If you are looking for a creative way to journal and plan out your days, you might really enjoy the relatively unstructured format of this compact, creative planner and journal designed especially for those who love coloring, but handy for all types of creative people. The book is small enough (6 x 9.25″) to fit in a bag for appointments, shopping trips or traveling, and while there are structured monthly calendars and sections for specific purposes, there are also plenty of open pages (most lined, some dot-graphed) for creating your own notes, lists, etc.. Plus there are over 20 designs to color and a few blank charts at the back to swatch your colors.
New this year: the 2024 Creative Companion is available as a paperback book and as a hardcover! The paperback is great if you like to deconstruct your journal to place inside a binder, while the hardcover is sturdy and perfect for tossing in a bag. Both are available on Amazon!
Additionally, there is a companion blank lined journal (with matching cover art) if you need even more room to write, or just want a basic journal … also in paperback and hardcover.
Check out the video Paula Stone Leach created on her YouTube Channel to see the differences between the two versions.
Let your creative side fill this book up as you progress through the year. It’s up to you to turn the “Creative Companion” into a journal that best suits your own creative needs. Cheers to all things creative and meaningful!
It took me some time to come around to the idea of offering the Big Book of Color Charts as a downloadable PDF, but I finally took the plunge and am excited to offer it here on my website (with a discount) and in my Etsy shop. Since shipping the physical book has been prohibitively expensive for those outside of the USA, offering a digital version makes it more accessible and affordable for everyone, plus, you can print out as many pages as you like on your favorite types of paper.
The book, with a few notable updates, is split into 4 different PDFs (to help keep the file size reasonable), plus a “Read-Print-Me” PDF that gives a quick overview of how the digital version is organized and includes a “book pages to PDF pages” index so it’s easier to find what you need.
You can learn more about the contents of the original Artist Edition here. In addition to over 50 pre-labelled charts (some with needed updates and additions) for the most popular colored pencils, markers, watercolor pencils and more, there are blank charts and a ton of Ruby Charm Colors designs to color. Because why have an uninspired spreadsheet when you could have fun putting your pencils to work with some art to color?
You can make this book your own functional work of art!
Even if you already own the printed version of this book, the digital version can be handy if you want to make extra copies of any of the pages. I know a few people who are doing this already. Personally, my “master charts” stay in the spiral-bound book, but I have printed out additional charts that I keep folded in half in my zippered pencil cases for easy access and for travel.
Also, if you use the digital version with a 3-ring binder, you can add in manufacturer or other charts as well.
Printing Tips:
There are so many different printer brands and models out there it would be impossible to give instructions for them all, but there are a few general commonalities. Most all home printers have a print dialog box that pops up when you print something. Look at all the options in that box because you can customize the settings of your print jobs. In addition to telling the printer which pages to print (like 1-5, or 2, 4, 6, 8 or all, for example) you can adjust the size of the image (scale) by chosing a percentage like 100% (or 85% if you want it a little smaller) of, many printers have a “Fit” option which assures that all of the data on the page fits on your sheet of paper. You can also choose whether to print in color or black and white, double-sided or not (if your printer supports color and/or double-sided printing) as well as page orientation. This book should print in the horizontal or landscape format for best results. Some printers have additional settings and most will give you a thumbnail preview of what the page will look like before it prints. If you are not sure what your printer can (or cannot) do, do an online search for the User Manual using the name and model of your printer.
Different printers use different inks. Home-use inkjet printers typically use inks that are not water resistant (and I don’t think any of them are considered waterproof) but I do know that Epson inks are far more water-resistant than the others I have used. It’s always a good idea to let your freshly printed pages dry for a bit before coloring with pencils, but it is especially important to let them dry (maybe even overnight) if you plan on using any wet media. If you are struggling with smudging or bleeding with your printer’s ink, let the page dry, but also consider spraying a workable fixative over your page. That should lock in the printer ink and give you a nice surface to to work on. My favorite is the Krylon Workable Matte Fixatif but Blick makes a wonderful fixative as well. Just be sure to use spray fixatives in a well-ventilated area (away from people and pets) and don’t breathe in the fumes!
Laser printers use toner cartridges. A combination of heat and pressure fuses the toner onto the paper and the toner is considered permanent, so there should be less smudging. But, that depends on the paper you are using so you might have to experiment if you plan on using paper that is textured (like watercolor paper).
