Disney Mystery Colorings - Beauty and the Beast : Review

Quick facts

• Title: Disney Mystery Coloring - Beauty and the Beast
• Illustrator: Eugénie Varone
• Publisher: Hachette Héros
• Coloring pages: 50
• Total pages: 112 (solutions included)
• Format: A4
• Printing: Single-sided (recto only)
• Difficulty: Easy (but demanding on shade choices)
• Paper: Premium
• Tracker: Included at the end of the book

Who is this book for?

This is an accessible volume: the zones aren't overcrowded, the shapes are simple, and you won't get lost in a maze of tiny areas. A beginner can absolutely pick this up.

But the outline-free style creates an unexpected challenge even for experienced colorists: there's no room for error on shades. Without a line separating two adjacent zones, if your chosen colors are too similar, they blend together and you lose the definition of the drawing. You have to intentionally contrast your shades.

In short: easy to pick up for a beginner, but a real exercise in precision for experienced colorists.

The scenes

The book focuses on Beauty and the Beast, with scenes from the classic film. My favorites: the dance between Belle and the Beast (an absolute must), and two pages that stand out from the rest because they use a stained glass style: the prince begging the enchantress and the Beast's castle. These pages have a completely different feel - more graphic, more contrasted.

Having both styles in the same book is a nice surprise. The stained glass pages really stand out from the smooth style of the rest.

The outline-free style: what you need to know

This style is different from the Stained Glass volume, even though neither uses bold black outlines. In Stained Glass, zones are cut geometrically like a church window. Here it's the opposite: zones are soft, rounded, and colors transition into each other fluidly.

The challenge is that without separating lines, adjacent colors need to be contrasted enough for the drawing to stay readable. Pick two shades that are too similar and they'll merge - the result looks flat. But get the contrasts right, and the result is wonderfully soft and elegant - very true to the fairy tale spirit.

What tools to use?

I mainly use my Tooli Art acrylic markers, with colored pencils on some pages.

Like the Little Mermaid volume, the printing is single-sided - the back of each sheet is blank. You can use any material, including alcohol markers, with no risk of bleed-through.

For the outline-free style, colored pencils are particularly well suited: they let you control color intensity precisely and create natural gradients zone by zone. With markers, you need to be more deliberate about which shades you place next to each other.

What I liked

• Single-sided printing: any material works without restriction
• Soft, elegant style that fits the fairy tale universe beautifully
• The Belle and Beast dance - an iconic scene well executed
• Two stained glass pages that bring real variety to the book
• Simple, readable zones - accessible to everyone
• Progress tracker included

What to keep in mind

• No outlines: shades must be well contrasted to keep the drawing readable
• Colors blend easily - adjacent tones need to be clearly different
• Some white zones are not fully uniform - keep an opaque white marker handy
• Only 50 coloring pages (trade-off for single-sided printing)

My final verdict

A book I enjoy, despite its quirks. The outline-free style isn't my personal preference - it asks more of me in terms of shade choices than a classic coloring book. But the scenes are beautiful, the single-sided format is a real plus, and the two stained glass pages are genuine highlights.

If you're a Beauty and the Beast fan, you'll love it. If you're not used to outline-free coloring, prepare to think more carefully about your shades than usual - and keep your neighboring colors clearly contrasted.