Color with me
RACHEL REINERT
Color with me
RACHEL REINERT
About the Artist
Hi, I’m Rachel, artist, educator, and creator of the Wonderland coloring book series: Botanical Wonderland, Desert Wonderland, Floral Wonderland, Woodland Wonderland, and Tropical Wonderland.
In addition to my coloring collections, I’ve authored two instructional books, In Bloom and Color Workshop, which teach readers artistic techniques step by step. I have also shared my expertise through hundreds of digital tutorials on the Color Therapy app, helping users transform their coloring into breathtaking artwork through thoughtful blending and color selection techniques.
I create from my home studio in Portland, Oregon, where I’m surrounded by towering trees and abundant natural beauty. This immersion in nature directly influences my work and serves as my primary source of inspiration. When I’m not working on books, I love to paint with acrylics on canvas, often using natural paints that connect my art even more deeply to the environment that inspires it.
As a mother of two little kids and a wife, I balance my creative career with family life, finding inspiration in both my natural surroundings and the joy of everyday moments with my loved ones.
Do you want to see these techniques in action? My online video course, Coloring Master Class, features over 33 videos with nearly six hours of instruction, including video demonstrations of some of the projects from this book, to take your coloring skills to the next level. Scan the QR code below for more details on the course and how to enroll. You can also explore more of my work at rachelreinert.com or follow my creative journey on Instagram @rachelreinertstudio to see my latest inspirations and art releases!
Introduction
For a decade I have worked in the coloring book world as an illustrator, colorist, educator, and author. I’ve learned lots of tricks through the years, and my goal is to share with you my expert tips to help you succeed in all your coloring endeavors!
I love this quote from Pablo Picasso:
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
When you sit down with your coloring book and markers or freshly sharpened pencils, your brain actually shifts into a more relaxed state—your frontal lobe activates (enhancing focus) while your amygdala (the brain’s fear center) calms down. The repetitive, structured nature of filling spaces with color creates a rhythm that further enhances this calming effect, making coloring an accessible form of meditation.
Coloring is also a fun way to express yourself without any pressure to create a masterpiece—with the lines already there, you don’t have to stress about what to draw. And then there’s the satisfaction of watching a page transform as you splash it with color.
My preferred medium is colored pencils and that is the focus of most of this book. They are an excellent medium for beginners and experts—portable, versatile, easy to work with, and forgiving. I also cover other mediums like markers, watercolor pencils, and gel pens.
The heart of the book is 31 step-by-step tutorials where you will literally color along with me. For each of them, on the right-hand page is the black-and-white coloring image and on the left are the visual steps I take to
fully color it, accompanied by easy-to-follow directions, as well as the specific color palette I have chosen for that design. The tutorials are organized into themes: Exploring Color, Shading and Highlighting, Special Effects, and Multimedia.
Following the tutorials are twelve bonus coloring designs, printed on perforated pages so you can remove them from the book and put your newfound coloring knowledge to work!
To set you off on the right foot, the chapter Getting Started provides an overview of coloring supplies, a primer on color theory and color schemes, and a guide to all the coloring techniques you will be called on to use in the tutorials.
Finally, if you want to color with me through video and experience these tutorials coming alive in real time, you can enroll in my Coloring Master Class, featuring nearly 6 hours of video instruction plus exclusive advanced content for colorists who would like to go to the next level. Scan the QR code on page 2 for more information.
So sit down, grab your coloring gear, and color with me!
—RACHEL
Getting Started
In this chapter, I’ll cover everything you need to know to begin your coloring journey with confidence: the essential tools to have in your coloring toolbox; color theory and how to use the color wheel to create stunning combinations; and techniques like blending, layering, shading, and highlighting that you will use to create amazing effects with your coloring.
Your Coloring Toolbox
Lightfastness
This refers to how resistant a color is to fading when exposed to light. This is only a concern if you like to display your work, in which case you will want to purchase coloring tools that have a high lightfastness rating. Unfortunately, there is no standard rating system for this but the different artist grade brands of pencils and markers do address lightfastness in their product descriptions, and many colorists have posted their own personal results online.
Walking down the art supply aisle can feel overwhelming with so many colorful options calling your name! The good news is that you don’t need every tool to create beautiful coloring projects. Here we’ll explore the essential supplies that will help you bring your artistic vision to life!
Student Versus Artist Grade
Supplies
The difference between “student grade” and “artist grade” coloring tools really comes down to the fact that artist grade pencils and markers are manufactured with a greater concentration of higher quality pigments—student grade coloring tools contain more fillers. As a result, artist grade pencils and markers:
• Deliver more vibrant color.
• Yield better results when layering and blending color.
• Are more resistant to fading when exposed to light.
Artist grade tools are also available in a wider range of colors than student grade.
All of that said, artist grade coloring tools are significantly more expensive than those marketed to students/children. In the end you can get all the benefits and joy out of coloring with any grade material. After all, as children we all started out coloring with crayons, and we didn’t worry about staying in the lines! I use my daughter’s preschool art supplies all the time with her and we color without a care.
Colored Pencils
There are two types of colored pencils, wax based and oil based. Both work beautifully but perform differently. You may find that you prefer one type over the other. You will see, in the coloring tutorials that follow, that I primarily use wax based but there are multiple instances where I use both to achieve a particular effect. For the projects in this book I use Prismacolor Premier wax-based and /or Faber-Castell oil-based pencils.
