Creative Haven Entangled Coloring Book (Adult Coloring Books: Art & Design)

I like this book a lot. Sometimes you want a book to color that you are not locked into a color pallet. This allows me to play with color combinations. Coloring is great to do especially during the winter when there is not much to do outside the home. I have used several of the designs already and have thoroughly enjoyed them. There best used with water based markers. I think alcohol markers would go through to the back of each sheet so make sure to have something that will protect your work area. I generally use the back cover of the book. Only negative is the perforations dont allow you to easily tear out a sheet. I lightly score that line with a blade otherwise they tend to rip .

I chose this book because I enjoy complexity and fine detail rather than coloring large blocks of color. I thought I would be most drawn to the large full phase pictures, but I started with a mandala and have become a real fan of those. They are symmetrical so you can work out a color scheme in one section and follow it for the remaining sections. I've done three now and am ready to venture into a full page picture next.I've used gel pens and markers. As others have noted, the markers bleed through so be sure to protect the page behind, either by removing your active picture or placing another sheet of thick paper behind it. I've enjoyed Gel Gliders, Pilot gel pens (although they come in limited shades) and Sharpie fine point markers. Less happy with Juice pens. I find colored pencils too mild for my taste.There are several full color examples to study for ideas.I love these drawings. I plan to frame them and give them as gifts this Christmas. In fact my sister saw me working on the drawings and requested the book and some gel pens for her Christmas present!Tips:if you get to a point where you're not sure what colors to use on your next section, take a color photocopy and test ideas there.Think about a color scheme and choose your colors accordingly. In addition to focusing on a color family with pops of other colors, consider whether you want high contrast (see photo 1) or harmonious colors. My preference is to limit the colors and use them repeatedly in varying combinations (see photos 2 and 3).You might like to use metallics or sparkles sparingly and repeat them throughout the drawing.The larger blocks offer opportunities to draw your own details. Use a black gel pen to subdivide the area or add lines, blocks, squiggles. Color a section and then use a light colored gel pen to add dots or squiggles. Your only limit is your imagination!

Great book, we have five coloring books and a ton of markers, sharpie, pencils. I first scan the pages when print them on thick watercolor paper or on drawing paper that has a smoother surface. This way we can always have the original page to color again and don't have to worry about bleeding through the back side. You get the best scans by cutting out the page from the book so it will lay flay on the scanner bed. You can also scan directly from the book but its a little more difficult to hold the book down flat and to get the art work lined up straight We have a Canon MP 280 printer with a built in scanner that only cost about $40.00.My wife is recovering from knee surgery and spends most of the time in bed or on the couch and my daughter (15 yrs old) and her love to work on these together. They just love these coloring books. We also bought, Creative coloring animals ( really nice book), Mystical Mandala (great stress relief designs), Fanciful face (not as detailed as the others). The favorite markers are Stabilo 88 markers. They have a nice thin point and are great for detailed work and have vivid colors. Also used cheap colored pencils. Be sure to have a good sharpener like Prismacolor Scholar it also works great. This piece was done by my daughter who couldn't stop working on it and found it to be very relaxing to do. Mostly done with the Stabilo 88 markers.

I nudged my review just a smidge to make it a 4 starIf you like to color full pages of different shapes that portray nothing in particular, then you will probably love this book. Some of the page designs seem to symbolize calmness and relaxation while others are so cluttered that they seem a bit hostile! Most require a steady hand, an abundance of patience and a very sharp pointed coloring tool.If you have trouble with tiny, tiny circles and small spaces divided by almost touching lines then maybe you should choose another book. On the other hand, there are at least 10 pages that I would describe as easy coloring. The page designs consist largely of lines, circles and curlicues that combine to make some attractive full page art. The 14 full page mandalas range from easy to complex, and at least 2 of them take on a 3-D look when vivid colors are added. Some of the jumbled pages with circles within circles made me laugh because they resemble lots of little eyeballs strewn about! My imagination, browsing through the pages, allowed me to find an angel, several peas in pods, flowers, hearts, Kokopelli…..or was that another angel...eyeballs, cogwheels and leaves! Other colorists may not see the same thing in these originative works of art! The coloring pages remind me of childhood lazy day sky watching when the clouds could fulfill so many imaginative creations for the watcher.What I liked:1. The paper is white, medium weight and has a good tooth for pencils and pastel gel pens.2. Perforated pages with 31 easy to intricate images printed on one side only3. Nice heavy weight glossy card-stock cover (front and back)4. Glued spine easily manipulated to easily keep the book open and pages flat while coloring5. Designs centered on page without protruding into perforation.6. The inside front cover and the back outside cover images are included in the coloring pages.Things I did not like:1. Vivid colored markers cause extreme bleed-through. I used one direction strokes, no overlapping and a very light touch. A blotter page is essential to prevent color transfer to back of page and to next image.2. The design on the front cover is not included as a coloring page.3. The complex designs required too much concentration and time consuming effort for a stress- free artistic endeavor. The finished page did nothing for my ego or bragging rights!What I used:Markers: Pentel Arts fine point, AQUARELL dual end brush (1-2mm & 0.8mm) The 0.8mm is not too user friendly!Gel pens: Lolliz, AmazaPens pastel, Gelly Roll Metallic (left dark shadows, but not bleed-throughPencils: Ohuhu, Prismacolor, June Gold, Lelix Premium