Author Archives: iiiireaderadmin

Color Me Stress-Free: Nearly 100 Coloring Templates to Unplug and Unwind (A Zen Coloring Book)

By: Lacy Mucklow

Rating: 5 of 5

Color Me Stress Free is another fun addition in the “Color Me” coloring book series. Of 77 designs I counted in the book, 17 are what I would categorize as mandalas. The designs in this book are detailed and intricate. Some have small areas to color which may require sharp pencils or pens/markers with ultra-fine points.

The book has seven chapters, which include: Disorganization, Relationships, Finances, Work, Health, Time and Travel and Commuting.
Each chapter has a lead-in which describes the intent of the designs within.
There are color tips at the beginning of the book and there are some fully and some partially colored examples throughout (at the beginning of each chapter. The designs are detailed and some include intricate and small areas to color.
This is what I found while looking through and coloring in this book:
77 Designs for stress-free coloring – Designs by Angela Porter
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white (with color print on the back of the page), slightly rough and non-perforated
Sewn Binding
Designs do not merge into the binding. All designs either have a framing line at the outer edges or have finished edges (such as a mandala.)
The book is thick but could be opened to a fairly flat position without breaking the spine
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens leave shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils, both oil and wax-based, worked well with this paper. I was able to layer the same color for deep pigment. I could layer multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.

Goldilocks: Grayscale Adult Coloring Book (Beautiful Fairy Tales) (Volume 3)

By: Ruth Sanderson

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a very cute and sweet coloring book of grayscale designs. The designs in the book are based on the illustrations in Ruth Sanderson’s storybook version of Goldilocks. This is the third coloring book in the series of grayscale coloring books by Ms. Sanderson and I hope there will be more in the future.

The designs are both cute and sweet. The story has been changed from the traditional one and allows for more interaction between Goldilocks and the bears.
There are 24 designs in this book and, as Ms. Sanderson has done in the past, there are 12 bonus pages that are duplicates of half of the original designs in the coloring book. These designs have darker grayscale than the first set which makes them a little easier to color for those who are new to the technique.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
24 Grayscale designs plus 12 bonus designs based on the fairy tale Goldilocks for a total of 36 coloring pages
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality used by CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not extend into the binding area. The designs have a framing line at the outer edges
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick; however, some of the darker areas of the designs had a tendency to smear using this type of blender. I found that liquid forms (Gamsol or mineral spirits) did a better job. This doesn’t bother me as I generally do not use a blender on grayscale designs. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils (like Verithins) leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Adult Coloring Book: Whimsical Patterns: Tiny Trailers (Volume 4)

By: Francis Keene

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the fourth coloring book in the Francis Keene series of Whimsical Patterns. In this book, artist Natasha Faltinek has created 30 cute designs of tiny trailers. Some of the designs show the inside and some the outside of trailers. In most, there is only one trailer but some show a series of them. Trailer, in this book, means all manner of vehicles that are on wheels from a traditional trailer to vans to buses.

I found the designs to be both cute and detailed. A few of them have smaller and more intricate areas to color. The designs are hand-drawn and remind me of the current tiny home trend.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 line drawing designs of the inside or outside of tiny trailers, plus bonus pages of designs from other books in this series (but not the same artist.)
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding area. There is a framing line at the outer edge of each design.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Umberto Brunelleschi Coloring Book

By: Umberto Brunelleschi

Rating: 5 of 5

The line drawings in this coloring book are based on artwork by Umberto Brunelleschi which were originally included in Contes du temps jadis (stories from once upon a time.) The book was published in France in 1912. There is a table of contents for the illustrations which provides the name of the story from which each illustration is derived. The stories are not familiar to me but there is a line at the bottom of the page which puts context to the illustrations.

