A Grayscale Adult Coloring Book of Animals - Beautiful Creatures

I hardly ever write reviews about anything but felt I couldn't help but tell everyone about this book. It is amazing! I am a beginner when it comes to colouring only having used felt tip pens and having two colouring books before this one but after seeing some before and after pictures from this book I became intrigued and ordered it, even though the shipping cost more than my two original colouring books! (I'm in the UK). I bought some regular pencils and started my first picture in Beautiful Creatures, the cat. After that I was hooked. I've ordered a second book. You don't have to be a great colourer, it's suitable for every level of artist. I can't wait for Nicole's next book! This is the future of colouring!

Very wonderful book. I love line art coloring and I did not know if I could do this. I found it to be very fun. Nicole Stocker did an amazing job on this book. I loved the history that she created this book after imagining color on a black and white photo she saw frequently as a child.

This is a beautiful book of photographs made to color. I was inspired to buy it after I saw some beautiful colored images on line. However, I am finding it very hard to color and am not getting the kind of results that I had hoped. It may be a lack of talent on my part but I would not recommend this to the beginner or even intermediate level colorist.

I was anxious to get this book to use as a guide for drawing animals. It just did not work for me and I find trying to color over the grayscale is not fun for me. The book is good quality and arrived on time it just was not the right item for me.

What a beautiful coloring book!
The pictures are lovely and I look forward to using it soon.
I bought it for my daughter as a Christmas gift.
I love how you can take each picture out and hang it up when you're done.

I found grey scale coloring just before this book came out, and I am in love with the book!! Nicole Stocker did an amazing job making it easy for beginners but also something those that are experienced would love to take on. I am hoping and praying she comes out with more books on other subjects. I am including two of my finished pictures and yes I am a beginner!

I LOVE this coloring book. It really makes me feel like an artist !! I first saw a posting on facebook of the picture of the rooster's head and I thought it was a photo, but found out it was colored with pencils over grayscale. I had never seen anything like it, had never heard of grayscale. I looked for the book on eBay and there were none then looked on the store and found it and it had to be pre-ordered at the time. I waited a little while and ordered it and I am so glad I did. I love the weight of the paper, love the border around the pictures that could be colored if you wanted to and I love the subjects. You can go online and look at the gallery and see how others have colored the same picture and you can decide if you want to color your pictures as naturally as possible or if you want to go abstract with your color. There is also a facebook page for people who have this book and you can post your pictures and be in contact with the author and other people who are coloring this book. I love this book so much I will probably buy another of the same one. And I know I will buy the next book the author !

Very pretty pictures, but they ARE actual black & white photos. You have to be artistic or at least adapt at shading to do these pictures justice. Also colored pencils don't work well on this paper, which is a bit coarse, maybe gel pens are better. Paper is good quality & pictures are one-sided, which is also good for gel pens. This is a good coloring book , just NOT for amateurs.

Though I like the idea of coloring for adults,by using gray images that you then color over, and was excited to try it out. I'm afraid I couldn't get past the ick factor of so many insects, reptiles,unusual animals that I personally couldn't get into coloring. There was no sample images,so I only had the beautiful peacock on the front cover. I also don't like the way the images are framed in a sloppy,heavy handed way in thick black uneven outlines on the page. So, it's basically very washed out photos that you're instructed to color over. I regret this purchase,not enough room for creativity and if you're going to have 80% of your images leaning towards cold blooded creatures, bugs and lizards, then make "that" the subject of the coloring book. Plenty of people like those types of creatures to color. It just wasn't for me.

I guess grayscale is just not for me. The photos are lovely and the paper is high quality, so there's nothing wrong with the product. All that gray--especially the backgrounds-- just puts me off, and also required a heavier hand on the colored pencils than I can manage these days. I'll try to do a few of the ones that I particularly liked-the-look-of, but I'll probably steer clear of this genre unless the pictures are not actual photographs. (Something from someone's pencil drawings might work--I intend to try that.)

