Customer Reviews

Mystical Mandala Coloring Book (Dover Design Coloring Books)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Now, this is cool! If you are an adult enjoying coloring books to reduce stress, you couldn't pick one any better than this one! You might even want to get a second one, because the pictures are on both sides of the page. They are so nice that you might be tempted to cut them out and hang them on the wall.

I just ordered several of the Dover Coloring Books and this was one of my favorites. I don't know anything about Mandala's, but the images in this book are intricate and beautiful and I can't wait to start working with them. I even ordered a back up copy!

This is a great book with great designs. Some of the patters are a little detailed and could be hard to color without sharp points and since they are on both sides of the page it makes it hard to color with marker, which I would prefer. If the designs had been on one side only it would have rated 5 stars.

Friends gave me some art markers as a gift recently, and I quickly became addicted to designs like these. I've searched hundreds of similar products and have "test driven" about 15 of them now. This book turns out to be my favorite. I don't love EVERY design in the book, but I love enough of them that I'm about to order my 3rd copy. Yes, I could (and have tried to) photocopy the pages to avoid buying the book again, but the quality of the copy paper I have isn't very compatible with the Prismacolor Art Markers that I use. That doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't make copies for yourself. I like this product so much that I don't mind spending $3.95, and I think I'm going to order a stack of them. The designs are that satisfying to me. I want to try them out in a variety of color patterns.

These designs offer such satisfying detail in a format that's NOT so small that you have to squint while viewing the page, yet neither are they simplistic, childlike, or so large that using markers results in streaks as you try to fill the space. The scale of the designs lends itself nicely to the Prismacolor art markers I use. If you like to use various shades of the same color, these designs are structured in a way that allows you to experiment wonderfully with that technique.

The quality of the paper isn't way off the charts, but it's a bright optic white and is of a much higher quality than what I've seen in far more expensive products. I'm satisfied with it! Yes, it's true that these images are printed on both sides of the page, so if you use permanent markers like I do, the ink bleeds through, rendering the back side of the page unusable. This is where you'd end up photocopying the other side of the page (if you have access to quality copy paper... if that matters) or buying more copies of the book.

For $3.95 I can't beat this book. I've spend HOURS absorbed in the designs. I posted about 10 of them into the "viewer's pages" section above... hopefully they're visible.

I absolutely recommend this product!

I love it. Am having a ball. I use watercolor crayola crayons and since
they are wet, I can blend the colors togther and get interesting results.
I live in snow country; pretending to be an artist is what I do best
when snowed in. On a more serious note, mandalas do help one focus on
issues in their lives, help create peace where there is chaos, give the
hands someting to do that is creative while giving the mind the space
it needs to process, find closure, etc. The contentment and satisfaction that follows a finshed piece that I know is good, is priceless, a "legal high." I highly recommend, so much so that I am sending my young neice,
a sensitive and talented young artist, some children's mandala coloring books for her birthday.

I'm really enjoying this coloring book. What was so extremely helpful were the customer images provided that previewed what the mandalas look like and what they can look like. That particular customer also suggested using Prismacolor 4-in-1 markers, which are great for smaller areas as well as large. The markers are a bit pricey (about $3 per marker) but go on so nice and look so professional. I'm really getting my money's worth in sheer enjoyment and pleasure with the "finished product."

In my opinion, this book isn't up to it's previous reviews. I find the designs rather repetitive, and not especially imaginative. They also don't seem to be representative of the spirituality of real mandalas.

Still, not too bad, considering the price.

Dover makes some great coloring books that are inexpensive! I am a big fan of dover coloring books, and own a variety of them. The designs are great in this book, I have another mandala coloring book that i paid quite a bit more for, and i prefer this one because the designs are more detailed where as the more expensive book, the designs are broad, and bland. One downside is that the designs are on the front and back of the page, i use colored pencils so i just put a piece of copy paper between each sheet to avoid rubbing off any color. Not a big enough problem for me to quit buying these books. These coloing book, though they are acceptable for kids, are not just for kids at all!

I love this coloring book. Most of us are unable to practice the Mandala sand painting techniques used in Tibet or India for the purpose of meditation. This item does nicely; if you have a full set of colored pencils (I highly recommend the Crayola "Twistables" 30 color package) you are on your way to some peaceful and artistic moments, and you don't have to sweep them away after you complete them! Pencils are best, I did find that markers tend to bleed through and the mandalas are printed on both sides of the pages. Once you get started, you don't want to stop.

The Mandalas are drawn in thick black leaving little space for coloring. Not the best coloring book I've seen!