Animorphia

Worlds Within Worlds – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Worlds Within Worlds is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes and published and kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara. This book is the seventh title by Kerby and is not part of the Morphia series albeit it’s drawn in a very similar style but without the signature alien creatures and swirls of the earliest Morphia titles.

The book is 25cm square, the same size as Kerby’s previous titles and most other bestsellers. It’s paperback with black covers and white lettering. The images on the front and back covers are partially coloured and are both contained within the book. The spine is glue and string-bound and quite tight on arrival, it takes a bit of work to get it lying flat however you shouldn’t need to crack the spine to colour the entirety of each image. The majority of images don’t enter the gutter so it’s not a big issue and it will ease up with use. The paper is bright white and medium thickness, it has a light tooth and allows for blending and shading. I used Prismacolor Premier Pencils which blended very well. When using heavy pressure, some of the image on the reverse page did transfer to the opposite page so you may want to put a sheet of scrap paper under your work in order to prevent this, however it’s easily erased if it does happen. The book begins with a name plate spread and information about the new search and find element of the book, a key hidden on a tiny image of a main feature of the proceeding image hidden within each colouring design. The book then contains 83 pages of illustrations printed double-sided which are a mixture of single pages, paired designs and double-page spreads. The image content is extremely wide ranging and because there is no specific theme, it really does contain a bit of everything including themes that he’s previously drawn in his earlier titles. None of the images are repeats, a few of them are just the same subject, drawn differently including fish, nautilus, dragon, bees, skull, and stags. The vast majority of the images are of completely different subjects and all of them are drawn in a very different way from previously. The premise of the book is exactly as the title suggests of worlds within worlds including cities within Russian dolls, rabbit warrens in rabbits, terrariums containing fields and windmills, underwater asteroids and so much more. The imagery is so inventive and as with all of Kerby’s work, it constantly surprises you and each time you look at it you notice something new that you hadn’t spotted before. Kerby’s artwork is full of the weird and wonderful and although it can often be very tricky to know where to start, no matter what colour palette you choose, you’re sure to create a masterpiece, it’s almost impossible not to with line drawings like this!

In terms of mental health, this book is fantastic. It offers so much choice in image theme and the content can’t help but inspire you! I often feel very overwhelmed when looking at Kerby’s work and trying to choose an image to colour because they’re quite an undertaking because of the amount of stuff crammed into each drawing but I didn’t feel that way about this book and the page I coloured was the page I chose as my favourite on my first flick-through of the book which is pretty much unheard of for me! The images contain a wide range of intricacy and detail levels and although none could ever be described as simple, there is a good variety ranging from pages absolutely packed with content and hundreds of individual component parts all overlapping each other which can be quite difficult to visually distinguish, to much larger, less complicated images where a centralised object takes centre-stage and there are a few internal or surrounding details. On flicking through the book, these differences are apparent and it means that you can use this book during lots of different symptom levels and pick simpler images to colour on days where your concentration isn’t up to scratch and attack a much more complicated design on days where you’re really able to focus and not inadvertently identify things as background that shouldn’t be. This book is hugely distracting, even just to look through and it’s certainly helped me over the last week when I’ve struggled to focus on much at all and really needed a distraction, colouring my page took far longer than I expected but I’ve really enjoyed it and it’s certainly kept me busy and kept my mind occupied which I’ve been very grateful for. It’s a great book to get you out of your comfort zone because nothing is as it seems and you absolutely don’t need to stick to conventional or realistic colour schemes if you don’t want to.

I would highly recommend this book. It’s a great title to begin with to delve into the world of Kerby’s artwork and for those of us who’ve been fans for years, it’s a wonderful new title and theme to add to his previous works. The images are just incredible and feel very exciting and fresh, you’d never guess this was the 6^th book of new images, it feels like a show-stopping debut! I can’t recommend it highly enough and although I often find that new books are my favourite of an illustrator’s, this isn’t just my favourite Kerby book because it’s new, it’s by far my favourite imagery of his and an absolute must-have for followers and fans of his work!

If you’d like to purchase a copy, it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Worlds Within Worlds
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Worlds-Within-Worlds-Kerby-Rosanes/9781912785124/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Prismacolor Premier Pencils.

My video review and flick through can be found here.

Colourmorphia – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Colourmorphia is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes and published and kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara. This book is the sixth and final title in the Morphia series and this time it’s a compilation of all of the best pages from the previous five titles with no new artwork contained. The five titles that the images are from are Animorphia, Imagimorphia, Mythomorphia, Fantomorphia, and Geomorphia. I haven’t yet reviewed the last two titles but I have copies and will be reviewing them soon.

