Pretty Patterns: Creative Colouring for Grown-Ups (Non-Fiction, Activity book, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

April 2014, Michael O'Mara Books, 128 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Content: Ooodles of patterns to colour! 

Summary from Michael O'Mara Books

The Pretty Patterns Colouring Book for Grown-ups gives all creative types the opportunity to personalize over one hundred pages of the most beautiful illustrations imaginable. With a hugely diverse range of styles and scenes, there is something here for all tastes.

Nayu's thoughts

Who doesn't enjoy colouring? I have no qualms about colouring cute children's books (regular readers know how much I love anime & all things cute!), but I understand that older readers might want something more sophisticated, which is where this book comes in! It's fun just flipping through the pages, letting my imagination wonder about where the patterns might be found (clothes, wallpaper, etc). 

Some of the patterns are repetitive. Not all of them are, but there is something about repeat patterns which is pleasing on the eye. You can colour them all in all the same, or differently. Check out what I coloured! 

Tada!!!

I like wanted a warm, bright colour. I used pastels, since they were pretty much all I could lay my hands on, and being thicker at the tip as well as to hold they are easier for me to use than pens/pencils. I went for a bright, warm colour scheme. I think I'd go over the black lines in black, to make them more prominent after I've coloured it all in, as I often went over the lines (I am a newbie to pastels.) It's easy to do a bit at a time - colouring in increases my pain & discomfort so I can't do a lot in one go).

Go on, you know you want to have this book! Unless you use a large paint brush and only a few colours, you've got hours of creative fun ahead of you! Plus, especially important for those needing a break, colouring is a good way to practice mindfulness; focusing on the here and now as you colour away stress and worries. The grade is more that not all the patterns were to my taste. 

Suggested read

Here's a cuter colouring book, which has the advantage of lots of stickers: The Delicious Chocolate Sticker Book (Children's, Activity book, 7 years +, 10E/10E)