Color Ink Book

26/3/2016

Color Ink Book is a quarterly periodical that publishes in February, May, August & November in the US. Founded in 2008, these cult artwork magazines can be found at San Diego Comic Con, tattoo shops, wroldwide galleries and their online store. The purpose of the series is to showcase both up-and-coming and established artists, whilst giving the public the opportunity to add colour to these amazing illustrations.

The art ranges from Lowbrow and graffiti to contemporary and street, so it's very much a specialist product that will appeal to fans of comics, Kawaii, Punk and surrealism. Each publication features pieces from 10-12 different artists and a mixture of themes. Take a look through three of the volumes in the slideshows below (right) to get a feel for the brand and what to expect if you purchase.

Volume 24

Special Edition

Volume 23

Each issue has over 100 pages, so is quite substantial. At $10 per mag, this is an incredibly low price for the amount of unique artwork and colouring hours you're receiving. The paper is not quite 'printer paper thin' but isn't heavyweight either, so with it being double-sided you have to be careful with bleed if using anything other than coloured pencils. I used Staedtler Triplus, Tombow Dual Brush, FC Pitt Pens and Spectrum Noir alcohol markers in these books, and whilst there was only a small amount of shadowing from the first two, the latter could be seen quite strongly on the flip side- in some areas bleeding onto the next page.

UK shipping for one volume is $10 which decreases the more you buy, so for one copy you're looking at around £14 all in, which isn't bad at all for such a specialist art/colouring book. These are not going to appeal to everybody, but personally I love this kind of distinctive, unusual art as well as Japanese popular culture. I'd love to know what you all think!

Here are my three completed images from each book. I had so much fun doing them!