The book is 25cm square, the same size as Kerby’s previous titles and most other bestsellers. It’s paperback with white covers and white lettering with a blue background down the left side of the front cover. The images on the front and back covers are partially coloured and are both contained within the book. The spine is glue and string-bound and very tight on arrival, it takes a lot of work and manipulation to get it to start lying flat so you’re likely to need to crack the spine if you want to colour the entirety of each image however very few images enter the gutter so it’s not a huge issue and it will ease up with use. The paper is bright white and medium thickness, it has a light tooth and allows for blending and shading. I used Caran d’Ache Luminance Pencils and a black Faber Castell Pitt Pen to colour my image and despite doing two layers of the pen for my background, I experienced absolutely no bleed-through or shadowing and almost no ink transfer even though I used heavy pressure when colouring some sections. The book begins with a 16-page introduction including coloured pages from some of the colouring community which provide great inspiration and Kerby has written a short commentary on each piece explaining how it was created and why he likes it and chose it for the book. Each of these coloured pages are contained as line drawings in the book so that you can use those as inspiration or interpret them in your own way. The book then contains 78 pages of illustrations printed double-sided which are a mixture of single and double-page spreads. The image content is the most wide-ranging of all of Kerby’s titles because there is no theme and so it ranges from landscapes to mythical creatures, animals to buildings, objects to the surreal and everything in between. Many of the colouring community’s favourite images are included and so this is a great title to purchase to get a second chance to colour those special images that you’ve previously finished in the original books. Alternatively, if you didn’t like one or two of the themed books quite so much, this might have just the right amount of each theme to satisfy your tastes and as a starter book to Kerby’s work, it’s absolutely perfect! It’s also a brilliant way to round off the Morphia series as this book really feels like a celebration of his work.

The images themselves are so varied and include his doodles and cloudy swirls as well as all sorts of hidden objects though this time there is no search and find feature at the back of the book. Some of the vast quantity of things pictured include: gem beetles, an anchor, a kraken, a rhinoceros, stags, castles, multiple dragons, a crow, jellyfish, swans, a dinosaur skull, owls, and so much more. Best of all, at least in my opinion, although there are no new images, the back halves of the cover designs of Fantomorphia and Geomorphia are contained which is a lovely addition because those were sorely missed in the original titles as they were printed single-sided and as single-page designs with the back halves missing within the books, it’s lovely to be given the opportunity to colour those images in full, as they were originally drawn and designed by Kerby. There is a huge range of morphing sections within the book from Kerby’s signature doodles and swirls to steampunk influences, plant life, mechanical elements and bizarre collections of objects as well as scenes morphing from one thing into another as seen in the elephant page where his trunk and tusks morph into the trunk of a tree and the back half of a polar bear becomes an iceberg. Kerby’s artwork is full of the weird and wonderful and although it can often be very tricky to know where to start, no matter what colour palette you choose, you’re sure to create a masterpiece, it’s almost impossible not to with line drawings like this!

In terms of mental health, this book is fantastic. Not only does it offer more choice in image theme than any of his other titles, it also offers colour inspiration at the front and a second-chance to colour images from the previous titles. The images contain a wide range of intricacy and detail levels and although none could ever be described as simple, there is a good variety ranging from pages absolutely packed with content and hundreds of individual component parts all morphing into each other which can be quite difficult to visually distinguish, to much larger, less complicated images where a centralised creature takes centre-stage and there are a few surrounding details. On flicking through the book, these differences are apparent and it means that you can use this book during lots of different symptom levels and pick simpler images to colour on days where your concentration isn’t up to scratch and attack a much more complicated design on days where you’re really able to focus and not inadvertently identify things as background that shouldn’t be (like I did on my skull page). This book is hugely distracting, even just to look through and it’s certainly helped me over the last week when I’ve struggled to focus on much at all and really needed a distraction, colouring my page took far longer than I expected but I’ve really enjoyed it and it’s certainly kept me busy and kept my mind occupied which I’ve been very grateful for. It’s a great book to get you out of your comfort zone because nothing is as it seems and you absolutely don’t need to stick to conventional or realistic colour schemes; the inspiration pages at the start prove that point brilliantly. I’ve never liked skulls and never wished to colour one at all but the coloured page at the beginning was so beautiful that I felt inspired to go against my norms and have a go at creating something similar and I’m so pleased that I did!

