colouring

Coloring Book Day 2019

Angela Porter3 Comments
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

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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.

Abstract Floral Design – Coloured

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Abstract Floral Design ©Angela Porter 2019 - Artwyrd.com
Abstract Floral Design ©Angela Porter 2019 – Artwyrd.com

This morning, I thought I’d start my day by colouring in yesterday’s shaded, abstract floral design. And this is the result.

I didn’t remove the shading, but added simple gradient colours above it so that the shading would add to the depth and dimension.

Although this image, thanks to whatever WordPress does to the colour of images when uploaded, doesn’t show this, it actually works really well.

Yes, I know. It’s taken me a couple or three years to get around to working out I can underlay shadows and used colour over the top to add depth and dimension. However, I’ve said it before, I learn tricks at my own pace and when they are relevant to me or when I’m ready to try them out.

I may try this design again, but with more vintage-y colours. Maybe. It’s all learning for me that’s for sure!

The design was drawn with Tombow Fudenosuke and Sakura Pigma Sensei pens. Shading and colour was added digitally using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Studio.

Sneaky peek – Entangled Christmas

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Sneaky Peek 2©Angela Porter 2019 - Artwyrd.com
Sneaky Peek 2©Angela Porter 2019 – Artwyrd.com

Today I finished colouring the templates for Entangled Christmas (available for preorder, publication date of 16 October 2019).

I thought I’d share another sneaky peek of one of the four that I’ve coloured for the book.

Unusually, I’ve drawn people in a couple of templates. Drawing people is not one of my better skills to say the least. So here’s part of the angel I’ve drawn, set in an entangled, festive landscape, and a starry sky, of course!

I’ve used my signature jewel-bright colours, of course.

And, because it’s me, I’ve coloured the templates digitally, my tools being Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Surface Studio.

It’s nice to just colour, though keeping to a Christmassy colour scheme can be a little frustrating at times especially as here in the UK we’re enjoying an unseasonably rather warm Easter Bank Holiday weekend!

Entangled Christmas is one of the adult coloring books in the Creative Haven range from Dover Publications.

Happy Thanksgiving 2018 – the coloured template

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I thought I’d colour today’s template in. I used Autodesk Sketchbook Pro along with my Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Surface Studio to colour in the hand-drawn pen and ink template.

If you’d like to colour this template, it’s available for free to members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. Why not pop along and get your copy of it?

Coloring Day is tomorrow!

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Angela Porter Coloring Day 2018 coloured wip

Tomorrow is National Coloring Day in the USA, but I think it should be an International Coloring Day, a day where people are encouraged to do some colouring as a way to find a little peace and calm in their busy lives, as well as to express themselves creatively.

It doesn’t matter if you only colour in one flower or leaf or letter, or if you complete the whole template on the day; all that matters is that you take time out to just relax with your chosen coloring medium.

It matters not how expensive the medium is, or what the brand is. All that matters is that you enjoy and find the process restful, calming, relaxing and your mind is given a bit of a break from the endless self-talk we all experience.

Each year since it started, I’ve created a coloring template, and this is this years!

Here’s a link so you can download the black and white template . Just right click on the image and save it to where you can find it!

You can also find the image on the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. Not a member? Why not sign-up and join in with others who love coloring, particularly my art/templates.

There are just a couple of terms and conditions; please read and follow them:

  • The template is for personal use only. If you want to share the template with others, then please share a link to this blog entry rather than just the template file!
  • The template is not for resale or for inclusion in publications of any kind or in any format (physical or digital) with out my express permission.
  • If you share your coloured version, then it would be really lovely if you would mention me, Angela Porter, as the artist and my blog or facebook page.

I look forward to seeing your colourations. Happy and peaceful coloring!

Practice makes progress – a Dangle Design

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Angela Porter Dangle Design 23 March 2018

I’ve just completed this dangle design, which features a very appropriate message.

Learning to recognise when something is good enough has been a hard lesson for me, but bit by bit I’m getting there.  The ‘practice makes perfect’ adage puts a lot of pressure on a person, so I much prefer the use of the word ‘progress’ instead of perfect.

No one has ever picked up a pen or pencil or other tool for the first time ever and created a perfectly wonderful piece of art. It takes time, patience, and, above all else, practice.

Mistakes are made along the way, or I prefer to call them ‘happy accidents’ or ‘creative opportunities’.  They allow me to reflect on what I have done, to learn, and to improve or extend myself as a result.  Sometimes, the happy accidents teach me something I never would’ve come up with, a surprisingly pleasing result which becomes part of my artistic vocabulary. Sometimes, they result in me changing what the artwork was meant to be into what it needs to be.

To be flexible and not too invested in a definite artistic outcome, is another lesson that imperfections, happy accidents, or creative opportunities have taught me. Learning to go with the flow and work with what happens instead of fighting it and trying to force it into what I wanted it to be, which often then results in a horrible mess of a work.

I’m happy with this ‘dangle’.  If I drew it again, there are bits I’d change. If I were to colour it again, there’s bits I’d change. However, it’ll do as it is.

I sketched the design on dot grid paper, scanned it and then drew it digitally using my Surface Pen on my Microsoft Surface.

Next, I printed it out on watercolour paper and used some Tombow Dual Brush Pens to colour it.  I didn’t use many colours at all; the blender brush helped me to achieve colour gradients.

I did use some Copic Multiliner SP pens to add some more details to the printed image and coloured image; I regret the stippling on the centre pot, but it’ll do. I’ll remember next time to use the little lines for added shading!

My book, A Dangle A Day, due out in September 2018 and available for pre-order now, will show you how, step by step, you can create similar dangle designs.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day 2018

Angela Porter Valentines 2018

I designed this colouring template for the facebook group Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans for them to post coloured versions today.

This is my coloured version.  I drew on paper with pen, but coloured it in using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro on my Microsoft Surface book using my Surface Pen.

Why I’ve been so quiet…

It’s been nearly a month since my last blog post.  The reasons?  Focusing on a book at the moment.  It’s called A Dangle a Day: Lettering Alphabets and Seasonal Designs with Charms  , though there’s no cover image for the book yet on Amazon it is available for pre-order.  It’s not a colouring book per-se, it’s more of a tutorial book, but colouring does play a big part of course.

It’s a new direction for me, I’m learning new things about publishing, and enjoying the challenge.  I have to focus on this project for now, and not sure I can do ‘sneak peeks’ yet, but when I can, I will!

I do have another colouring book to do after this one …more about that later on.

The other reason is that I’ve been unwell.  Nothing serious, thought to be a ‘viral wheeze’ (which is affecting me like asthma) but it’s got worse again, and is stopping me sleeping properly and lacking energy to do more than what I need to contractually do.

 

Digi Hallowe’en Pumpkin Stamp set

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I have a set of 13 digi stamps with a whimsical Hallowe’en Pumpkin theme available in my Etsy shop, Artwyrd.

The set includes :

  • 3 pumkins without faces
  • 5 faces to add to the pumpkins or any other images you wish ( spooky eyes in the dark, on monsters, ghosts, aliens…your imagination is the only barrier!)
  • 5 leaves to use to create an autumn/fall scene with or without the pumpkins

Use them to create cards, or to fill a page with images for a custom colouring page, or any other craft you can think of.

 

Etsy Listings for Colouring Pages

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In the last day, I’ve uploaded three more colouring sheets to my Etsy shop – Artwyrd.

For each, there’s either a fully coloured, or partly coloured, version of the line art to see.  Yes, I’ve been using them to practice colouring in digitally.

I’ve also started work today on a new book for Dover, the theme for it being eerie.