Colour Me Mindful: Enchanted Creatures, Butterflies and Seasons by Anastasia Catris

24/9/2015

It's the trio of 'Colour Me Mindful' sequels that everyone in the colouring world has been waiting for from illustrator Anastasia Catris, the follow up books to the first 3 in the series (Birds, Tropical & Underwater), published last August. These are up for release TODAY in the UK and I am honestly bowled over by the quality of all three of them. Anastasia has created yet more incredible illustrations all packed with detail, each book containing 50 stunning works of art that are crying out for colour! Here's a peek into Enchanted Creatures, Butterflies and Seasons.

Enchanted Creatures

When flicking through this one, all I could think was WOW! Included are some really unusual magical beings such as Sphynxs, Centaurs, Mermaids and Mermen, Kraken, Unicorns, Dragons, Cockatrice and Chimera- a mythical smorgasbord of creatures!

Butterflies

You guessed it, this one is all about those delicate fluttering insects we all find in our gardens. The opportunites are endless for creating some fabulously bright and bold butterflies as this book is filled with a spectrum of species. With lots of wildflower and fauna for them to hide in there's no reason not to use your whole palette of colours to bring these scenes to life.

Seasons

My favourite book of the three contains not only changes in weather and nature images that you would expect in a book called Seasons, but also many different holidays and events from the year. These include Chinese New Year, Bonfire Night, Easter, Hallowe'en and Christmas. Some of the illustrations are in a simple and fun mandala form, reminiscent ofMiss Moffat's Merry Mandalas.

The size and quality of the book is identical to the first 3 books in the series, with thick white paper and a handy travel size of just over 6x6 inches. The only qualm I have is that the illustrations mostly go right into the spine of the book, making it difficult to reach the centre without marking the facing page. They are also printed double sided, which is unfortunate as I colour mainly with alcohol markers, ruining the reverse image. Despite this, the number and calibre of art on offer is enough to brush those issues aside, and for just shy of £5 each you're not breaking the bank. The 6 books look lovely together on the shelf and I can't wait to add to the collection with Anastasia's next editions!

Here are my finished pages from each book, completed with Spectrum Noir and Promarkers.