Hello February!

©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

A new month and a new coloring template, exclusive to members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. If you’d like to download and print this template for your personal use, then pop along to the group.

The days are slowly lengthening here in the Northern Hemisphere. The first signs of nature waking up can be seen in the form of snowdrops and crocuses. It can also be heard in the raucous and beautiful birdsong.

To the template. I drew this on Rhodia dot grid paper using a Sakura Pigma PN pen. For my partially coloured version, I added a coloured background and colour digitally.

New Year coloring template

New Year coloring template (c) Angela Porter – Artwyrd.com

Today, I seem to have a lot of my focus back. I’m still not 100%; my appetite and taste buds are still way off, but my mind seems to be a bit less fuzzy.

That means I’ve been working on a colouring template for the members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group to celebrate the incipient calendar changing celebration.

Here is a section of the template, which I’ve been working on colouring. The gold background is just a temporary thing.

I used Affinity Publisher for the typography in the centre of the design. I then used Autodesk Sketchbook Pro to draw the design and to start colouring it. The template is in my entangled signature art style.

I’m enjoying adding colour to this design; this is a good sign that I’m recovering from the tummy bug that has laid me low for the the best part of a week now.

If you’d like to download a copy of the colouring template, you do need to be a member of the facebook group – it’s free to join and the template is free to members!

Of course, I’ll be posting my coloured version of the template to welcome in the new year.

Season’s Greetings Coloring Template

Season’s Greetings (c) Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

I’ve created a third December colouring template for the members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, and here’s my partly coloured version.

If you’d like to download and print the template to colour, then all you need to do is pop over to the group and join! It’s free!

I’m flagging at the moment. I didn’t sleep much last night; I’ve picked up some kind of stomach bug and so was back and forth the bathroom. My tummy is still not well today. I was, however, determined to get a seasonal greeting out to one and all.

Drawn with Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens. Typography and colouring done digitally.

Another sneak peek – Spectacular Sea-life

©Angela Porter 2019

Yesterday was one of those strange days where nothing goes as you hoped it would. Phone call after phone call coming in that needed to be dealt with. Other things that needed doing, and I ended up with absolutely no time for any arty pursuits. One of the phone calls ended up with me in a panicked state, anxious and in tears.

Today, I’m making sure I have some self-soothing time. I have a busy, busy evening ahead of me – a very people-y and noisy one and probably quite frenetic too. So, self-care, self-soothing, and probably a nap is required as I’ve just about reached the limit of my anxiety/stress about it for now.

Part of my arty self-soothing has been completing the dolphin illustration for Specatcular Sea Life for the Creative Haven series of adult coloring books from Dover Publications Inc. And here’s a sneak peek of part of that illustration.

I’m really surprised at the reactions to my little video of me drawing the other day. Plenty of people are asking me to do more. So, I will do so, as well as invest in some equipment I think…

Sneak Peek – Spectacular Sea-Life

Sneak Peek! ©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

I’m currently working on one of the three illustrations I need to colour for “Spectacular Sea-Life” for Creative Haven by Dover Publications Inc. This will be my next colouring book in the Creative Haven collection.

I don’t get chance to colour many of my own drawings, which is why I LOVE to see how people approach them and use their own special brand of colouring magic to bring them to life.

That’s why I love to pop over to and wander through the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. All are welcome there and the lovely people love to share their coloured templates.

I’ve already signed the contract for my next colouring book in the Creative Haven library.

Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving 2019 ©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ve created a simple bit of line art to celebrate the day, and it’s available exclusively to members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. It’s free to join and I have a number of templates that are exclusive and free to members of the group.

I love to see how people use colour to bring my drawings to life. I provide the bones, the colorists add the flesh in the form of colour.

November’s coloring template

November colouring template ©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

A new month means a new colouring template exclusively for members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. If you’d like to download, print and colour a template, then pop over to the group, join (it’s free!).

A few, simple terms and conditions apply. All I ask is that you follow them and mention myself and the facebook group when you share the coloured template on social media. Tag me in your posts and I’ll definitely get to see them!

Autumn is well established here in the UK, so I wanted to combine leaves, berries and some acorns in a mandala.

I used an autumnal colour palette to bring the template to life. I think mine looks like a rich, decorative rug. However, I love to see how creative you people are with your colour schemes, particularly those of you who are heading into Spring or who don’t really experience Autumn in your part of the world.

I did draw and colour this mandala digitally, using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro along with my Microsoft Surface pen and the paper that is the screen of my Microsoft Surface Studio.

