My First Coloring Book!

Written By Erika Edwards

I published my first coloring book! Well, my first book actually. I started this project knowing I wanted to create a coloring book but not knowing how I was going to do it. As an artist with ADHD, my life has been filled with big ideas that lead to unfinished projects, and I really didn’t want this book to be another one added to the pile. I knew that I struggle with creating things that feel repetitive, like themed illustrations, so I decided reimagining a public domain work as a coloring book might be a good way to take some of that pressure off. I went digging through various public domain sources and found what I was looking for in the digital collections on the New York Public Library website.

La plante et ses applications ornementales is an 1896 French compendium of patterns and illustrations created by various artists. It was meant to be used as inspiration for artisans and craftsmen who wished to include floral and botanical themes in their work. While the name, The Plant and Its Ornamental Applications in English, is pretty boring, the content of the book is definitely not! Being from 1896, the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements are on full display in its pages featuring scrolling vines and tons of detail. These are my favorite art styles, so I knew this was going to be the subject of my coloring book.

Coloring a page from the book

My ADHD hyperfocus kicked in immediately, and I spent the next 3 weeks redrawing the images in Procreate. This was over Christmas, and my whole family can attest that I spent pretty much every waking moment with my IPad in my lap. And once I had the drawings finished, I spent the next 2-3 weeks planning the layout in Illustrator. My inexperience caused many setbacks, but spurred on by excitement and timely ADHD treatment, I kept going. And I am so happy with the result.

Art Nouveau Floral Patterns is a beautiful coloring book with 69 full coloring pages of patterns, borders, and botanical illustrations of 23 flowering plants. The pages contain varying levels of detail and line weights, making this a fun coloring experience. If you love flowers, art history, and detailed coloring, you will love this book.

If you own a shop or purchase for one and are interested in carrying my book, feel free to reach out to me via my contact form for wholesale information.



Erika Edwards