Teacup Kittens by Kayomi Harai features 79 pages of feline whimsy; 32 of which are actual coloring pages. These are perforated for easy removal. Ten of the coloring pages have a removable section on the bottom of the page that features a color palette suggestion, coloring tips and a small, colored version of the design for inspiration. These 10 pages are all portrait-oriented, and the rest of the full-page designs feature an assortment of landscape and portrait-oriented designs.
Kayomi also invites us into her home with a view of her creative space, and she introduces us to her real-life feline helpers (all rescued from animal shelters).
The remaining pages, printed in full color, feature tutorials and completed images in different sizes (from full-page to sticker size) for inspiration. If you prefer to not follow any guidelines, of course you don’t have to.
While Kayomi explains different techniques in detail, she always encourages the readers to explore their own creativity and use any colors and media they want. Since the designs that you color are single-sided, this book lends itself to exploration of different media.
There’s one important tutorial though that I especially recommend: How to color cat’s eyes because these kittens, while whimsical, feature very realistic, expressive eyes. You get a detailed picture with each of the seven steps, and no special tools are required.
I also highly appreciate one other important detail: The kittens have some shaded areas where the fur can be highlighted in order to get a realistic, fluffy look. It's not quite as pronounced as on a grayscale image, so you can choose to ignore the suggestions and color over the slight gray areas to create your own highlights. I find them extremely helpful because I am new to coloring fur.
Like the title of the book suggests, many of the kittens pop out of cute little cups. Some designs include other vessels like a flower pot, watering can, bucket and a boat. You also have a kitten on a star, the moon, and on a mailbox.
While the designs are single-sided, a plus for many colorists, the back of each page wasn’t wasted: There is a lovely saying on each back page, along with the title of the picture. There is also room for you to add colorists name and completion date (or whatever notes you wish to add). Some of the sayings are relevant to cats, others are quotes that relate to the feeling of the image on the corresponding side.
What makes this book different from other kitten-themed coloring books?
- A lot of the kittens engage in actions. They’re personified because they perform activities like playing a violin, holding flowers, mailing an envelope, eating a water melon, swinging on a rope, fishing, reading a book, etc.
- Some of the kittens are dressed up like other animals. Examples include lady bugs, dragonfly, bee, cow, butterfly and frog. You also have an angel and a cute witch kitty.
- Many of the kittens represent different season and holidays. You can find themed kittens for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, birthday, spring, autumn, gardening, and celestial. (If you want all-out winter and Christmas, Kayomi has a coloring book out called Santa’s Furry Helpers).
Teacup Kittens, available at Amazon, is perfect for colorists who like participating in themed challenges (due to the different kitty settings). for those who enjoy whimsy and anyone who just wants to simply feel good and happy. I can't help smiling whenever I leaf through this book. Of course, if you love cats and kittens, this is a must have as well. If you appreciate high-quality art, you'll relish owning a coloring book by a renowned artists whose images are licensed globally and adorn many items. To see some of Kayomi's beautiful art, check out her online gallery.
This is the first picture I colored from this book.
I used assorted colored pencils and a gel pen for the whiskers.
For the Halloween teacup kitty, I used the color palette and suggestion given here.
For my second kitten from this book, I modeled the flower behind the kitty after sunflowers that I have grown (yes, sunflowers come in other colors besides yellow).
I did stay with the color palette for the cat mostly, but added some darker tones. Assorted colored pencils.
On this one, I tried doing more of my own thing. I used gel pens for all the cup decorations and the presents.
I used two different silver colored pencils and a black for the kitten's fur.
Here is a picture with flash to show the glitter gel pen.
I modeled this one after the cover of the book, but did the cat differently. The black dots on the lady bugs and kitty wings were colored with gel pens, everything else was done with assorted colored pencils.