Arrived on time. Small pics., ugly black frame, only 1 pic. that I liked, paper eats pencils, not a good value for me. Does have 1 pg. per pic. amd watercolor mark. If you like cows, dogs, snakes, and cats you will like this, also very heavy paper and easy perferations

Book
This book is a very professional looking book - at first glance it could be mistaken for a book of photography! 
At 26.6cm x 23.3cm (10.5. in x 9.2 in) and 106 pages, it is a good size for slipping into a work or school bag, travelling with, or using at home.
The cover is a matte card, complete with a half coloured photograph and a muted title. 
The paper is a great thickness, archival quality paper with a moderate amount of tooth. This means that pencil will layer well, but also that water-based pens and markers and fineliners will not bleed. Alcohol markers will, so please have a few sheets of paper or card behind the image to protect the next page.
The spin is glue bound, preventing pages loosening no matter how much you travel around with it. The spine is very pliable and much easier to use than heavily glue bound books. The pages are also perforated, allowing for easy removal for any purpose.
The paper is also single sided and surrounded by a border - preventing the image from going into the spine, an annoyance for many colourists! The back of each image has a nameplate to allow the colourist to credit their work in the case of gifting or framing or simple removal. 
Nicole Stocker, the creator of this book, has also kindly included a page at the front of the book explaining how to get started with greyscale colouring. There is also an ever expanding area on the Huelish site devoted to greyscale colouring techniques. ([...])

Images
Greyscale colouring has absolutely exploded in the colouring community, and this book is the gold standard for colourists wanting to explore greyscale colouring. 
Simply put greyscale colouring is colouring an image that is not just black and white lines and areas, but contains shading and depth in the image already. This makes the addition of colour much easier, as the shading is completed for you already. Greyscale colouring can be simple, with a large amount of shading and depth already added, or more advanced, with only light areas of shadowing added.
Huelishs' first greyscale colouring book is an extraordinary example of greyscale colouring done right. They have taken great care in selecting images that will suit all abilities of colourists, giving everyone from beginners to lifelong colourists something that will appeal to them. The range of styles and intricacies will also grow with colourists - if you are new to greyscale like myself, this book is a great way to learn and hone your skills!
Beautiful Creatures is filled to the brim with animals of every size and shape, in greyscale format. Each image gives you the opportunity to colour not only the animal, but the scenery and plantlife around it. 
Intricacy is hard to pinpoint, as greyscale images can be as simple or difficult as the colourist chooses. You can choose to simply add colour to each section, or you can make it more difficult by choosing shades for each section.

Health 
The images contained in this book are all nature themed, a great theme for when you may be feeling anxious or in pain. The theme, along with the soothing tones are great to help distract and calm you. 
The great part about greyscale colouring is that it can be adapted depending on your ability. For those who have trouble concentrating or holding pens/pencils, you can choose to do only one section, the ground, a tree, the animal at a time. 
This book would suit those with vision and fine motor impairments, as the images are designed so that the lines are not difficult to distinguish from each other.

This review has been taken from my review site, [...] 

I was disappointed with the pictures in this book. Ugly creatures is more like it. Can't get enthused enough to spend hours coloring in it. The results of the pictures once colored are very lovely. Very real looking. But the subjects are yuck.

Beautiful Creatures Grayscale Coloring Book is a Delight!!! I have yet to see such excellent high quality, acid free archival paper and one sided images in a colouring book. Nicole Stocker has curated 48 adorable grayscale images for us to color. They range from insects to fish, to amphibians, to birds, to reptiles, to mammals.

This is my first grayscale coloring book and I totally enjoyed my first stab at it -- definitely photo-realistic (see my colored-in image). It is not as daunting as it may seem. For those who may feel intimated starting off grayscale coloring, Nicole Stroker has even shared detailed grayscale coloring techniques on her website huelishdotcom. There is even a gallery where you can share your colored pictures. I cannot wait to dive into the rest of the images and for more books from Nicole.

I HIGHLY recommend this coloring book. It is a must for every fervent colorist who would like to test waters with something other than black and white illustrations.

This grayscale coloring book is fantastic, the 48 images are the best I have seen. The paper used is top quality, the pages are single sided and perforated for easy removal if you wish to frame and hang your work or perhaps gift your work to someone.
On the back of the picture there is imprinted a place to sign and date your work, a nice added bonus.
I rec'd this book as a gift and love it, I know you will too.
Garenteed to give you hours of relaxing and enjoyable coloring.

I started colouring by numbers as a small child but left it pretty much alone up until my brother gave me the Secret Garden Colouring Book last summer. I found that find of sprawling enterprise very calming and some how managed to fritter away the weekends, getting up only to make tea. I got about half-way through and while it is still very satisfying, I found myself looking for something different. I saw one of my daughter’s friends using this book recently and she showed me what she was doing. I never would have thought of it. I ordered this for myself and it is surprisingly addictive. Some of them I like to selectively colour as I find the contrasting effect of coloured eyes against greyscale backgrounds very dramatic. I’m on page 44 and still find the results gratifying. I’d recommend this for colorists looking for something different. I’ve seen 12 year olds having even more fun with it, so maybe it works for them, too.

