Member Reviews

"Create Beautiful: A Chic Coloring and Artist-Inspiration Book" by Lola Sánchez Herrero and Ana Sanchez-Gal is a visually stunning guide that will ignite your creative spark. With 35 chic projects and a focus on modern aesthetics, this book is a treasure trove of inspiration for artists of all levels.

One of the highlights of "Create Beautiful" is its emphasis on mindfulness and self-expression. The projects are not just about creating art; they're about reconnecting with yourself and finding joy in the creative process. Whether you're a beginner looking to explore your artistic side or an experienced artist seeking new ideas, this book offers something for everyone.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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"Create Beautiful: A Chic Coloring and Artist-Inspiration Book" by Lola Sánchez Herrero and Ana Sanchez-Gal is a delightful coloring book that invites artists of all levels to unleash their creativity. The intricate designs and artist-inspired pages provide a canvas for personal expression. With a chic and stylish aesthetic, this book offers a unique coloring experience that's both relaxing and inspiring. It's a perfect companion for anyone seeking to add a touch of elegance to their creative pursuits.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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This is the perfect book to help get your creative juices flowing. It is full of creative projects for you to attempt and put your own spin on.

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There's nothing wrong with this book, but it's VERY basic, in my opinion. I picked this book up as a book to get some ideas for my house but I found this to be way too simplistic for anyone who has done any crafting before.

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This is a good step by step guide to creating simple art pieces.
You can take these skills and use the ideas as inspiration to create a variety of pieces.

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Create Beautiful: A Chic Coloring and Artist-Inspiration Book by Lola Sánchez Herrero and Ana Sanchez-Gal has a beautiful cover but not a lot of substance in the book itself. Disappointing. #CreateBeautiful #NetGalley

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This cover is amazing and I really enjoyed the whole book. I loved every page and really felt like I brought out my inner artist when decorating and coloring these pages.

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This would be a good instruction book for people who do not consider themselves creative or artistic but want to create art for their walls. It's literally a step-by-step guide to reproducing their simple art pieces. You often need to spend a fair amount on supplies. The styles of art were not really my thing -- very glittery, pastel, gold, pop kind of stuff. Younger audiences are likely to find it inspiring and the start of it has good basic art supply information.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

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What a beautiful and inspiring book! I was immediately drawn in by the gorgeous cover and love the overall style and colour palette of the book. As someone fairly new to mixed media, this gave me some great new ideas to try. I loved the illustrated introduction to the different types of paint and examples of colour palettes that work well together. I have already tried the Rising Sun exercise and next on the list is the Single Line Portrait. My 7 year old daughter decided she wanted to copy one of the Parisian themed illustrations herself so it’s fair to say the exercises in this book extend across all age ranges! I was less keen on the more glitter themed projects (but that’s more my own personal style/choice). I would say this is the perfect book for someone who loves art but maybe hasn’t done it for a while and is looking for some new inspiration. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC - I have really enjoyed reading and experimenting with the exercises.

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This book is really cool, it shows how to create art and has small or bigger projects we can tackle in an afternoon or a few days. I specifically enjoy having the color palette references, definitely a keeper.

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I was drawn to the cover and the use of colour in this book and was intrigued to see what it contained. Not being very confident with creating my own art and knowing where to start this was a very good resource. It had some pretty pictures and inspiring projects. More so suited as a gentle guidance for someone wanting to start a project and learning about the different mediums and materials then an experienced person. The colour mixing was great and offered many different ideas and the projects were easy enough to follow and re-create or build upon. It was such a pleasure to look through this and take in all the vibrancy and colours and I often find myself flipping through for colour inspiration and the enjoyment of looking at pretty things.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

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Content:
Because of its cover, I was directly interested in the book. The book is divided into different sections. In the first one they talk about materials, in the second one you can find your own creative projects that you can implement and the book ends with a few inspiration pages.

Opinion:
The book is for someone who is just starting to paint their own pictures a super beginner book. Everything is easily explained and the techniques are also at a very easy level. Thus, you quickly get the first, beautiful results. For my personal feeling, the book is a bit too light. I would have liked more challenging projects.