Paper:
There are lots of great papers to use when printing coloring pages or pages you want to use for color swatching. I like the Recollections Card Stock (65 lb) found at Michaels craft stores, but I am also fond of the Neenah Premium Cardstock (65 lb). There is a great selection of mixed media paper through Blick, but most of these specialty papers are not sized for printers. You will probably have to trim them down to 8.5 x 11″ (or 8.268 x 11.693 if using A4) if you want to use, for example, a special watercolor paper.
Some of this might seem a little over the top for printing a set of color charts, but if you are really into using certain types of paper for your coloring pages and artwork, having your pencils and watercolors swatched on the same paper you will be using will give you the most accurate results. The beauty of having digital charts is that you could print, for example, your Derwent Inktense chart on plain white cardstock, on grey or tinted cardstock (if you like working with tinted papers) and also on watercolor paper to see how the colors look and behave on each one.
A note about the black pages … there are quite a few! Originally, these black pages were put into the physical book purposely to help prevent colors from bleeding through to the back side of the page. It helped the book stay a little neater. I kept those pages in the digital version but you don’t necessarily need them. You can print your pages one sided only, then place them back to back inside plastic sheet protectors in your binder. If you do decide to print a few black pages (there’s lots of art plus a few black charts) just be aware that these pages will use a ton of ink/toner. Make sure you don’t accidentally print a bunch if you don’t need them.
Always pay attention to which pages you are printing⏤check (and double check) before clicking the print button!
That said, there is definitely use for a few black charts if you like coloring on black paper (which I do, and I know quite a few of you have my Black Magic coloring books and box sets). Black charts let you see which media and colors work well on black and which don’t. Markers are notorious for disappearing on black paper, but some gel pens (the pens advertised as opaque) and most colored pencils can look fantastic on black paper. So do the shimmery mica watercolors made by the lovely Karen Spencer⏤magical, in fact.
There is also a handy chart for comparing whites and blacks which we often use for shadows and highlights. You can see how the brands of white pencils I have look quite different from one another in the photo below. And black pencil brands are really interesting because some have a slight blue tint (like the Derwent Lightfast Midnight black), while others, like the Lightfast Mars Black, has a slight reddish tint. And the Chameleon Black looks more grey than black. The deepest blacks seem to be the Caran d’Ache Luminance and Holbein blacks … and this is partly why I find charting my colors so interesting (and very helpful).
That’s all for now! I’ve been busy trying to get back on track and will have a few new announcements in the coming weeks, so hang tight and stay true to your creative side!
It’s been a while since I posted (sometimes life takes us in crazy directions … and I have a daughter very close to graduation and getting ready for college so that’s thrown things into a very expensive, busy-tizzy time for this mom) but after making the Floral Coyote available on Etsy and my website as a downloadable coloring page, I colored a version on black card stock just to spend some time with my pencils. I haven’t colored much lately and really need to get back to it for my sanity and for some personal inspiration. And honestly, sometimes there’s no better way to chill out and regroup.
The slides below show my progress coloring this piece. I used a mix of Prismacolors to lay down my base layers of color (lots of very light-pressure layers) and then Irojitens toward the end for some burnishing and blending in areas, and for a few details. The Irojiten pencils are fairly hard and sharpen to a really nice point so you can get into small areas, and I like them for adding extra designs to a coloring (like the simple leafy vines toward the end).
In the slides, you can see the slow build-up of layers. I haven’t fully burnished this coloring yet so you will notice a lot of black speckles in the photos. Burnishing will remove them, but for now, I am happy with the coloring and it looks less speckled in person. My camera really picked up the texture of the paper!
I also used a few opaque Sakura gel pens for the embellished dots toward the end.
Here is a still shot of the finale piece, plus a picture of the coloring I did on white for the Etsy and website downloadable, printable coloring page listings. The coloring on white was done with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils, Polychromos pencils, and the Caran d’Ache Buff Titanium pencil. I added extra leaves to that one as well, and used Sakura gel pens and a fine tip Molotow Liquid Chrome Marker for the embellished dots. The card stock warped a bit with the Inktense because I used a bigger waterbrubrush that spit out more water than I usually use. I was impatient … lesson learned (maybe).
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back soon with a few exciting announcements on my blog, as well as in our Facebook group and Instagram. In the meantime, I hope you find time to do a little something creative each and every day!
