideas for how you’d color them… or, hey, maybe how you wouldn’t! LOL

Also, I was using three brands of coloring pencils: Pluqis, Prismacolor, and Staedtler.

I was impressed with Pluqis. For the low price, I expected very hard leads that wouldn’t blend well.

Instead, I love them. They’re not as brilliant as Prismacolor colors, but I often use Pluqis first. Then, I add dazzle with Prismacolor coloring (lightly) over the Pluqis areas, or using Prismacolor for highlights & shadows.

Tip: Prismacolor leads can be just slippery/oily enough that it’s difficult to color over them… unless you’re using another Prismacolor pencil, that is.

So, I usually sketch in my color ideas with Pluqis, first. If I don’t bear down too heavily on the paper, I can usually color over Pluqis with Prismacolor… but not always vice versa.

Prismacolor pencils are pretty much the top of the line for most coloring book enthusiasts. They’re soft, they blend well, and… yes, the price can be daunting. I bought their Manga set, which is priced fairly low at Amazon.com, and it includes some good, juicy brights and subtle darks.

I also use Staedtler’s bright colors (with soft leads), but – to be honest – they’re in third place. Where I used to use Staedtler, I now use Pluqis when I can.

However, I know people who consider Staedtler the absolute best among colored pencils. So, it’s probably a matter of taste. And, sometimes Staedtler is the only line with the exact color that I need.

I hope those tips help. I’ll share more creative ideas – and coloring videos – soon.

Meanwhile, I hope you’ll try my Good Vibes coloring book, and let me know what you’d like more of, in the future.

If you know me in real life – and possibly even if you don’t – you probably know that I draw. And draw. And draw.

It’s something I’ve done all my life. I draw on shopping lists. I draw on church bulletins. I even draw in the margins of my Sudoku pages as I complete each puzzle.

So, when I saw an opportunity to share my drawings with others, I jumped on it.

I’m talking about coloring books.

This is kind of “how I spent my summer vacation.” Since somewhere around the middle of July, I’ve been assembling my latest drawings and creating new ones for coloring books.

When I started out, I thought, “Sure, this looks easy.”

* headdesk *

Boy oh boy, was I wrong. Coloring books…? Not so easy, after all. Not if you’re a perfectionist like me.

• I want every drawing to look “just so.”
• I want every book to be available in right-handed and left-handed versions.
• I want each book to be the perfect size for the illustrations. And so on.

I put together five coloring books (under another name, so not to embarrass my family) before I felt like I was finally getting the hang of this. (They weren’t awful books, but they weren’t up to my usual standards, either.)

Things I learned:

• If my one-year-old granddaughter likes a design well enough to grab a crayon and start coloring it… it’s a good design.
• Testing some of my designs with adults: some people like big lines. Others like fine lines. Some like big coloring areas. Some like super-intricate designs. And so on. It’s best to focus on books that will make many people happy, but expect criticism.
• I’m far more finicky about how my books look than the pre-press guy assembling them for publication. Sometimes, my requests drive him crazy. (In this case, that “pre-press guy” is my husband. He does this kind of work for a living.)
• And… when I use software to create mandalas, the results aren’t always what I expected. (More on that, in a minute.)

But finally (cue the drumroll), I have three books to talk about. Each is for a different kind of coloring enthusiast.

My current favorite is a coloring book that fits in my purse. At 5 1/4″ x 8″, it’s just a little larger than a standard paperback book.

It became A Small Coloring Book: Coloring Hippie-Style, and it contains 50 kinda-sorta hippie coloring pages.

I had a lot of fun with this book, because I’ve been drawing these kinds of pictures since my early teens. They make me happy, and I’ve always liked coloring them myself. I hope you’ll feel the same way.

This coloring book offers a lot of variety… simple drawings (like on the cover), mandalas, and repeating patterns.

Some can be colored quickly. Others might take a few hours (depending on how many colors and how much detail you like).

Each design is printed on just one side of the page. (I still recommend putting a sheet of paper underneath the page you’re coloring, just in case the ink seeps through.)

Buy it here: A Small Coloring Book – Coloring, Hippie-Style

My next coloring book was Bold and Easy Coloring Pages. It’s a collection of coloring designs with bigger-than-average coloring spaces and bolder-than-usual lines.

I created it when my daughter & I realized my granddaughter really liked easy-to-color pages.  Then, as we talked about it, we thought of other situations where bold, easy coloring pages might be really helpful.

Like when you really want to color in the middle of the night, but don’t want to turn on a bright light.

Or for people who don’t like to wear their reading glasses while they color.

And for use in therapy settings.

So, it became a book.

And that’s what I’ve been working on this summer.