hippie coloring books Archives

Bold & Hippie Style Circles

These are some coloring pages I tested for a coloring book, but decided not to publish, after all.

“Bold” refers to the lines. I draw them heavier than most people do. My bold-style coloring books are ideal for coloring in low-light conditions, and they’re helpful for art therapists and anyone facing vision challenges.

Swirly stars - colored (My “bold & easy” coloring books also have heavy lines, but the spaces are bigger than usual, too. They’re ideal for people with vision, dexterity, or eye-hand coordination issues, as well as those coloring in low-light conditions.)

I’ve already drawn about 20 coloring designs, and I’m working on more this week.

Here are some samples of the bold designs. Most have hippie themes, and will appeal to those who remember the 1960s, as well as those who love the designs of that era.

(I hand-colored the two illustrations, using a mix of Prismacolor, Pluqis, and Staedtler colored pencils.)

This was a test to see how you liked these kinds of designs. You can still leave feedback in comments at this article. Tell me what you like, don’t like, and want more (or less) of.

Your comments will help me plan my coloring books with bold, hippie designs, as well as my bold-and-easy coloring books.

Click any image to download it as a PDF. (8 1/2″ x 11″ – ready to print!)

Click to download this butterfly design.

Stars & Swirls - click to download — Click to download this stars & swirls design.

Click to download this swirly, wavy design.

Here’s how I colored one of those pages. (It’s even prettier in real life. In natural sunlight, the colors really glow.)

Hearts! Volume 4 – Example and Free Coloring Page

Hearts! Volume 4 is available now, and I’m really pleased with it.

You see, I draw the kinds of designs I enjoy coloring, too. Here’s a page from Hearts! Volume 4. I colored it yesterday, while sitting on the sofa, catching up with a TV show I can listen to (and don’t have to watch, closely).

Hearts 4 - my first colored page

I colored it with pencils, mostly Pluqis Premier, but also some Prismacolor Manga pencils, and a few Staedtler Ergo Soft.

My current thoughts about coloring pencils…

Pluqis are soft-ish pencils, but if I had to choose just one label (hard or soft), I’d probably categorize them as hard.

Despite that, Pluqis blend fairly well. In my coloring, they also play better with Prismacolor than the Staedtler pencils do.

Prismacolor is easily my favorite brand of really soft coloring pencils, because they’re so blendable. However, at a certain point (no pun intended) they suddenly stop blending, and I can add more colors because they just won’t “stick” as I color.

That’s when I go back to Pluqis. So, if I could use only one kind of pencil for an entire coloring page, I’d probably use Pluqis. It’s the brand I take with me when I travel.

Staedtler Ergo Soft is still a fairly hard pencil. And, it doesn’t always color over Prismacolor easily. However, I’m able to get really dark colors with Staedtler than other brands, and it’s not as shiny as Prismacolor. So, when I display my pages, the Staedtler dark colors (midnight blue, dark brown, etc.) appear darker in any light.

Hearts! Volume 4 is among my favorite coloring books, so far. (The cover is shown, at right.)

Drawing these designs, I realized I’d keep drawing (and creating these coloring books), even if they weren’t popular.

You’ll find Hearts! Volume 4 – A Hippie Coloring Book at Amazon.

And, of course, you can download a free sample page, to see if you enjoy these kinds of coloring pages, too.

Hearts – Volumes 1 & 2

“Hearts!” is Aisling’s new coloring book series, featuring hippie-style coloring pages with heart frames.

Each book uses 20 different coloring designs. They’re mirrored — one faces left and the other faces right — so you can display your coloring art in matching sets.