I would highly recommend this book. It’s a great title to begin with to delve into the world of Kerby’s artwork and for those of us who’ve been fans for years, it’s a wonderful celebration of all of his best work and a great opportunity to re-colour some previously finished illustrations. The content is wide-ranging and exciting and the paper is great to work on. It’s a really lovely book!

If you’d like to purchase a copy, it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Colourmorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Colourmorphia-Kerby-Rosanes/9781912785056/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Caran d’Ache Luminance Pencils and the background was coloured with two layers of black Faber Castell Pitt Pen.

My video review and flick through can be found here.

Mythomorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Mythomorphia is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes, and published and kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara Books. This is the third and final book in the series after Animorphia and Imagimorphia. This book has a mythical theme and is a bit less intricate and less morphing than the first two books and contains fewer alien creatures than Animorphia too, that being said, it’s still incredible and really has to be seen to be believed, it’s probably the best book on the market with a mythological theme because of the sheer variety of creatures pictured.

The book is 25cm square, the same size as Animorphia and other bestsellers by JB and MM, it’s paperback with a black card cover with bright red lettering and a dragon (UK copy: other countries’ editions have different coloured lettering but the content is the same in all of the books titled Mythomorphia) in Kerby’s signature style which hints at what’s inside. The paper is bright white, very lightly textured and medium thickness, it doesn’t appear to shadow with water-based fineliners as long as you’re careful but do always check your pens somewhere inconspicuous to make sure you don’t ruin any reverse images. The paper is good for pencils and allows for a few layers for blending and shading. The ink does transfer a little when pressure is applied so when you’re using pencils pop a scrap piece of paper behind to avoid transfer. The book contains 80 images which are printed double-sided and include single (18) and double-page spreads (including 7 paired images which don’t enter the spine and have separate but similar designs on each page, and 24 traditional double-page spreads which do enter the spine and aren’t stand-alone images). The book has a glue- and stitch-bound spine which is fairly tight on arrival and the images are borderless so you do lose a strip of each image into the spine and unfortunately a number of the double-page spreads do have large sections of the creature’s body which enter the gutter however these are accessible if you break the spine. The content itself is all based around mythology and mythological creatures and a truly huge range are pictured from unicorns to mermaids, a hydra to a phoenix, different types of dragons and loads of hybrid creatures including a basilisk, manticore, cockatrice, faun, griffin and many, many more. While many of these creatures are drawn in Kerby’s typical morphine style, a number of them are drawn without morphs and simply as scenes. The morphing parts consist of all sorts of things from rock, flames and waves to smoke, flowers, bats and trees as well as a couple in Kerby’s most well-known style including lots of random objects, plants and swirls. The images are incredible and as always, they’re packed with content to look at and colour, the range of mythological creatures is astounding and a number of them were beasts I’d never heard of so I’ve had a great time researching them and the stories behind them!

In terms of mental health, this is one book that’s absolutely fantastic for distraction! It takes quite a lot of concentration to identify all of the parts of the picture let alone start choosing colours so this really is a book that will help you get through the days when your mind is racing and you need to be able to switch off. It’s not a book for the faint-hearted because each image takes a very long time and a lot of work but it’s so worth it and the effects you can create are amazing! This book doesn’t have any pages where you need to add your own doodles, I’m really pleased about this because I can’t draw at all so I’m glad that all of them are finished this time and ready to colour! The images are very cohesive and they contain such a variety of creatures, most of the images have some shading and texture drawn in but not loads (check out the pictures below to decide if you like this feature or not). The line thickness varies throughout but mainly sticks around the thin mark so you need fairly good vision and fine motor control, but definitely not perfect to enjoy this book! There is also a treasure hunt with 3 pages at the back of the book showing all of the items you can hunt for within the images, followed by thumbnails showing the answers. This book is ideal for those of you who have a fairly good attention span so that you can really get involved in the images and the content is so absorbing that you really do get out of your head and away from your thoughts and become immersed in what you’re colouring. The images have a variety of intricacy and detail levels so you can use simpler images on bad days and more detailed images on days where you’re able to focus better so it’s a great book for those of you with fluctuating conditions. Because the beasts are mythological there are no “correct” colour schemes so you can really go to town with your outlandish colour schemes or if you need a bit of help then have a quick Google, you’re sure to find film or art representations of most of them that you can use as inspiration for your colour choices.

I would highly recommend this book for male and female colourers who love all things weird, wonderful, and mythological. This book is packed with amazing images that are great fun to colour, it’s stunning, overwhelming at times and one that really gets your creative juices flowing so grab your pencils and get colouring mythology!

