Information about my personal project - the coloring book project:

Interested in my process? Here is a video to show how I make the coloring book pages: https://youtu.be/xYa_SBaU-OM ...and... here is a live stream capture of me creating one of the pages from scratch: https://youtu.be/SuGbO2LlECE

So, you are interested in just what this coloring book project is all about. Let me tell you what, this is a fun one, for people of all ages, walks of life, talent, experience, background, and circumstances.

The act of coloring is therapeutic. There is nothing magic about this fact. It just is. It allows you to break out of your head, zen out, and relax while you (intuitively, or experimentally) play with colors, patterns, and sometimes if you want, even textures. I have seen the benefits of this activity with my 3 special needs foster children I raised for 4+ years. They would suddenly become more placid, relaxed, and friendly with each other, myself, their therapists and anyone else trying to interact with them. They were more open to considering suggestions and did better at explaining their own thoughts and feelings, which was an important part of their process through their time with me. The problem was, with 3 children, they very often all wanted the same page, or a page that was already colored on by them or someone else and I was spending a verifiable fortune in duplicated coloring books and supplies. There was nothing I could do about the supplies - I can't make crayons, pencils, paint, etc, but I could make pictures, and reprint the pictures when they all wanted it over and over again. That was the seed and how this coloring book project started.

Then, unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances and a now ex-husband who decided they couldn't handle the stress of the foster care system, the children were placed in a new location and I went into a pretty deep depression. I had (in my mind at the time) lost everything I had to be creative for. The coloring book was put to the back of my mind because every time I thought about it, I thought of the kids, and honestly would collapse into a blubbering pile of goo over how they and I were treated. It took years to get to the point where I wanted to even think about art again, much less my coloring book project, but when I came to a point in my life and my grief process that I could think about it again, it all came flooding back. I really wanted to make this happen - now, in honor of my 3 foster kids Aaron, Hope, and Angel (I still love you guys!)

I started drawing some designs, but my art bug wasn't quite back yet, and my depression was still strong enough I would go sometimes days, weeks, or even months without creating one thing, but even for me, this coloring book has been therapeutic.

Now I am back into full art swing, but I still get the benefits of the therapy from this project. I constantly am testing each image to make sure it works as a coloring book picture, and the act of designing and drawing each page is so relaxing and freeing for me. I want to share these benefits with everyone.

Now for the nitty gritty about what makes these coloring books so unique:

My coloring books are good for all age ranges/experience/ability or disability levels. I provide for each starting idea 3 core images (basic, intermediate, advanced.) With each of those variations, I provide further iterations with 2x (each different) patterns (think paisley/zentangle/henna type patterns), 3x (each different - background, subject, and complete image) mandala versions, greyscale, light version,etc. Each image comes in a total of 24 versions. I then produce a coloring book for basic, intermediate, and advanced difficulty and for each subject and style of art. Each coloring book will have 50+ images.

My coloring books are digitally supplied, giving you the ability to print as many times as you want. Do you have two or more kids wanting the same exact picture? Print it twice! Do you have a perfectionist streak and want to find that perfect color combination? Print as many times as you need to experiment. Do you run an education/childcare program and want to use an image to teach all the kids a subject, concept, or skill? Print it 30+ times. You have control, as long as they are not shared uncolored via print or digital media. They are for personal/institute use only. You are welcome to tell others about us, but because their purchases help the social programs we support, please don't give them out or claim as your own.

As mentioned, the coloring books help social programs. There is more about this in the post about the social programs, but in breif, these books and all artwork, products, and prints resulting from them qualify for the supporting of said programs.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below. I will be thrilled to answer them and share with you everything we are doing with this great project.

I have also attached a composite of several images resulting from the Horses Coloring Book for you to see what the coloring book is to determine if you would like to support it. Currently, at my support level (as of 2/22/2019), I can afford to average one coloring book image posted to the group a month at a minimum. Sometimes there will be more. With more supporters, I will be able to guarantee the time afforded to produce many more, so please spread the word if you like what you see here.