The Affirmations Colouring Book by Sarah Mangle

Number of Pages: 100 
Size: 28 x 21cm 
Paper colour: White
Paper surface: Smooth 
Paper thickness: Average
Linework: Medium​ 
Perforated: No 
One sided: No
Binding: Glue 
Drawings go into the spine: No​
Waterbased pen bleed: Slight 

It was a sprained ankle that set Montreal artist, writer and teacher Sarah Mangle on the path to making this colouring book, when she couldn't walk for 6 weeks and found herself sketching affirmations to make her feel better and pass the time. At the encouragement of her friends and family, this personal project grew into a 100 page colouring book that is now on sale across North America. 

The book is centred around animals and includes pet portraits of rabbits, dogs, cats and rodents, all differing breeds. Sarah's art has a very rough, sketchy quality that is hectic but at the same time not too detailed. Take a look through and see what you think.

As this book is double sided with fairly thin paper, coloured pencils are really your only option unless you don't mind sacrificing the image behind. The paper does have a good tooth to hold those pigments, so pencils are probably the best option anyway. It is a thick book with plenty of colouring hours included, but the art is very unique and might not be to everyone's taste. I personally think the scrappy style encourages you to be less perfect than you might feel you need to be in everyday life, if that makes sense. You don't need to stay inside the lines because the lines are messed up and scribbly themselves!

​I think the affirmations themselves are what 'make' this book, as there are some wonderfully uplifting quotes to keep in mind when you're having a bad day. All the pages are numbered with the affirmations listed at the front of the book so you can flip to your favourites.

Here is my finished page, for which I used markers as I wanted to give it a blast of colour.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. You can find it over on Sarah's Etsy page.