If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Mythomorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Mythomorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552261/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you’d like a copy of either of Kerby’s previous books then they can be found here:
Animorphia
Amazon UK – Animorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552070/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Imagimorphia
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552148/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils.

Sketchy Stories: The Sketchbook Art of Kerby Rosanes – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Sketchy Stories: The Sketchbook Art of Kerby Rosanes is published and kindly sent to me to review by Racepoint Publishing, an imprint of Quarto. This book is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes, best known for Animorphia and Imagimorphia, but this book is different both in function, format and purpose. It is not actually a colouring book, though all of the illustrations are black line drawings in Kerby’s signature style so of course they can be coloured if you wish, it is actually a reproduction of his own sketchbook with illustrations chronologically organised from 2012 up to early 2016. It is hardback with a soft feel cover which is black with a white wrap around illustration of a whale with a few of his signature alien doodles, it closes with a black elastic strap. The paper is cream, lightly textured and thick, while you can see the black lines of the illustrations of the following pages through it, it held up fantastically to my water-based pens without even the slightest hint of shadowing so you can easily colour this book with water-based pens or pencils, if you wish to colour it at all, alcohol based markers will bleed through. The spine is flexibound, with glue and string and is fairly tight, the images are printed double-sided with some being partial pages, single-pages spreads, double-page spreads or even three-quarter page spreads so a fair number of the images do run across the spine and these can be a little difficult to access though the spine will ease up with use. While I absolutely love this book and it wasn’t designed with colourists in mind, I think it’s a shame that it is so small and that so many of the images enter the spine because it does make them difficult to colour and even to fully appreciate the image because there’s a line down the middle breaking it up. The production quality is really high but I wish it was available as a colouring version in the same format as Animorphia and Imagimorphia. Each image is titled and dated and a few state what or who they were commissioned for but there is very little written commentary aside from the 4 page introduction, the 1 page preface written by Kerby himself, and a double-page spread briefly describing his drawing process; it would have been really interesting to read more information about the design briefs, the purpose of the work, and also the rationale behind the finished piece, and to see them on a larger scale as some of these images are extremely small and really lose their impact when shrunk down (it is unclear what scale any of these images were originally drawn in).

The image content is really varied but it all has Kerby’s signature style. There are lots of morphing animals, objects and scenes that show vast contrast between nature and mechanics, softness and structure, ethereality and reality. There are small drawings and large drawings, some which are much more realistic and others which are filled with alien creatures and the surreal. The images contain a huge number of different animals from deer to bats, birds of all types to sea creatures, foxes to giraffes and so much more. Interspersed with these are skulls, feathers, buildings and structures, mechanical images and doodles. As with all of Kerby’s work, the majority of the images include heavy black shading which isn’t to everyone’s taste but I personally find that it really adds to the movement and reality of the image. Some of the images have black backgrounds and some are drawn entirely in black with thin white lines that could be coloured if you wished, there is a real variety within this book and it truly shows off the versatility and talent of this illustrator.

In terms of mental health, this book is just fascinating to look through let alone colour! The images are so interesting to look at and ponder over and the more you look, the more you notice and see so this is definitely a book that keeps on giving and you’re unlikely to ever tire of it! In many ways, this book is almost too beautiful to colour, but it would look truly stunning if you chose to, though it does of course look finished as it is. The line thickness varies throughout from thin to spindly thin and some are verging on microscopic because the images have been shrunk from the original drawing scale. The intricacy and detail levels also massively vary from large open spaces of animal faces to the teeniest tiniest details that are difficult to even see, let alone to contemplate colouring, this means that it’s essential that you have very good vision and fine motor control if you’re wanting to colour this book, though this won’t be necessary if you’re wanting to just view it as a finished piece of art. I personally found this book to be ideal for mindfulness and distraction, the images are so packed full of detail that you can’t help but become completely immersed and absorbed within this fantasy world and you quickly feel your anxiety and other symptoms melt away. The artwork is breathtakingly beautiful and it really does have to be seen to be believed!

This book is ideal as a work of art, but would also be beautiful for adult colourers to fill with their own colour. You will need very good vision and motor control but the size of these images makes them ideal for bad days as small colouring projects, the format could have been improved for the colouring community but as a reproduction of Kerby’s sketchbook it’s beautifully produced and just fascinating to look through!

If you’d like to purchase a copy it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Sketchy Stories: The Sketchbook Art of Kerby Rosanes
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Sketchy-Stories/9781631061752/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you’re new to Kerby’s work then you can read my reviews of his adult colouring books here: Animorphia and Imagimorphia.