Conclusion:
A nice beginner book, but not necessarily something for advanced. Therefore, I give it a good 4 out of 5 stars.

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A fun art book with lots of info and inspiration. While the art in this book isn't really my style, it is still pleasant to look at. They include a large variety of paint swatch references, which was a great touch and a neat resource to have on hand!

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This is a wonderful book for anyone feeling creative but not quite sure where to start. It is full of useful information on the materials needed to begin your artistic journey and has 16 fabulous projects to get creative juices flowing. Full of colourful and detailed illustrations as well as some pages to actually ‘colour in’ I would highly recommend this book for people of all ages and artistic levels. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a preview copy for an unbiased review.

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What a beautiful book. Would make a great gift for a teen or artistic person in my life. Loved it. Thanks so much.

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While the initial idea intrigued me, I was left with a feeling of disappointment at the end of it all.

I found the first part of the book to be really informative as it discussed all the different mediums and techniques. The colour palettes were especially lovely to look at and I’m sure will inspire future projects.

Unfortunately while the actual projects looked aesthetically appealing, they didn’t manage to engage me as much as the first part of the book.

I was hoping to finish the book and be compelled to paint or create something, but am left empty of inspiration.

That being said, I do still think this is a nice book, but perhaps more suitable for a younger female. I could see myself purchasing it as a gift for a friend or family member.

Disclaimer: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Perfect projects for real beginners, they are colorful and cute, full of sparkles. If you are very new to diy art then this book is for you. They are pretty and easy to achieve.
*Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review*

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I was admittedly drawn to this book because of the cover. I adore the mix of pinks and teals and gold. It's not really a how-to book, though it does have various projects inside. I see them as more useful as a jumping off point than projects to stick to though. I did get several ideas while flipping through it.

I love the unique mix of inspiration from fashion and color palettes. And glitz. The resultant pieces are glamorous and appealing to me.

My favorite part is the color palettes. They're a gorgeous selection and give me so many ideas to start my own paintings. Also the idea of adding glitter to a painting. I love glitter, so this sparked a number of ideas.

I also really liked the example abstract pieces at the end. They use those color palettes to create some really beautiful pieces. I will be going back to those for sure.

I would have loved more example projects, as it's a rather short book, but as an idea generator it's quite useful and I'd recommend it if the colors on the front cover appeal to you.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Rock Point for providing an e-arc for review.

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Create Beautiful is a pretty tutorial and inspiration guide by Lola Sanchez Herrero & Ana Sanchez-Gal. Due out 24th Aug 2021 from Quarto on their Rock Point imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a tutorial book full of whimsy which includes projects in a broad range of different media with which readers can experiment and learn techniques such as ink pouring, collage, painting, drawing, and coloring. Many of the projects are quite simple and are suited to beginners as well as more experienced students. Some of them would make good warming up exercises to get the paint and creativity flowing.

The introduction covers basics: tools, paints, papers, and other media. The authors have also included a short primer on setting up workspace and some process tips.

The tutorials themselves range from ultra simple to slightly more involved. Each tutorial includes an introduction, bullet list of tools and supplies, and step-by-step instructions. All of the tutorials include several process photos and a finished/framed photo of the project. The second part of the book contains a number of coloring pages with suggested color palettes. The book is stylish with a modern decor aesthetic. There's a lot of emphasis on bright colors which *pop* alongside the metallic/sheen inks and paints.

Three and a half stars. This might be a good choice for folks decorating on a budget or for creativity inspiration workshops, maker's groups, beginning artists looking for prompts to get ink flowing, and similar activities.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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This resourceful book shows you how to create fun works of art you can proudly display in your house or give as a gift. Easy-to-read instructions and colorful illustrations make it easy for any beginner to follow. As a calligrapher, I especially like the section on the gold leaf wings as it is one I plan on incorporating for a memorial piece.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lola Sanchez Herrero, Ana Sanchez-Gal, and the publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

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