This is a review of the first three books in the Colour Me Mindful series - Underwater, Birds and Tropical.
I've really been into colouring lately, so when I first heard about the Colour Me Mindful Series by Anastasia Catris, I knew I had to give them a go. Full of such beautiful illustrations, this series will give you hours of entertainment.
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater
This first Colour Me Mindful collection includes Underwater, Birds and Tropical colouring books. Each book starts with an introduction (the same introduction in each book) from Oli Doyle, who is the author of Mindfulness Plain & Simple and Mindfulness for Life. Oli talks about how the rushing about of day-to-day life can cause stress and exhaustion, but focusing on the moment "as it is" will help you to relieve your stress, and bring more happiness to your life.
"As you colour with focus and attention, your stress will start to fade. As you watch closely to stay within the lines, your worries will lessen. And as you lose yourself in the wonders of colour and creativity, your surroundings will come alive and seem a little brighter. [...] Learning to focus and enjoy simple things like colouring once more can lead to the happiness everyone deserves." (p1-2)
I must admit that I do find myself lost in the moment when colouring, my mind devoid of all thought except what colours to use for which section, which shades would be most realistic (which is as I prefer to colour), and time flies by. So there might be something to mindfulness and colouring, however, I wouldn't say that it made my surroundings come alive and seem brighter.
From Colour Me Mindful Birds
From Colour Me Mindful Birds
The illustrations in the book are wonderful. They're so gorgeous and detailed, it's almost worrying considering adding colour, in case I "ruin" them. There are a range of illustrations, from quite realistic to patterned depending on your mood and - if you're me - what you feel capable of without feeling overwhelmed. I find just looking at some of the detailed illustrations - in any colouring book - cause my eyes to go strange and start to give me a headache because there are just too many details. The simpler illustrations work better for me, but if you like a challenge, there's something for you, too.
From Colour Me Mindful Tropical
From Colour Me Mindful Tropical
I tried giving felt tips a go in Underwater, and I'm not sure. I don't know whether it's the way I colour, or if it's the felt tips themselves, but I just don't think it looks very good, I don't like the affect, hence the picture below being incomplete. As you can see, there's an illustration on both sides of a page, and unfortunately the felt tips I used bled through to the other side a little bit. If you want to use felt tips in these books, make sure you're sure the colour won't bleed through, first.
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater
Overall, a really fantastic, gorgeous collection! I'm really looking forward to trying out the second collection, which includes
Thank you to Orion for the review copies.