The image below was coloured using Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners.

Imagimorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Imagimorphia is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes, and published by Michael O’Mara Books, this book is from my personal collection and while it’s not due on sale in the UK until May the 5^th and the US until the 21^st of June, it’s currently shipping worldwide from Book Depository (link at the bottom) and from a number of UK bookstores (my copy is from WHSmith and it’s also available in Waterstones). This book is the sequel to the incredibly popular Animorphia, reviewed by me HERE. The first thing I said when flicking through the book, and still now, is WOW! I really liked Animorphia but I love this book! It’s even more unusual and quirky and there is far more variety in the image content too (more on this later). While Animorphia wasn’t to everyone’s taste, it’s one that grows on most people, and Imagimorphia even more so because of the sheer variety of themes and objects found within each picture. I found it a little less overwhelming to know where to start and a bit easier to just dive in and get colouring with this book. The quirkiness and unusual style is absolutely its selling point but this book is also prettier and more nature-filled than the first which was a huge bonus for me.

The book is square, the same size as Animorphia and other bestsellers by JB and MM, it’s paperback with a black card cover with bright yellow lettering and an eagle (UK copy: there is bright green lettering and an owl on the US cover) in Kerby’s signature style which hints at what’s inside. The paper is bright white, very lightly textured and medium thickness, it does shadow with water-based fineliners but doesn’t bleed so you could use them very carefully but always check your pens somewhere inconspicuous to make sure you don’t ruin any reverse images. The paper is good for pencils and allows for a few layers for blending and shading. The ink does transfer a little when pressure is applied so when you’re using pencils pop a scrap piece of paper behind to avoid transfer. The book contains 80 images which are printed double-sided and include single (6) and double-page spreads (including 13 paired images which don’t enter the spine and have separate but similar designs on each page, and 24 traditional double-page spreads which do enter the spine and aren’t stand-alone images). The book has a glue- and stitch-bound spine which is fairly tight on arrival and the images are borderless so you do lose a strip of each image into the spine and unfortunately a couple of the images haven’t been designed very well for this type of spine, most notably the tree image (photographed below). Unlike Animorphia, not all of the images are focused around a realistically drawn animal which then morphs into lots of different creatures and objects, there are still a lot of these but there is much also more variety. Rather than just having alien doodles and objects, there are a number of images with a real steampunk theme including cogs and wheels, others including wires and metal, others still including lots of leaves, flowers, fish, birds and more. There is a much more industrial feel to some images with a gorilla morphing into a skyline of buildings, snails with actual houses on their backs, a camel hump being the setting of a whole city as well as scarab beetles filled with cogs, a metalwork butterfly and even robots and airships. The prettier images are very nature-themed and include a bird morphing into butterflies, a chrysalis pouring out all sorts of leaves and birds and other objects, and the typical animal morphs similar to Animorphia where the morphing is done so seamlessly that it’s difficult to tell where the animal stops and the creatures start. A whole host of animals and objects are featured from a leopard to a train, a birdcage to a tyrannosaurus rex, castles to a horse, skulls to swans, a panda to pineapples and so many more! Kerby’s signature alien creatures don’t feature quite so heavily in this book and the content is spiced up a lot more, for those of you who weren’t a fan of them, you’re sure to like this book a lot more and for those of you who loved them, there are still plenty to keep you interested and entertained so I think the level of them is just right!

In terms of mental health, this is one book that’s absolutely fantastic for distraction! It takes quite a lot of concentration to identify all of the parts of the picture let alone start choosing colours so this really is a book that will help you get through the days when your mind is racing and you need to be able to switch off. It’s not a book for the faint-hearted because each image takes a very long time and a lot of work but it’s so worth it and the effects you can create are amazing! Kerby appears to have taken note of the feedback about the add your own doodle pages and these have been drastically reduced to just two, a tiger where you can doodle the stripes, and a double-page spread of feathers to fill in. I’m really pleased about this because I can’t draw at all so I’m glad that all but 3 of the pages are finished and ready to colour! The images are very cohesive and they’re prettier than those in Animorphia and a bit less dark, most of the images have some shading and texture drawn in but not loads (check out the pictures below to decide if you like this feature or not). The line thickness varies throughout but mainly sticks around the thin mark so you need fairly good vision and fine motor control, but definitely not perfect to enjoy this book! There is also a treasure hunt with 3 pages at the back of the book showing all of the items you can hunt for within the images, followed by thumbnails showing the answers. This book is ideal for those of you who have a fairly good attention span so that you can really get involved in the images and the content is so absorbing that you really do get out of your head and away from your thoughts and become immersed in what you’re colouring. The images have a variety of intricacy and detail levels so you can use simpler images on bad days and more detailed images on days where you’re able to focus better so it’s a great book for those of you with fluctuating conditions.

