Coloring Book Giveaway: Mandalas by Wendy Piersall

Everybody's doing it! Adult coloring is the new meditation. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's creative, and it's calming.

Artist Wendy Piersall has put together two mandala collections for those of us who like to color. Coloring Flower Mandalas, published just this spring, contains thirty designs inspired by the beautiful blooms we find in our gardens and in nature. The designs in her earlier book, Coloring Animal Mandalas, span the animal kingdom from butterflies to elephants to dragons. Together the books offer hours of quiet enjoyment.

I love that I can take Piersall's designs in several directions, coloring the mandalas in realistic colors, in fanciful colors, and in whatever combination I want. Sometimes I fill in each area with a different pencil, and other times I combine spaces or divide spaces to make my finished picture unique.

I'm always curious about other people's coloring habits, so I'll share mine. I like to listen to music or an audiobook when I color. I usually work on a picture over the course of a few days, rather than rushing through all in one go. I generally work on a motif by motif basis, rather than start in one area and color from there. Finally, I photocopy the page from the book so I can start over if I don't like my decisions or in case I want to color the mandala again in a different style. Do you have any coloring routines?

Here are two examples of my work. The left one comes from the flower book and the right one from the animal book. Aren't they cool? I think so.

I'm so excited to be able to offer one of you (with a U.S. mailing address) a super coloring package, thanks to Ulysses Press. One lucky reader will get a copy of each of Piersall's books.

But what's the point of a coloring book if you don't have the supplies. So in addition to the books, the winner will also get a pack of 24 Prismacolor pencils! That way you'll be able to get busy coloring right away! BTW: These are the same brand of pencils I use to color my mandalas.

All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is to fill out the following form. I'll pick a winner via random number generator on July 24. Once the winner has been confirmed, I'll erase all personal information from my computer. Good luck!