by Maria Ljungeld
Published by Pagina förlag on September 2016
Style: double page printing
Pages: 96
Format: Card cover with fold out, Glue & Stitched
Goodreads
Hand-drawn mandalas you've never seen before! Mandala is a popular form of creative mindfulness therapy. In the coloring book MY MANDALA deviating from the standard format illustrator, creating imaginative works of everything from owls to electric guitars. For those tired of the traditional version, this will be a fun challenge.
Min Mandala En Malarbok Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the review of Min Mandala Coloring Book by Maria Ljungeld.
Min Mandala En Malarbok Review
Maria Ljungeld is a Finnish artist and illustrator from Helsinki. Maria was one of the first artists from a Nordic country to provide coloring pages for grown ups. The idea of creating the pages grew from her new role as a mother and the need to meditate through the act of drawing.
Maria’s mandalas differ from those that you may be used to seeing in that a number of objects are incorporated within them.  This makes them interesting visually and appealing to color.  I was attracted to this book because I have been enjoying coloring mandalas a lot lately.   At the moment, I have a lot of job stress, and have found that just coloring for a few minutes on a mandala before I go to work is really soothing.   If you are stressed and feel the need for just some relaxing coloring, I really cannot recommend mandalas enough to help you.
Cover & Layout
The cover of Min Mandala Coloring Book is a plain card with fold out flaps.    The front cover has been decorated in pink and yellow ink with the title incorporated into the petals of the flower in gold foil.     The inner cover is decorated with some smaller colored flowers that you can color if you wished. The front cover gives the casual shopper an idea of what is inside this book showing a mandala as a flower design.
Text in Swedish has been placed on the back cover.
The book measures approximately 25cm x 25cm.
Ancillary Pages
The front cover has been reproduced as a title page for you to color in as well as in the coloring book pages.  I really like when the cover art immediately appears in a book as it reassures me about the book, and always seems to be a lovely way of easing into the book.   Copyright information has been shown over page. A short message, in Swedish follows and on the reverse there is a note from the artist.   This page would be the best spot to test out your markers and mediums and see how they react with the paper, and your coloring style as there is no danger of damaging an illustration on it.
At the rear of the book there are 4 pages of “blank” mandala templates for you to presumably design your own. The final page contains a thank you from the artist, Maria Ljungeld.
Layout
The art work has been printed on both sides of the off white, medium quality paper.  All of the images have been orientated portrait style and are well centered and positioned on the page away from the spine.   The book folds over quite nicely and it should not present a problem to a colorist when coloring in the book.    All of the illustrations are singe page designs and there are no double page scenes in the coloring book.
Illustrations
Often we tend to bypass coloring mandalas in favor of coloring cute little bunnies or doe eyed girls.      I really do think that there is a place in every colorist’s home for a well made and well designed mandala coloring book.    The act of coloring the simple design can be so relaxing, and give you an opportunity to just enjoy the act of coloring without worrying about techniques and other colorist problems 🙂
In Min Mandala, Maria has created mandalas that are very different from other mandala based coloring books.    As you would expect there are abstract and geometric designs, but what really appeals to me are the theme based mandalas in the book.
There are mandala designs incorporating different images within them to form a theme.  This gives interest to the design and makes it an appealing book for the different moods that you may have.
You may find a cute little lighthouse in a mandala, or even an elaborate design incorporating foxes and owls.  She has managed to provide a number of different styles from feminine and dainty designs full of hearts and flowers to robust mandalas featuring tools.   The baker in me loved the mandala based on croissants and coffee or the kitchen themed mandala featuring pastry making tools.
You can enjoy the fall season by coloring leaves that take on a new dimension when they appear in a loose mandala design.    There are some themes that Maria has incorporated that I haven’t seen before in a mandala book, like her radio based mandala including an “on air’ microphone or the elaborate chain mandala complete with lock and key.
The images are quirky and fun and she really has managed to do something completely different in a mandala book.   The quirkiness of the “tools mandalas” makes me laugh and the two page illustrations featuring guitars makes me nostalgic for all the great musicians we seem to have lost in 2016.
Min Mandala Image Gallery
Please click on an image to see more detail.
[foogallery id=”5071″]Where to buy Min Mandala en Malarbok
Min Mandala en Malarbok has only been released in Sweden at this stage.   I purchased my copy from Pen Store where I used to buy my Swedish coloring books.  Their service is always excellent and they are very prompt with sending out your coloring books.
Printworks the publishers of this book, Â have since opened a marketplace to sell coloring books among other things. Â International customers can find the coloring book here which has lower shipping costs than Pen Store.
Happy coloring x
Lea
Leave a Comment