I would highly recommend this book for male and female colourers who love all things weird, wonderful, and quirky, and who love animals and nature mixed with alien creatures, foliage and metalwork. This book is packed with amazing images that are great fun to colour and I was thrilled to hear that Kerby is currently working on another sequel called Mythomorphia which will be published in 2017 so isn’t available to be pre-ordered yet. This book is stunning, overwhelming at times and one that really gets your creative juices flowing so grab your pencils and get colouring yourself quirky!

Imagimorphia can be purchased here:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552148/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9780399574122/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you’re late to the party and don’t yet have Animorphia then check out my review below or go straight ahead and order it here:
Review – Animorphia
Amazon UK – Animorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552070/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils and the background with Pan Pastels and Marco Raffine pencil blended with Zest-It Blending Solution (Gamsol in the US).

Animorphia Notebook – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Animorphia Notebook is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes and published and kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara books. Colouring notebooks and journals are becoming increasingly popular as people are wanting to combine their love of colouring with their desire to write. Many people associate journaling or writing a diary with adding doodles, but for those of us with no drawing or doodling talent, the colouring notebook solves the problem of wanting to be creative, but not being able to draw. This notebook is fun, quirky, neon, and filled with incredible illustrations from the hugely popular Animorphia colouring book which I’ve reviewed here. This notebook is A5 in size, softback (with a soft-feel, sturdy cover which I’m guessing would be wipe-clean), flexibound (meaning it’ll take some working to get to the centre of the spine but that it’ll hold up to lots of use), and it has a neon orange elastic band to keep it closed when transporting it and to prevent it getting damaged in a bag. The paper is bright white and medium thickness so it is mostly fine with water-based pens but it does shadow a little and can bleed if you’re not careful so do test somewhere inconspicuous. The paper is pretty smooth so it’s not ideal for pencils but you’ll be able to build up a few layers. The pages are double-sided so I would recommend using pencil to write in the journal, or water-based pens rather than ball-points which would dent the paper heavily and take away from its lovely smooth feel. The notebook contains 128 pages and these are a huge mixture of: plain white pages with some small animals and doodles; a few black background pages with animal illustrations; lined pages with doodled borders; and a few double-page spread images with illustrations dotted around, drawn over a corner, or one half. The notebook starts with a “This book belongs to…” page and then continues into the plain paper and lined paper pages (lots of photographs of these below). The images are borderless and do enter the spine which can be reached with some hefty manipulation and patience. The illustrations are all from the original book and sections of these are displayed throughout, with lots of whole animals, as well as alien people on paper aeroplanes, and all sorts of other quirky scenes. One major difference to note is that a large number of the images have splashes of neon orange added to them. I wasn’t keen on this to begin with because it may well interfere with my desired colour schemes, however, this feature has grown on me and it’s quite easily disguised when colouring with bright pens and will be a bright accent on more subtly coloured pages.

In terms of mental health, this notebook would be ideal for those who journal and like to write down their thoughts, feelings, memories and ideas, who also love to colour, because you can seamlessly combine the two without the need for two separate notebooks. The images are quirky, fun and sure to put a smile on your face which is ideal for your dark days. There are spaces around some of the designs where you could add your own doodles and creations but this is by no means necessary and the pages all look finished without the need for doodles. The line thickness is consistent throughout and is medium/thin, so you don’t need perfect vision or fine motor control to enjoy this notebook. The images are intricate and detailed and pretty consistent throughout, but there are large open spaces on some of the animals like the toucan, chameleon and fox where you can go to town with your blending and shading. You will need a fair amount of concentration for the larger images but most of them aren’t huge so they don’t take days and days to complete and you could easily colour them alongside your journaling so that once you get to the end of the notebook the whole thing becomes a beautiful keepsake. There is a huge range of drawing sizes from a little alien on its own, to small scenes, all the way up to double-page spreads so there really is something for any level of functioning – good, bad, and everything in between. The illustrations are ideal for people who also own the book to attempt colour schemes that they might not be brave enough to do their first version of in the book.