Hello, coloring friends, it’s time for another shameless plug for my Artist Edition books, and an announcement about the 2023 Creative Companion coming out very soon on Amazon! Plus, I’ll have a few brand new designs coming out soon for Christmas. 😉
First, since my Artist Edition books are printed by a small press and shipped to me in big, heavy boxes, I only offer them a few times a year. I work alone (draw, create, and ship) and shipping is a really big, messy undertaking. My dining room becomes filled with boxes of bubble mailers, tape, books, rolls of stickers, thank you cards and shipping labels so I can process all of my preorders as quickly as possible. It takes me about 8 minutes to pack up a book, write a thank you note, and attach a label and stickers from start to finish (a little RCC trivia for you). Though the whole process can be a bit overwhelming at times, it is also very exciting to drop off all of those packages at my local post office (and the UPS store which is a bit of a drive) knowing that the books will be in their new homes in just a few days.
Why the Artist Editions? Are they better? If you don’t mind what everyone calls “Amazon paper” (which I don’t mind at all with certain colored pencils) then the Artist Editions might not be a big deal, but if you are picky about paper, the Artist Edition books are a step up. In addition to heavier paper, my Artist Edition books are also spiral-bound which helps them lay flat for coloring, and the Charts book has tabbed section dividers.
The Artist Edition of Birdy is a 9″ x 9″ square, spiral-bound, soft-cover book printed on heavier 80# / 120 GSM paper. The Amazon version has the same content, but measures 8.5″ x 8.5″ square, is not spiral-bound, and it is printed on thinner paper. If you have or want this version (it is less expensive than the Artist Edition) keep in mind you can always makes copies of the pages onto your favorite paper (for personal coloring use only, of course, since my work is copyrighted).
The Artist Edition of the Big Book of Color Charts has multiple upgrades from the original, less-expensive Amazon version. The Artist Edition includes tabbed section dividers, spiral-binding, and heavier 80# / 120 GSM paper. Pages with charts for watercolor pencils, inks and markers have a black backing which helps lessen bleed-through.
The Artist Edition also includes additional notes about the colored pencils (information about the sets), pastel pencils, watercolor pencils, inks and markers; revised color names for brands that have changed their color names & numbers (since the original book was released on Amazon); new designs to color; and the new Derwent Chromaflow colored pencils have been added as well. There are blank charts at the end of the book (for extra brands or sets you may have that are not in the book, or for organizing colors and color combinations the way you prefer) and expanded room for the color family charts. You can learn more about this book here.
This will be the last time I print the Artist Edition of the Big Book of Color Charts and the new Artist Edition of Birdy this year. Both books can be preordered here as well as here through my Etsy shop, and they will begin shipping this month – just in time for the holidays and gift-giving season! Both sell out fairly quickly, and I won’t be printing either of these books again until late spring, 2023, most likely.
My next big project is to focus on coming up with new artwork for a future coloring book (and downloadable PDFs, too). Plus, I need some time to paint! I’ve got two big empty canvases sitting in a lonely corner of my studio just waiting for splashes of color. I don’t know about you, but I need to do more art!
Here’s a sneak peek at the cover (and spine) and a few pages from the book. It is the same 6″ x 9.25″ format as the 2022 Creative Companion (small enough to fit in a bag); has around 20 designs to color; monthly calendars for 2023; plenty of room to write, make lists, create and track special projects, and more.
It is a semi-structured Organizer and Art Journal meant to be personalized by the user, and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
That’s all the excitement for now! I’ll be posting announcements on social media when the 2023 Creative Companion is available on Amazon, but if you can always peek at my Amazon Author Page to check for yourself. You might even see it before I do!
Due to a flood of requests since the fourth run of books sold out, I opened up preorders for the Artist Edition of the Big Book of Color Charts. These books are printed in small batches just a few times a year. This is an exact reprint of the previous Artist Edition book and they sell out pretty quickly. To learn more about this book and see the full list of color charts, click here.
Please note that shipping starts at the end of May, 2023 in the order of which orders are received. Preorders are available here on my websiteand also here through my Etsy shop – whichever you prefer.
Have you ever noticed how different your actual pencil colors look on paper compared to what’s been printed on the tin or on the pre-printed color chart that came with your set? Sometimes it’s a big surprise, other times a disappointment. This is why I use my personal copy of the charts book every time I pull out my pencils to color. Swatching and using color charts isn’t for everyone (it can be tedious no doubt), but I find having exact color representations of my pencils and other media helps me get the results I want while coloring.