Brunelleschi was Italian born but moved to Paris at age 21 (1900) to pursue his art career. His work became some of the best known European book illustrations from the art deco period. There is a beauty and a grace to the work which has been captured beautifully by the line drawings in this coloring book. Included (on the inside of the front a back covers) are full color thumbnail reproductions of all of the original artwork.
The designs are open and easy to color. There is a good level of detail but they have left a lot of open area to allow you to color and add your own shading and details.
This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
20 line drawing designs derived by Umberto Brunelleschi from his illustrations in Contes du temps jadis
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly rough to the touch and non-perforated
The designs are bound by two heavyweight staples which can be removed to release all of the page from the book without any loss of design.
Designs do not merge into the binding area. There are framing lines at the outer edges of each design with a caption below the bottom framing line.
Pages can be cut out if you wish without losing any design elements.
Book easily opens to a flat position for coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper easily.
Water-based markers leave shadows and slight spots of color bleed through on the back of the page
If I use any style of marker, I also make sure to use a blotter under my working page. I like card stock but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works well, too.
Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page. Some gel pens require slightly more drying time than usual.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. It has a slight roughness to it that allows good pigment coverage from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to layer the same and multiple colors well and could blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.

Adult Coloring Book: Nice Little Town (Volume 1)

By: Tatiana Bogema (Stolova)

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really cute coloring book which is filled with 32 pages of designs of a various places in a little town. It has many designs of shops and it has scenes of the outside of homes as well as scenes which look out into the town from the inside of a home. The drawings all appear to be hand-drawn, which is my favorite style.

I also purchased this coloring book in newer, larger version which is 7 x 10 (which you can find here:Adult Coloring Book: Nice Little Town (Volume 1)) . I much prefer the larger format (and even wish it had been done in a standard 8.5 x 11 size book.) This book, because it is smaller, has intricate and difficult areas to color that don’t exist to the same extent in the larger format book.
I bought this smaller version of the book first but would not have done so if the larger one had been available at that time. As it is, I’ll use this one for coloring on the go and/or for testing color combinations that I will use in the larger book.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
32 line drawing designs of a cute and scenic little town (including presentation page). Also included are a couple of sample pages from the artist’s other books.
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding area.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Despicable Me 3: The Deluxe Coloring Book

By: Insight Editions

Rating: 4 of 5

I will attach a silent flip-through video of the full book to this review. I will also include a few photo samples of pages so you can determine if this book will work for you or not.

I was a bit disappointed at the number of wall-paper and simplistic designs (one page has just a few musical notes shown on it) which were included in this book; however, the majority of pages are still quite fun to color. Because it is printed on both sides of the page, I am pretty much limited to using colored pencils as other wet medium either bleeds through or leaves shadows at the back of the book.
In addition to the 62 pages of line drawings, there are full color images at the back of the book from some of the scenes from the movie. This can help with color choices as you color in the book.
I’ve not yet seen the third movie, so the plot line of the coloring book is new to me. I would have loved to have seen a book that covered all three movies rather than one that is limited to just the current release. As it is, I like the book but had it been filled with images from all three (with more detailed pictures and less wall-paper style repeating images), I really could have loved it.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
62 pages of line drawings based on the Despicable Me 3 movie with additional full color pictures at the back of the book
Designs are printed on both sides of the page.
Paper is medium weight, off-white, slightly rough and non-perforated.
Some designs merge into the binding and a few designs spread across two pages.
Glue Binding.
Book can be opened fairly flat by creasing or breaking the spine.
Alcohol and water-based markers and India ink pens all bleed through the paper to some degree.
Gel pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils.

Prima Marketing 655350591052 Prima Princesses Coloring Book

By: Prima Marketing

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by artist Faii Sosaikum and I am really so impressed with not only the beautiful designs but also with the outstanding quality of the publishing of this book. There are 24 coloring pages which includes 19 different princesses with flowers, two full page floral designs and three pages of bookmarks (four per page for a total of 12 bookmarks.) I really appreciate that the binding is at the top of the page so no one has to color/paint over the bump of the binding.