WAX-BASED PENCILS
PROS
• Available in a wide range of colors
• You can buy in sets or open stock—just buy the colors you want.
• They require less pressure to lay down rich color.
CONS
• Fewer offerings in softer colors
• The leads break off easily.
• When layering colors, you can end up with “wax bloom,” a buildup of wax, which affects the quality of the color.
NOTE: In the color palettes of the tutorials, if a particular coloring tool is not specified (oil-based colored pencil, alcohol marker, gel pen, etc.) that means wax-based colored pencils are being used.
Pastels
I like to use pastels to create backgrounds for coloring images, particularly soft atmospheric effects. For coloring, water-soluble or chalk pastels are the best options, which come in blocks or pencils; I think the blocks work best for coloring books.
Dusting brush Use a powder brush/makeup brush to sweep away colored pencil debris instead of your hand, which can result in smears. These brushes are typically soft and fluffy, with rounded or domed tips.
TIP
Chalk pastels come in different hardnesses. Some brands are harder, less crumbly, and can be used to create sharper lines. Medium or soft pastels will create more dust (which can be inhaled, so be careful because pastels can contain cadmium, lead, and/or cobalt, things you don’t want to breathe) but are perfect for blending soft backgrounds. I use Faber-Castell soft pastels.
Other Coloring Tools
Blending tools It’s good to include blending tools in your coloring arsenal! Use cotton makeup pads and cotton buds (Q-tips) to blend pastels for backgrounds. Blending stumps or tortillons are great for getting into very small spaces to blend pastels and colored pencils; made of tightly rolledup paper, they can be cleaned by rubbing the tips on sandpaper. I also like colorless blender pencils and blender pens.
Pencil sharpener I recommend a hand-held metal sharpener for soft core pencils. You can also use an electric pencil sharpener if you are coloring a lot, though it can sharpen pencils to a longer point, which is more prone to breakage.
Spray fixative You’ll want to consider this for designs that include pastels in order to protect it. Always do a test spray before spraying your whole project.
Eraser Once in a while I use an eraser to clean up stray colored pencil marks or smudges. Always use a white polymer-based eraser; colored erasers will stain your paper.
Wax paper Use to place under your coloring design if you are working with alcohol-based markers to capture any bleed-through.
X-acto knife I use this to extract color from pastels; see page 23.
Plastic palette Use this to create custom marker color blends (see page 21).
If using alcohol-based markers in a coloring book with artwork printed on one side of the page only, either remove the page from the book or place a sheet of wax paper under the page so that it doesn’t bleed through to the next page. Avoid coloring books with images printed on every page if you are using alcohol markers.
Water soluble pencils and water brushes
Set of pastels
Dusting brush
The wet-on-wet technique allows you to blend two or more colors to create a painterly effect.
Water-Soluble Pencil Techniques
Water-soluble colored pencils combine the precision of drawing with the fluidity of painting. Apply them dry like a normal colored pencil, then add water for soft washes and seamless blends.
Water-soluble pencils offer the precision of colored pencils with the flowing beauty of watercolors, making them perfect for creating painterly effects in adult coloring books.
Basic application Apply the pencils evenly across your paper, using more pressure in areas where you want shadows or deeper color. Once your pencil work is complete, activate the color by brushing over it with a water brush or wet watercolor brush. This transforms the pencil marks into paint-like washes, filling in white spaces and significantly deepening the colors.
Wet-on-wet technique This involves blending colors while they’re still wet. After activating one color area, immediately apply and activate an adjacent color, allowing them to flow together naturally. The more water you use, the more the colors will blend and flow into each other.
Key tips:
• Always work from lightest to darkest colors to avoid muddying.
• Work quickly while the areas remain wet for seamless blending.
• Let areas dry completely before adding contrasting colors nearby.
• Experiment with water amounts—less water gives more control, more water creates flowing effects.
Here I applied water-soluble pencil (left), then activated it with water (right).
Shading and Highlighting
Take your coloring to the next level with projects focused on how to give your coloring dimension and depth through layering techniques. Learn to render convincing shadows, capture reflective surfaces, and make objects appear three-dimensional.
Special Effects
This chapter brings attention to details that elevate your coloring and create interest. Learn how to color realistic water droplets and textured fur, how to embellish with metallic gel pens, and other special elements.
Get Creative 6
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Copyright © 2026 by Rachel Reinert
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storageand-retrieval systems—without permission of the publisher.
The written instructions, photographs, designs, projects, and patterns are intended for the personal, noncommercial use of the retail purchaser and are under federal copyright laws; they are not to be reproduced in any form for commercial use. Permission is granted to photocopy for the personal use of the retail purchaser.
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ISBN: 978-1-68462-109-5
Manufactured in China
1
First Edition
FOR MY CHILDREN, EMERALD AND JETT
Color with Me includes 31 projects that will teach you techniques like shading, layering, and blending, how to use the color wheel to put together pleasing color schemes, and how to create special details, like a glow effect or translucency. Coloring book artist Rachel Reinert will take you through each project, step by step, then you can try it yourself on a full-page blackand-white version of the same design.
As a bonus, you’ll find 12 additional coloring designs at the back of the book. Printed on perforated pages, you can remove them, making it easy to refer to different parts of the book as you color them in your own original way.
COLOR YOURSELF CREATIVE WITH COLOR WITH ME!