September Colouring Template

 Template for the Angela Porter's Coloring Book Fans facebook group, September 2019
Template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, September 2019

The first day of a new month means I add a colouring template to the “Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans” Facebook group. I make the template an exclusive freebie for members of the group. The group is free to join. Why not pop over get access to this and all other group templates.

I drew the template on Winsor and Newton Bristol Board using a couple of Uniball Unipin pens. I scanned it in, cleaned up some smudges overruns.

As it’s September, my mind is on the changing seasons; we’re heading into autumn here in the UK. The rowan and hawthorn trees are laden with red berries already. The sycamore helicopters and ash keys are turning golden and are visible amongst the still-green foliage.

It is my favourite time of year. I love the comfortably warm days and the chilly nights. It’s a delight to snuggle down in bed with a warm body and a cool head. I sleep so much better too. Mind you, I think my weighted blanket is helping with that.

I love the change in the colour and quality of light – the golden hue delights me. I’m also looking forward to seeing the relatively rapid colour-changes that happen as the dull, dark greens of summer give way to the fiery conflagration of autumn.

So, my September template has autumnal motifs in it, though they’d work for any season no matter where you are in the world.

I will continue to add colour to this template throughout the month, hopefully. Then, at the close of September, I’ll show the finished coloured version.

I always look forward to seeing how different people colour the drawing. I love to see the different colours, media and techniques they use.

Coloring Book Day 2019

Angela Porter's Coloring Book Fans August Template ©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com
Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans August Template ©Angela Porter | Artwyrd.com

That’s right, there’s an annual day to celebrate coloring books and to indulge yourself in the relaxing, calming, stress-busting activity of coloring, no matter your age or gender!

As you can see if you browse this blog, I do a lot of art. Whether drawing, colouring, or other forms of creativity in art it really does relax, calm and soothe me when I need it.

And there are times when I really do need calming and relaxing. It’s no secret to anyone who has followed my blog for a while that I have complex PTSD (CPTSD) and I am slowly recovering from it with the help of EMDR therapy. On the days where I have low mood or anxiety or I’ve been startled into hyper-vigilance, art really helps to soothe my jarred emotions and calm me until the stress hormones leach from my body returning to their normal level for me. That is still an elevated level, but a level that has always been there in my life.

It’s not just me saying this. Research has shown that spending time colouring has a similar effect on the brain as mindfulness meditation.

One piece of research at the University of West England in Bristol has shown that colouring can reduce stress, boost creativity and increased mindfulness (being aware of what you are doing at that moment, not thinking about the future or past).

The benefits of colouring are listed in an article on the developing good habits blog.

There are so many coloring books available as well as colouring pages, you can find just about anything to suit your tastes. Also, I have many colouring books available (I think it’s around 20 now) – have peek at at my Angela Porter Amazon author page.

If you like to draw your own designs to colour and are looking for something new and a little different, then you may like to take a look at my book ‘A Dangle A Day’. In the book I show you what dangles are, how to draw them and use them with hand lettered sentiments and monograms. They’re fun to draw, simple, and there are many ways to use them such as in bullet journals (BuJos), planners, journals, scrapbooks, greetingscards, note cards, bookmarks and more.

Also, I gift an exclusive template to the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group at least once a month. They’re free to members and shouldn’t be available anywhere else, though intellectual theft isn’t unknown in the realms of the internet.

The image above is the August template for the facebook group. I coloured it digitally using gradient tools for some speed. It would take me weeks to do the way I’ve been creating digital art of late!

No matter what you use to colour – digital or traditional media – I’d love to see how you’ve brought my line art to life, whether from one of my books or from one of the templates available in the facebook group. There’s also some templates available on my angela porter illustrator facebook page too.

Here’s the tags you can use to connect with me on the social media platforms that I use:

August’s Coloring Template

Coloring Template for members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group for August 2019 © Angela Porter | Artwyrd

Each month, I design a coloring template that is an exclusive free gift for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

It’s my little way of saying thank you for supporting my work. I have also posted a colour palette colouring challenge for the month, which colorists can use with this template or any other template from my books, the choice is entirely theirs.

I had some fun drawing this one. I’ve missed drawing cute fishies and the like. I even sneaked a couple of simple dangles in there too.

You’d be made most welcome if you pop along and join in. It is a friendly group for sure.

I’m looking forward to seeing how people bring this one to life with colour for sure.

I drew this one with Unipin pens from Uniball on Winsor and Newton Bristol Board. Yes, traditional drawing. I did use digital tools to clean up some smudges and where the lines went a little too far into another section, but that was it.