One of the most enjoyable parts of being a coloring book author is seeing colorists put so much talent into coloring the pages I publish.  It truly adds meaning to the work I do and I wanted to share some of this wonderful work I see, so I will be featuring colorists on this blog on a regular basis in my Colorist Showcase series.  Today’s featured colorist is Amanda Pinchbeck.  She is a prolific colorist who is talented in choosing beautiful palettes and choosing the right combination of color and shade to really make patterns pop.  Her colored pages add a bright spot to my day.  I was very happy when she agreed to share about her coloring journey with us.

How did you get into adult coloring books?
I saw an advert on TV for ‘Art Therapy Magazine’ in March 2015, subscribed to the magazine and, once it arrived, started colouring their pictures using their pencils. A month later I was invited to join a colouring group on Facebook and discovered the wonderful world of adult colouring books!

What are your main reasons for coloring?
I retired from work due to chronic health problems/physical disability in 2010 so, because I wasn’t always able to get out of the house, I wanted to find something other than reading fiction and doing crosswords (which I still do) to fill my time. I have never seen myself as being artistic but have a decent eye for colour so this is a great way to use my creativity. It also helps me focus on something other than my chronic back pain and keeps me in touch with the ‘outside world’ on Facebook.

What are some of your favorite genres/types of coloring books/pages to color?
I’ve always enjoyed Johanna Basford and Millie Marotta’s books as they were the trailblazers in the adult colouring world. However, since I purchased the ‘Adult Coloring Treasury’ and its sequel I have discovered many other artists who I enjoy and those books have become more like shopping lists! For example, as well as the wonderful Ligia Ortega, I also love Christine Aldridge’s beautiful floral designs. I now own all of her books and belong to her colouring group on Facebook.

Do you have any favorite supplies/tools?
I really love my full set of Prismacolor Premier colouring pencils which were a Christmas present last year. However, I still go back to my Marco Raffine colouring pencils when I want to use a particular colour for a design. I also occasionally use pens and my favourites there are Staedtler Fineliners (particularly useful for lettering on Ligia’s designs).

Are there any coloring techniques that you have recently learned or that you’re particularly excited about?
Although I have recently purchased Helen Elliston’s ‘Colorist’s Special Effects’ I haven’t yet got around to trying out too many of the techniques although I intend to do so.

Do you have any particular colors/palettes you like to use when you color?
My favourite colour is green but each set of pencils that I’ve used as I’ve gone along has given me different colouring ideas. I still like a lot of pink and purple and orange is a favourite combination.

Are there any supplies or techniques you would like to try someday?
I’ve seen an advert on Facebook for Chameleon pens and pencils which look interesting but I’m happy with my Prismacolor Premier pencils at the moment. As far as techniques are concerned, I will be trying out ideas from Helen Elliston’s ‘Colorist’s Special Effects’ soon.

Do you prefer to color in coloring books or print out your pages? If so, do you have any particular paper you prefer?
Unfortunately my printer is rather unreliable (it thinks it should only need to be a scanner so at least it works to scan my pictures!) so I use colouring books and magazines such as ‘Art Therapy Magazine’ and ‘Relax with Art’.

Do you have any tips or advice to anyone who just discovered Adult Coloring?
Enjoy it! Join a friendly Facebook group such as Colouring Companions or Adult Colouring Book Reviews. You’ll learn so much from seeing what other people can do but try not to worry that your work isn’t ‘good enough’! Everyone is their own worst critic and you may give someone else ideas for a new colour palette. Colourists are a very friendly bunch in my experience and colouring book artists are always eager to see pictures from their books as everyone’s style is slightly different. I’d certainly encourage people to get hold of the ‘Adult Coloring Book Treasury’ books available from Amazon to give them the opportunity to try different artists’ styles and share your work in their Facebook group.

This is excellent advice for beginners, I have found the community in coloring groups to be very uplifting and have made many warm caring friends through the groups – they are so much more than just colored pages and techniques.

Thank you so much again Amanda, I have appreciated learning more about you and your coloring!  Stay tuned for more featured colorists in future blog entries!