The Artist Edition of this book comes with 5 tabbed sections, but I added removable tabs on the right side of the book for specific pencils I use a lot. You can pick these up at just about any office supply store.
Since I had already filled out many of the pages from the very first edition of this book (which is not spiral-bound and on thinner paper), I removed them from the book and keep them as extra charts in some of my pencils cases as a quick reference. This less expensive version of the charts book is here on Amazon.
Finally, even if you don’t love swatching, or if you don’t plan on collecting all of the brands in the book, there is lots to color! Almost every page has a little something to splash some color on, and there are full coloring pages scattered throughout as well. I love the little designs when I don’t have a lot of time to tackle a new full size coloring page, but really want to play around with my pencils. The designs in this book are great for experimenting, too. All of the art in this book was drawn by me … no artificial intelligence (AI) generated art or cheesy clip art. A heartfelt thank you to all who support my work – I appreciate you!
That’s all for now. Hope you are finding time for creativity – it’s good for the heart and soul.
I don’t know about you, but I am ready to start fresh for 2022. I am done with 2021 and counting the days until it is over. Back in August and September, I had plans to push myself and my little business for the holidays, but just before Halloween even hit, a glut of red and green things started appearing in the stores. My stomach turned and I hit the brakes. It’s not all about consuming and accumulating more junk. It’s not about the frantic sales and the money to be made during Christmas, and it’s not about any religious sentiments or beliefs for me either. It’s about slowing down⏤my natural instinct to hibernate and rest. Time to reflect and take stock by appreciating the here and now and what we have (which is what we should be doing each and every day, yes?). And so I have been doing some artwork because that is my sanctuary⏤the place where things make sense to me.
In addition to a drawing a new design for coloring (more on the Winter Wolves below) I have been taking pages out of my newest Creative Companion (2022) and coloring them. The first one I completed was Juno (an arty nod to the newest member of my family). I used a blade to cut the image out of the book (which is printed on what many know as “Create Space” paper) and used mostly Tombow Irojiten pencils. I also used a Caran d’Ache Buff Titanium pencil (801 to be precise) to blend my colors and give the image a softer, almost timeworn, vintage look. A Caran d’Ache Blender Bright stick was also used to bring up some of the colors a notch (saturate them). If you use the colorless Blender Bright, be sure it is your final layer because it does have a tendency to crush what’s left of your paper tooth. The good news is that while the Blender Bright mixes and unifies your colors, it also burnishes them with a somewhat glossy finish that “locks” them in and can make the treated areas of your art water-resistant. It also increases lightfastness so even if your colored pencils are not highly rated, the Blender Bright will protect them from fading a bit.
Another tool I use when coloring is, of course, my color charts. I started charting my pencils in the original Big Book of Color Charts (on Amazon) last year, but once I had my own spiral-bound copy of the Artists Edition of the book that came out this year, I cut pages out of the original book and folded them to fit inside my zippered pencil cases for quick reference. It works really well, especially when my desk starts to get a little crowded, and I don’t feel like the time I put into charting my favorite brands in the original book has gone to waste. I use the heck out of my charts!
The second piece I colored was a fancy little bird using the same Irojiten pencils and Caran d’Ache blenders. I grabbed a little video of the process (layers of Irojiten, blending with the Buff Titanium and the Blender Bright) so you can see what I am talking about.
Here is the finished bird. The original line art for this design in the 2022 Creative Companion does not have much in the background, so I added the cloud shapes and used sharp Irojitens to draw designs (mostly vines, dots and flowers) over two light layers of background color. From there, I used the Buff Titanium (and the white Luminance pencil) to soften and blend. For the brown branch, used the Blender Bright so my colors were more saturated and intense (instead of soft and muted).
Next, I colored a cat and then a horse from the Creative Companion using the same technique⏤same materials, same paper. It’s a technique that I usually seem to gravitate toward⏤my style maybe? It’s something I have been thinking about lately as I watch other colorists foster their owns styles whether they realize they are developing them or not. Are there any colorists you know who, when seeing their work, you know it’s theirs right away?
