Seaside Colouring Book by Victoria Ball

This is the first colouring book from Victoria Ball, a Leicester-born artist living in Scotland, who is in her third year of illustration at the Edinburgh College of Art. Her love for boats and the seaside inspired this charming A3-width book, which comprises of 10 double-sided pages full of beach huts, coastal homes and pier amusements.

One of my favourite places is on the East Coast, the small seaside town of Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire. It's probably due to the fact that I holidayed there as a kid and didn't think there was anywhere better in the world; it was like a wonderland of lights and sounds and rides... Although I know now it's a bit rubbish, I still get that same thrill in my chest when I go, and I think I always will. The seaside means joy, excitement and youth to me, so I was pretty stoked to find a colouring book that seemed to embody everything about those quirky coastal towns we Brits hold close in our hearts. Take a look at some of the pages and transport yourself back to those brisk, salty-air strolls on the sand.

The paper used is that shiny, smooth texture I'm not a big fan of, but triplus markers lay down well on it and don't bleed through which is a bonus. The landscape size of the book makes an appealing change, and the drawings themselves have an imperfect hand-drawn quality that I love. One small critique from me is that there may be too many plain old houses included. I would have loved more of the stuff that really shouts 'seaside' to me; rides, caravans, fish and chips on the pier, etc. I love the typography pages though; in fact I'm thinking about colouring and framing them  for my colouring station, as a cute reminder of happy times.

Here's my finished picture of some beach huts. I'm not too happy with it as my alcohol markers didn't sit right on the paper, but they have the biggest range of colours so I love to use them. I tried to pick out a seaside palette for the huts, I hope you like it :)

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. You can find it on Victoria's Etsy page, here :)