Last Christmas, I treated myself to a stunning Christmas colouring book called Christmas To Color by Mary Tanana, and while I was eager to show it to you guys a year ago, I never did find the time to review it for you before Christmas was over. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity again, so I'm better prepared this Christmas, and here to review it for you today.
Christmas To Color is a beautifully illustrated Christmas colouring book for adults by American artist Mary Tanana, and it's without a doubt the most beautiful Christmas colouring book I've ever laid eyes on.
It's filled with page after page of intricate, folky line-drawings of festive scenes and paraphernalia that are just waiting to be brought to life with colour. From wreaths and reindeer, to baubles and stockings, Nutcrackers and Christmas trees, to sledges and poinsettias. its 84 pages are filled with everything you'd associate with a traditional Christmas, and all the Christmas illustrations you could ever hope to colour-in.
Tanana's stunning illustrations have, naturally, been inspired by the Christmas season, and are also heavily influenced by nature, Eastern European folk art, and delicate henna designs from India, which is clear to see on every page. All of the pictures have a wonderful folky festive feel to them with intricate detail, and you'll find flora or fauna added to almost every design. They're truly beautiful, and every picture is so festive, that they'll have you in the Christmas spirit in no time!
As the images feature so much detail, Christmas To Color is aimed at adults, but would also be suited to older children and teenagers with some artistic talent and a lot of patience. Each page will take hours or days to complete, so this is not the colouring book for quick results, but perfect if you're happy to take your time and see your work gradually come together. The great thing about that is this colouring book will provide you with weeks or even months of entertainment, so you really get your money's worth from it. It's going to keep you entertained throughout the festive season, and long after Christmas is over, so you'll be able to return to it again next Christmas, too!
The illustrations are printed back-to-back on thick, good-quality white paper, which, unfortunately, is not quite thick enough to prevent bleed-through with some inks. You may wish to stick to coloured pencils to avoid ruining the design on the other side. I've started using watercolour paints to colour in the designs, and I find the paper accepts watercolours well with very little damage to the paper- although, I always pop a sheet of watercolour paper behind the page while I'm painting to be on the safe side.
What I didn't realise until recently, is the pages are discreetly perforated, so you can easily pull out the pages for framing, pinning on the wall, scrapbooking, or for enjoying a colouring session with friends or family. You may have to flip a coin to decide which side to display, but it's ideal if you like to make use of your colourings once you've finished them.
I haven't actually added a lot of colour to this colouring book yet as the arthritis in my hands has become so bad I've had to give up colouring with pens and pencils altogether (it's become too painful and turns my hands in to claws), but I'm hoping to find some time to relax with it this Christmas, and paint my way through a few pages to destress.
Colouring-in is the perfect hobby for destressing at this time of year, as it's so relaxing and therapeutic, and can easily be fitted around other tasks on your to-do-list. You could steal ten minutes in between decorating the tree and waiting for your Christmas cookies to bake, relax with it in front of the TV, and even enjoy it while travelling to see family this Christmas. If you always get super stressed at Christmas time, I recommend you give colouring a try- trust me, it helps!
Christmas To Color is a fantastic adult Christmas colouring book. It's stunning, it's festive, it's great-quality, and guaranteed to get you in to the Christmas spirit and give you hours of entertainment. It's one of the best Christmas colouring books around at the moment, and I couldn't recommend it to you more!
Christmas To Color by Mary Tanana retails for $15.99, and should be available from all good book shops now. I bought my copy from Amazon here.
Will you be relaxing with an adult colouring book this Christmas?
As the images feature so much detail, Christmas To Color is aimed at adults, but would also be suited to older children and teenagers with some artistic talent and a lot of patience. Each page will take hours or days to complete, so this is not the colouring book for quick results, but perfect if you're happy to take your time and see your work gradually come together. The great thing about that is this colouring book will provide you with weeks or even months of entertainment, so you really get your money's worth from it. It's going to keep you entertained throughout the festive season, and long after Christmas is over, so you'll be able to return to it again next Christmas, too!
The illustrations are printed back-to-back on thick, good-quality white paper, which, unfortunately, is not quite thick enough to prevent bleed-through with some inks. You may wish to stick to coloured pencils to avoid ruining the design on the other side. I've started using watercolour paints to colour in the designs, and I find the paper accepts watercolours well with very little damage to the paper- although, I always pop a sheet of watercolour paper behind the page while I'm painting to be on the safe side.
What I didn't realise until recently, is the pages are discreetly perforated, so you can easily pull out the pages for framing, pinning on the wall, scrapbooking, or for enjoying a colouring session with friends or family. You may have to flip a coin to decide which side to display, but it's ideal if you like to make use of your colourings once you've finished them.
I haven't actually added a lot of colour to this colouring book yet as the arthritis in my hands has become so bad I've had to give up colouring with pens and pencils altogether (it's become too painful and turns my hands in to claws), but I'm hoping to find some time to relax with it this Christmas, and paint my way through a few pages to destress.
Colouring-in is the perfect hobby for destressing at this time of year, as it's so relaxing and therapeutic, and can easily be fitted around other tasks on your to-do-list. You could steal ten minutes in between decorating the tree and waiting for your Christmas cookies to bake, relax with it in front of the TV, and even enjoy it while travelling to see family this Christmas. If you always get super stressed at Christmas time, I recommend you give colouring a try- trust me, it helps!
Christmas To Color is a fantastic adult Christmas colouring book. It's stunning, it's festive, it's great-quality, and guaranteed to get you in to the Christmas spirit and give you hours of entertainment. It's one of the best Christmas colouring books around at the moment, and I couldn't recommend it to you more!
Christmas To Color by Mary Tanana retails for $15.99, and should be available from all good book shops now. I bought my copy from Amazon here.
Will you be relaxing with an adult colouring book this Christmas?
Christmas Colouring Book Reviews You Might Also Like
Escape To Christmas Past
Johanna's Christmas by Johanna Basford
Zen Colouring Winter Wonderland
Oh how much I do love colouring. I haven't had the time to do any, but I have a book I've been wanting to finish for years. Your colouring is just so perfect, its soo neat! I can't do "staying inside the lines". Ooops!
ReplyDelete