Dawson can’t even handle this book
Quick little background on me. I LOVE the ocean. I practically grew up in the ocean. If I wasn’t on my parents boat (it’s name was “The Laura E.” #SpoiledPrincess #YoungestChildSyndrome #BestBoatNameEVER), then I was at the beach as a child. My mission in life is to bring about shark awareness, love, and understanding (#ProSharkPropaganda). So take my obsession with the ocean and mix it with the need to color all the time and what to we get? Well my friends, we get a maelstrom of feels centered around a coloring book. Why yes I am 31 years old, why do you ask?
So clearly, I am a weirdo. Having established that, let’s talk about Johanna Basford’s new book Lost Ocean and all the reasons why I love it.
First of all, LOOK AT IT!!
It screams at you to color it.
SHARKS!
SKULLS!
There is even a search inside the book.
SEARCHES!
The pages are super thick and a joy to color on. I use wide range of coloring utensils. I’m somewhat of a coloring pro. *dusts off shoulders proudly*. OK, or not at all, but I do like to use nice pencils and pens. For this book there are an abundance of very small detailed drawings, which I LOVE, so I bought: Plinrise HM – 001 Fineliner Pens. I also am a huge gel pen fan. I got just this set here: Gel Writer – Premium Gel Pens. They come in a nifty stand which I am of course super OCD about putting every color back in it’s rightful place. The only slight downer to this book that I found was in the gel pens. Because the pages are so smooth and amazing to color on, there is no “teeth” or grittiness in the pages. So heads up, it’ll take the gels just a bit to dry, be aware of where you hands are, I smudged a bit before I realized it. I was really sad.
Tools of the trade (desk shark not needed, but helps to ward off distractions)
Fishies!
Fineliner pens y’all get them!
See the smudges? So sad. I did the outlining filigree in gel and didn’t realize it needed to dry. #Tragic
My fineliner pen game is so on point.
I refuse to admit to how many coloring books I currently own. What I will admit to however, is that this coloring book has quickly surpassed all the others and is currently holding a top spot in my heart. Maybe it’s because of my deep love for the sea, maybe it’s because Johanna Basford is a super talented artist that knocked it out of the park with Lost Ocean; either way I don’t care. I already know that this book is going to be completely colored in some day. When that day happens, we can only hope Basford has another coloring treasure ready to be released to help feed my fix. Otherwise, I’ll have to get back to that book I’ve been trying to write.
Look at that computer, clearly someone has been procrastinating for a LONG time