I would highly recommend this journal for all Animorphia fans, stationery addicts, and those who love to write and ‘need’ a new notebook. This is wonderfully quirky, beautifully illustrated and ideal for mixing colouring and writing and it’s perfect for your bad mental health days when all you can cope with colouring is a few alien creatures. This journal is well-made, sure to be hard-wearing and with its splash of fluorescent orange throughout it’s sure to brighten up the darkest of days.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this notebook it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Animorphia Notebook
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphia-Notebook-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552230/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you can’t get enough of the Animorphia images then check out these beautiful postcards:
My Review of the Animorphia Postcards
Amazon UK – Animorphia Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Postcards-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552247/?a_aid=colouringitmom

And if you’re late to the Animorphia party and haven’t got yourself a copy of the book yet head here:
My Animorphia Review
Amazon UK – Animorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552070/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you can’t get enough of Kerby’s work then you can pre-order his next title Imagimorphia in both the US and UK versions which have different covers and publishing dates:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552148/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9780399574122/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The images below were coloured using Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners.

Animorphia Postcards: 20 Cards to Colour – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Animorphia Postcards are illustrated by Kerby Rosanes and published and kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara Publishing. This book of postcards contains 20 images that are from the original book of the same name, found reviewed by me here. Each postcard is printed single-sided with one of three small quirky scenes on the reverse, and outlined stamp space and address lines on the back so that you can send them to family, friends and loved ones. The postcards are not perforated but are removable with a similar glue to that of note blocks which means they can be removed with a nice clean edge ready for sending or displaying, it also means the book lays flat for colouring so there is no tricky spine to contend with. The postcards are made of thick, bright white card which didn’t bleed or shadow at all with my water-based pens and will only potentially bleed if you use alcohol markers. The line thickness is consistent throughout and is thin but not very thin, so it’s perfectly colourable for those of you with fairly good vision and fine motor control. The images are a mixture of portrait and landscape styles.

The images contained are all smaller sections of original images from the Animorphia colouring book and these are mostly zoomed in so they are printed in a smaller size than the book but they’re not miniscule or impossible to colour. Some of the images contain one of the morphing animals that Kerby Rosanes is so well-known for, and others are quirky scenes including his alien-like creatures. These postcards are ideal to use fineliners with or fairly sharp pencils so that you can get into all of the corners. The cover is presented in a similar way to the original book with the morphing tiger on the front and an additional bright orange strip down the left-hand side, the tiger takes centre stage and a lovely addition to the postcard cover is some gorgeous silver foiling which adds to the luxurious feel of them. Unlike the book, none of the images included have large spaces for you to doodle in and all of them are “finished” drawings just waiting to be coloured which is a welcome relief to those of us with zero drawing talent! The image content is so striking and unusual and really welcomes whatever colour schemes you fancy trying out, it would look fabulous in monochrome, complimentary colours, neons, brights, there are no limits on what colours you can use and these postcards are sure to stretch you and increase your adventurousness.

In terms of mental health, I would highly recommend these postcards. Postcards make a great, small colouring project for days when your concentration isn’t at its best and they’re also lovely because you can display them or gift them to people. If you’re going to post them, pop them in an envelope to avoid them getting ruined on their journey after your hard work colouring them. The images are intricate and detailed but not stupidly so, they’re all doable and the image content is very quirky, unusual and energising so they’re sure to perk you up on a low-energy day or put a smile on your face when you’re struggling which is perfect for those of us who are mentally ill. There is a really good mix of original images included from the fox to the flamingo, the cockerel to the chameleon, the toucan to the swordfish and plenty of random alien scenes, I think this postcard book contains most of the favourite single-page images from the original book. They’re mostly nature-based so they’re very soothing and they’re not overwhelming in size for your bad days when a whole page in a book just seems too much. They would be a really good project to practice mindfulness with because of the size of them they’d be manageable to colour whilst trying to just focus on your breathing and the present moment. They’re also great for testing out colour schemes before letting loose on the book, or just colouring with no rules and plenty of wacky colour choices! The postcards are beautiful and if you loved Animorphia, you’ll love this scaled down version that you can share with your family and friends.

I would highly recommend these postcards to anyone who liked the Animorphia book and anyone who is looking for postcards to colour. The images are manageable in complexity for many levels of colourers and they’re sure to energise and brighten up your day. They’re really quirky and wonderful to just sit and look at, and they truly come alive when coloured.

If you’d like to purchase a set then they’re published in the UK on the 3^rd of March and can be pre-ordered here:
Amazon UK – Animorphia Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphia-Postcards-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552247/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you can’t get enough of the Animorphia images then you can purchase a copy of the Animorphia Colouring Notebook which I’ve also reviewed:
My Animorphia Notebook Review
Amazon UK – Animorphia Notebook
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphia-Notebook-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552230/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Silent video flick-through

The image below was coloured using Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor pencils.

Animorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Animorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes, and published and very kindly sent to me to review by Michael O’Mara Books. This book is the most unusual and quirky book I’ve seen and while it’s not to everyone’s taste, it’s one that grows on most people. I found it really overwhelming when it arrived because it was just so different and such a mixture between realistic animals and quirky, cartoon aliens and other creatures and objects, that I just had no idea where to start, what colours to use, or whether I even liked it. Having had it for a couple of months I can now say with certainty that I love it and its quirkiness and unusual style is absolutely its selling point. The book is square, the same size as other bestsellers by JB and MM, it’s paperback with a black card cover with glowing orange lettering and a tiger in Kerby’s signature style which hints at what’s inside. The paper is bright white, very lightly textured and medium thickness, it does shadow with water-based fineliners but doesn’t bleed so you could use them very carefully but always check your pens somewhere inconspicuous to make sure you don’t ruin any reverse images. The paper is perfect for pencils and allows for plenty of layers for blending and shading. The ink does transfer a little so when you’re using pencils pop a scrap piece of paper behind to avoid transfer of images. The book contains over 80 images which are printed double-sided and include single and double-page spreads. The book has a glue-bound spine which is fairly tight on arrival and the images are borderless so you do lose a strip of each image into the spine and unfortunately a few of the images haven’t been designed very well for this type of spine, most notably the peacock image (photographed below). The images are all focused around a realistically drawn animal which then morphs (hence the title animorphia) into lots of different creatures and objects, this is done so seamlessly that it’s difficult to tell where the animal stops and the creatures start. A whole host of animals are featured from tigers to elephants, whales to toucans, butterflies to turtles, crocodiles to owls, cockerels to fish and so many more!

In terms of mental health, this is one that’s absolutely fantastic for distraction! It takes quite a lot of concentration to identify all of the parts of the picture let alone start choosing colours so this really is a book that will help you get through the days when your mind is racing and you need to be able to switch off. It’s not a book for the faint-hearted because each image takes a long time and a lot of work but it’s so worth it and the effects you can create are amazing! This is also an ideal book for the really creative amongst you because there are quite a number of images that just have outlines with large sections for you to add your own doodles to and a few written hints of what these could include. I’m personally not a fan of this because I really can’t draw but you could easily just colour those sections in blocks, or use them to practice your blending and shading or why not brave it and give doodling a go? You might just surprise yourself! The majority of the images are finished so if you’re not a fan of doodling, don’t let this put you off because there’s heaps that you can colour that only needs colour adding, no drawing talent needed! The images are really cohesive and aren’t “pretty” or girly so this is an ideal book for male and female colourers. The line thickness varies throughout but mainly sticks around the thin mark so you need fairly good vision and fine motor control, but definitely not perfect to enjoy this book! Some of the pictures are quite heavily shaded and dark which is just something to be aware of, most of the images have some shading and texture drawn in but not loads (check out the pictures below to decide if you like this feature or not). There is also a treasure hunt with 3 pages at the back of the book showing all of the items you can hunt for within the images. This book is ideal for those of you who have a fairly good attention span so that you can really get involved in the images and the content is so absorbing that you really do get out of your head and away from your thoughts and become immersed in what you’re colouring. The images have a variety of intricacy and detail levels so you can use simpler images on bad days and more detailed images on days where you’re able to focus better so it’s a great book for those of you with fluctuating conditions.

I would highly recommend this book for male and female colourers who love to doodle and draw, who love all things weird, wonderful, and quirky, and who love animals and nature mixed with alien creatures. This book is packed with amazing images that are great fun to colour and I was thrilled to hear that Kerby is currently working on a sequel called Imagimorphia which can be pre-ordered below. This book is stunning, overwhelming at times and one that really gets your creative juices flowing so grab your pencils and get colouring yourself quirky!

Animorphia can be purchased here:
Amazon UK – Animorphia: An Extreme Colouring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552070/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you can’t get enough of Animorphia then next month we’ve got some treats coming!
Animorphia Postcards
Amazon UK – Animorphia Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Animorphi-Postcards-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552247/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Animorphia Notebook
Amazon UK – Animorphia Notebook

Imagimorphia can be pre-ordered here in both the US and UK versions which have different covers and publishing dates.
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9781910552148/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Imagimorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Imagimorphi-Kerby-Rosanes/9780399574122/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils and the background with Pan Pastels.