The designs are generally of a woman (princess) with flowers intertwined in her hair or about her. There is a nice level of detail with plenty of room for blending and special effects should you wish to do so with your projects. The women are all beautiful and the images have a nice bit of shading already in place. The line drawings are done in shades of gray on an ivory heavyweight and lightly textured watercolor paper.
I used Copic markers and Polychromos colored pencils for my first project. I was pleased to see that both work well with this paper.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my various coloring medium:
24 design pages including princesses, flowers and bookmarkers
Printed one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, ivory, slightly textured, and non-perforated
Glue binding at the top of the page. The binding is similar to notepads and pages can be removed in whole by carefully pulling the page away from the binding.
Some designs reach up to the binding but I had no difficulty in coloring into that area.
The book opens fairly easily to a flat position for coloring/painting.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through ever so lightly. Some colors did not bleed through at all.
Water-based markers and other water-based medium, gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the paper.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils lay down good color, layer (same and different colors) and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. I was also able to get great results using liquid blending medium as well.
Even though very few types of coloring medium bled through the fantastic paper in this book, I still used a blotter page of card stock below my working page just in case to keep ink from marring the pages below.

Creative Haven Fantasy Fashions Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Ming-Ju Sun

Rating: 5 of 5

I love coloring Ming-Ju Sun’s fashion design coloring books. Whether it be historical in nature or fantasy, such as this, her fashion designs are beautiful and a fun challenge to color. This is a set of all new designs and, to me, there is a distinct modern Asian flair to many of the drawings. The fantasy in these designs are in cut and texture of the intricacy of the fashion prints rather than in some other-worldly sense of fantasy. These are the dresses you might see as an experimental fashion on a runway or being worn by a known trend-setter.

The designs are detailed and most have small and intricate details to color. These intricate areas are generally the detail within the clothing. I’ve found that sharp point pencils and ultra-fine point (or brush end) markers work well for these areas. Each fashion design is surrounded by some form of background (generally flowers) to give a more balanced look to the page.
This is what I experienced when coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
31 beautiful and intricate fantasy fashion designs by Ming-Ju Sun
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, lightly rough and perforated
Glue bound but pages can be removed easily at perforations.
Designs stop before the perforations. There is a framing line at the outer edges of each design for a more finished look. Some portions of the design extend slightly beyond the framing line for an almost 3D effect.
The book opens fairly flat by creasing/breaking the spine.
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils lay down good color, layer (same and different colors) and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.
I remove pages or use a blotter page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper to keep ink and dents from marring the pages below.

Adult Coloring Book: Nice Little Town (Volume 1)

By: Tatiana Bogema (Stolova)

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really cute coloring book which is filled with 32 pages of designs of a various places in a little town. It has many designs of shops and it has scenes of the outside of homes as well as scenes which look out into the town from the inside of a home. The drawings all appear to be hand-drawn, which is my favorite style. I decided to do the Hat Shop for my first project and enjoyed using my Polychromos pencils to finish the design.

I also purchased this coloring book in the original version, which was a much smaller book (but contains the same number of designs). That smaller book, because of its size, was intricate and more difficult to color. This book is larger, though still not full size. It is approximately 7 x 10 inches and that makes a world of difference in the intricacy of the details. Each design is still detailed but not nearly as intricate. I actually wish this artist would done the book in standard 8.5 x 11 inches but this is a vast improvement. I still like the smaller book for coloring on the go, but will only use my sharp point pencils with it.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
32 line drawing designs of a cute and scenic little town (including presentation page). Also included are a couple of sample pages from the artist’s other books.
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding area.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Creative Haven Unicorns Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

I really enjoy Marty Noble’s coloring book designs and am pleased that she has come out with one with unicorns. While the coloring book is based on a single subject, her treatment makes for a wide variety of designs. Some are flowing and elegant while others have a more stylized look to them. In most designs there is a single unicorn but there are others which involve a beautiful maiden or several unicorns. There are even rectangular shaped unicorn mandalas. Ms. Nobel’s unique style is recognizable in each of these designs.

The designs are detailed (including backgrounds and/or framing.) A few of the designs have small and intricate areas to color. On the whole, I don’t think it is a difficult book to color in due to small shapes. The designs present a nice challenge and have plenty of room to try blending and shading techniques as well as embellishments to the original design(s).
This is what I experienced when coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
31 beautiful and elegant unicorn designs by Marty Noble
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, lightly rough and perforated
Glue bound but pages can be removed easily at perforations.
Designs stop before the perforations. There is a framing line at the outer edges of each design for a more finished look.
The book opens fairly flat by creasing/breaking the spine.
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils lay down good color, layer (same and different colors) and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.
I remove pages or use a blotter page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper to keep ink and dents from marring the pages below.