I also hate to admit this since I can be a big paper snob, but sometimes I really, really enjoy working on the “Create Space” paper. It has nice tooth and is pretty tough even though it is definitely on the thin side, and for this particular technique I use, it works great⏤better than some of the smoother card stocks I typically use. For what it’s worth … you can buy the best of the best (paper and pencils and paints) but they all have their own personalities and some play together better than others. It’s all in the combo so never be afraid to experiment to see what works best for you and the art supplies, paper and books you have available.
So the Winter Wolves … if you made it this far, I have something exciting to share. This new design is available on Etsy and here on my website, but if you belong to the Ruby Charm Colors Facebook community, I am offering it as a free download as a special thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through 2021–all my tragedies and milestones . I truly appreciate each and every one of you!
In the meantime, enjoy these two colorings of the Winter Wolves by Paula Stone Leach (left) and Betty Hung (right)⏤I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who are willing to color my lines!
Have a wonderful holiday season everyone⏤stay healthy and stay creative!
Update: The Artist Edition of the Big Book of Colors Charts has sold out twice since first publication! It is now available again in limited quantities and won’t be reprinted until fall, 2022.
July 9, 2021: Well, it’s finally being printed as we speak and I am so excited! The second author proof I received in the mail is a gorgeous beast of a book and I can’t wait until my shipment of 150 book arrives at my door on July 22 so I can start sending them out on Friday July 23. What a nerve-wracking yet thrilling milestone, especially considering the year I have had so far!
❤️ BIG LOVE ❤️ and massive thanks to everyone who kept encouraging me to keep going and get it done⏤you are all amazing creatures and I appreciate you!
A new design for your coloring enjoyment! These two Fancy Birds are ready for some color and are offered here on my website before they head to my Etsy shop next week.
My coloring team tested out this design a few weeks ago (thanks, ladies!) and had a virtual reveal when Lora, Paula and Betty finished coloring them. It’s so much fun to see them all pop up on my screen, and it is interesting to see how each colorist had their own unique vision in regards to color palettes, texture, pencils and paper.
The first coloring (above) was done by Betty Hung using Derwent Lightfast colored pencils (found on Blick through this affiliate link). Some of you might recognize Betty’s coloring style by her gorgeous color choices, blending, and subtle leafy additions to the background. Her vision was tropical and she certainly pulled it off with all those rich greens.
The next coloring (above) was done by Lora King using a mix of Derwent Chromaflow, Holbein and a few Lightfast pencils as well. Lora wanted to accentuate the Art Deco style of the line drawing, and I feel she was successful. The white Chromaflow pencil was used beautifully to make the flowers, globes and details on the birds pop against the grey background, and the oranges and reds used for the birds create an eye-catching focal point.
The third coloring, by Paula Stone Leach, is soft yet vibrant, and also feels very jungle-like but more steamy. I think the Derwent Chromaflow colored pencils worked beautifully for her due to how well they lay down color and are quite rich. Paula and Betty (unknown to one another at the time) used similar color palettes, but different aspects of the art (like the branches) appear more shadowy and recede into the background in Paula’s coloring. I think this is why it feels “steamy” to me⏤as though we are deep in that jungle watching her beautiful birds.
You may notice that I am now adding more watermarks to the art I post online … I know it can be distracting to a degree, however art theft online is becoming an issue and I am tired of people stealing my designs and colorings by friends and selling them commercially. It’s becoming a problem, sadly. They cut off my copyright info and feel they have the right to do whatever they want with my art. So not cool. This is how I put food on the table and pay my bills. So on behalf of artists everywhere, if you see something that doesn’t feel right, reach out to the artist(s) to be sure they are aware of potential copyright infringement and theft.
But on a happier note – Paula was so pleased with her bird coloring that she framed it and hung it in her coloring space⏤how fun is that?!
Such a bright, peaceful space to work in, and the birds look wonderful framed on the wall! The photos below show the framed version and Paula’s coloring with the Chromaflow pencils.
I hope you are all finding time to color and be sure to check out this blog post for information on how to WIN A SET of the Derwent Chromaflows all your own! And if you want to color the birds, they can be found right here.
That’s all for now, my friends! Happy coloring!
Blick has a wonderful selection of art supplies for coloring and more, and I typically only link to products I have personally used and like to use. As a Blick Affiliate, I may earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase through my website and/ or blog using links to specific products on Blick’s website. This does not affect your shopping experience or your privacy, but earning a small commission does help me continue my work as an independent artist. Thank you!
