Graphic Coloring Book Page With Vector Graphics

I'm making a series of images that will eventually part of a downloadable online coloring book. What I like about an online format versus a printed one is that there are so many programs and so many techniques to get what you want from that.

• Drawing supplies,
• paper,
• pen,
• marker,
• pencils,
• eraser,
• coloring supplies,
• rulers
• digital art programs,
• tracing light tables
• Ai Programs maybe,
• (anything goes)
• Some kids or adults to test your designs

There are many kinds of coloring books. I have only recently learned of the Reverse Coloring book, where your objective is to find the lines that define objects in some blurry or undefined colored papers. I'm not there yet with this project, but I'm looking to see what evolves as I keep pairing words with images. The words you see are chosen by a friend who is collaborating with me, someone who is known for the slogan "May We All Win".

And there are many reasons people choose to color. As I have recently read in her latest book "I Curse you with Joy", writer-comedian-actress Tiffany Haddish used coloring books as an "Empathy test" for her boyfriends to help her make decisions about whether or not to take the relationship further. So when you come up with your images, it does help to come up with a theme or a strategy for how you want to maintain the interest of the reader.

I know that positive affirmations are a bit redundant these days, so eventually, I'll have to find a way to break out of the mold and provide something more insightful somehow.

Aside from testing the design in pencils and vector programs, you can also test it with Generative Ai image programs if that helps you think more creatively. If you haven't tried Adobe Express or Canva, those are the two I use the most often, but there are a myriad of free apps and other things to try on phones and your computer.

One of the most fundamental things you can do as an artist is test your work. So if this is a coloring page, You will eventually want to print it and color it, especially because it's always helpful to have samples. The other reason you might want to test it out is that there are always people you can find, be it at a coffee shop or a church, whereever where you can give them your business card, one sample page to color, and ask them to send you comments or a picture of the finished artwork.

When you make a coloring book it is a collaboration. Find your audience, cater to them, and make sure it makes sense to them or appeals to them in some way.

You may want to consider hiring an artist who could vectorize your images, or using Amadine, Illustrator or any other vector program and do it yourself. It's nice to have clean sharp lines, and it will ultimately give a pencil drawing a very different look. Decide for yourself which style looks best for your work, and make sure that also fits your idea of what you're representing.

I highly recommend also doing your R&D, looking at similar coloring books out there and seeing how it matches up. Contact some authors if you like as well to see if any collaborations are possible, if not advice.

Are you part of a support group? Consider asking the leaders if it would be alright to share your work there and test your designs out as part of a group meeting.

Admittedly, I'm not experienced in this part yet, but certainly you can always turn whatever you make into a pdf booklet and sell it from any online store like etsy or printify. Whether you want to go to actual publishers or start an online fundraising campaign for it is another route. Some people who are artists also like using something like Patreon, which is another possibility, for instance if you prefer to keep all your books free of charge, and only collect from true fans while being able to use your pdfs as a platform to promote your work.

I hope this helps someone with making their artwork viable. :)