I won this book in a contest and you would have thought I won the lottery !! I was so excited. I was notified on a fri and asked for my address and it was here on mon. Now that's fast. This is so unlike any other coloring book I have, it's paper is way better then any that I have. I thought I would just jump right in and start coloring but I couldn't. I just looked through this book over and over again, to afraid to start coloring. Didn't want to ruin the book. One thing that is so beyond for me is that you can talk to Nicole anytime. If you post anything at all on FB she will respond to you. So after telling her how chicken I was to start, she emailed me a pic to print out on regular paper and practice on. I've colored the swans (or are these pink flamingos....oh boy) about 10 times, and am ready now to actually start in the book. I used colored pencils and it is truly amazing what you can do with these, just changing your color choices. Plus on her website you can post your pics and also see what others have done. I am blown away by this book for sure, have not seen a better one anywhere, she made sure to pick exceptional quality of everything and it shows. I also love that the backs are blank and a nice place to sign and date your work. The way I fell in love with this book was seeing her post of the rooster, I just couldn't get over the fact that she colored this picture, it is amazing. I would give this 10 stars if I could, it is that nice.

I received this bookad a gift from my best friend. I had Ben wanting it. Its even more beautiful than I expected. Nice thick perforated paper. Colored pencils take to it perfectly. I'm sure other mediums do as well but I only use colored oencils. The grayscale is PERFECT!! We all know it's hard to find perfectly Grayscaled images. I'm in love with this book!! I highly recommend this book and her other book!!

Bought this book for my wife for her birthday. She's a big coloring book fan and has all of the usual suspects. I was a bit worried about the gray scale approach because it was so different than the other coloring books she has but I wanted to get her something different and special so I went for it anyway. Thankfully she really loved book and has produced some amazing pieces. Whenever I order her a coloring book as a gift I'm always a bit fearful that it will be one of those cheap feeling books which I know she's not a fan of and I'll end up look bad. Thankfully this book turned out to be high quality i.e. heavy paper, single sided and largish format with substantial feel. She talked me into giving it a try as well. I'm not very artistic but I humored her and colored the snake. Surprisingly it turned out pretty decent (not as good as my wife but respectable) so I'd say you don't have to be super competent to make something that looks nice. Net/net a great gift!

I recently purchased this book after 2 weeks of debating whether or not I would be able to colour grayscale. I must say it is so easy to do, I want 5 more copies so I can colour everything over again in a different way. This is without a doubt they most beautiful book I have ever seen. Bonus, it has a Basenji in it, so I was able to colour my dog exactly as she looks.

The photos in this coloring book are stunning and allow you to be creative as the grayscale provides the base for your artistry. It has helped me recognize the benifits of shading almost to the point of 3D. I am going to purchase a second book to further hone my skills. I am eagerly awaiting a second book by Nicole.

Full disclosure: This book was provided to me in return for a review.
I love this book! I found it to be beautifully arranged, well edited, beautiful photographs, beautifully bound and the concept is fantastic! The book leaves the “painting” wide open for the artist meaning there are no suggestions for colors, or what medium to use. There is a picture of colored pencils on the instruction page, but no recommendation for type or brand. Yes it is true you could use crayons to color the pictures as well as watercolor pencils each with varying results. You have the choice. There are no color suggestions, again leaving the painting wide open for the artist. (Ex: A rose doesn’t always have to be red, pink, white or yellow.) For some this might be a frustration which would lead to hunting a color reference photo to use as a guide. Does the book deliver on its promise to “color over the gray to bring your images to life in this elegantly simple coloring book”? YES! Does it leave some frustrations over lack of guidance? For some yes. However this is no way takes away from the concept itself. The frustration will be a personal choice of how much or how little guidance the artist desires.
Would I recommend buying the book? Absolutely! Well worth the price

If I could give more than more 10 Stars I would this is an amazing greyscale coloring book Nicole Stocker is an amazing artist and she's really outdone herself with her work. the pages on this book is amazing to work on this is one of the nicest coloring books out there I recommend this book 100% I would definitely be buying more of her books

I loved coloring the images in this book. I like a coloring book that offers me a challenge. This one did. When complete, the finished pages are worth framing.The Sand Dollar Coloring Book (Sand Dollar Coloring Books) (Volume 1)