Secret Garden Coloring Book

This book is fabulous. I'm using Prismacolors on it and it looks absolutely beautiful. I'm not even all that great at selecting colors, but the artist did such an amazing job with the drawings that it's tough to make something look bad as long as you stay inside the lines--which can, at times, be tough. Speaking as a grown-up, I was amazed at how extremely relaxing the act of coloring is. I'm looking forward to picking up the latest book from the same artist because I can't wait for more of this sweet, charming art, AND because I can't believe just how much fun I'm having doing it. I'm a very anxious person by nature, but when I get my pencils out and sit down to color, I can almost feel the stressors draining away. This really isn't so much a kid's book, unless your kid's a super careful one and takes their time with it. I was a careful kid, and wow, do I wish they'd made books like this when I was a child. I would have been so in love. Just heavenly fun. The pieces within are quite detailed and so, so very pretty. Kind of silly story but, when I first began working on it, I realized, to my eternal horror, that I finally need bifocals! I looked down to start, frowned, then looked up. Everything seemed okay. Down at the blurry page, then back up again. What was this? Couldn't be! I wailed out to my husband, who's been wearing them for quite a while now, "Honey! I can't SEE this! What's going on?" He had a good laugh at my expense, which I think I richly deserved since I teased him to pieces the day he got his. If you like to draw at night, as I do, plan on having a good lamp for light. I use an old clamp lamp and swivel it around so I can really see what I'm doing. Do I sound a little obsessed with this book? Maybe. But the truth is that coloring these images is a such a relaxing, pleasant experience, and it's helped me a ton with my stress. Make sure to use nice soft pencils. You can't use marker since the images are printed both front and back. Even if they weren't, you'd have to use a very fine nib and the paper is porous, so bleeding might happen whether you wanted it to or not. You *could* scan them and print them out on a thicker paper, and then color with marker, which is something I've been thinking about. I'm so proud of one of my pages that I actually hung it on the wall. Absolutely silly of me, right? That's how lovely the images are, though. I love this book and I recommend it to anyone who needs a little extra help in letting go of the worries and troubles of everyday life. I can't say enough how much this book was worth the ten dollars I spent on it. Just great.

I had to wait two longs weeks to receive my copy of Secret Garden because it was out of stock when I purchased it, but it was well worth the wait - it's a book full of amazing and beautifully detailed pictures that are very fun to color. Every picture is so detailed and unique - some are full scenes, while others are more pattern-like; all are very pretty and follow the same style of drawing and, of course, theme (I am absolutely in love, and possible obsessed, with Johanna's style of drawing). What I also love is that when I add color to the drawings, I really am making it my own; everyone has their own style of coloring - compare the same drawing that was colored in by two different people, and you would see that the drawings are almost like two different pictures. Some of the details can be harder to color because of how small some of them are, but I've been using assorted gel pens, and it's been working out very well. I've only used gel pens, and so far, I love it - the colors come out just as vibrant as markers, but dry more evenly and don't bleed through. The paper takes the gel pen ink very well - it is heavier weighted paper (not quite as heavy as card stock) and a tiny bit waxy, which allows the ink to flow more easily before drying. The paper is heavy enough that I don't mind the pictures being double sided at all. There are so many things to color that I also don't mind one bit that Johanna has added unfinished, detailed inky drawings for us to add in our own inky doodles in order to continue/finish her drawings - I really like this aspect of the book; her art inspires and shows me how I can add my own doodles; it also makes doodling much less intimating because it's not just a blank page, she's started it for you, but leaves plenty of space for you to make it your own. But again, if you aren't one to doodle, and are just looking to color her art, there are tons of full drawings to keep you occupied for quite some time. I have been consumed with spending almost all of my spare time coloring this book, while Netflix plays in the background. It's a peaceful and entertaining activity that gets your creative juices flowing that was much needed for me, since I wasn't using my creative skills enough til now. I can't say how much I love this product and that I am very happy Johanna Basford decided to make a coloring book. I can't wait for my copy of Enchanted Forest to come in and to see what her third book will look like - I know I will definitely be ordering a copy for sure!

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I ordered two Johanna Brasford books, both the English version. But one has white and thicker pages, this one had yellow and quite thin pages. I don't understand why there's a difference. But I'm sending the yellow one back. 🙃 The illustrations are beautiful though.

This is another excellent colouring book by very talented Johanna Basford. I’m not so keen on the half illustrated pages that she leaves in this book for us to add our own drawings to colour. There aren’t many so it doesn’t matter too much. I like her different scenes & there are floral designs. It was a good price through Amazon compared with her Worlds of Wonder, also an excellent colouring book.

I enjoy every page with various designs. I love coloring it. Relaxing

Me encanto el libro! Tiene imágenes súper bonitas y actividades en ciertas páginas para alentar tu imaginación, papel súper grueso y excelente !