Author Archives: Iiiireader

This is my second book in Barron’s Magic coloring book line, so I was not surprised to see that the designs are printed on both sides of the page. The designs are a mix of cultural based images that can be found throughout the world. The only truly strange one for me was the two page of designs representing England. I think that the publisher could have found designs that were better done and more in line with what we think of when we think of England than what they ended up with.

Apart from those two pages, I really liked the artwork in this book. There are a number of designs that include small and intricate detail that might be a little difficult for anyone with vision or fine motor issues. A number of the designs are white images imposed on black backgrounds.

The designs are printed on one side of a good weight non-perforated paper. The designs stop well before the margin and are not spread across two pages. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing a few pages at a time can be done with a few snips of thread. The designs all have frames around them which I appreciate as it gives a finished look to my projects.

For a book with designs on both sides, this paper worked really well with a variety of my coloring mediums. All alcohol-based markers bled through the paper immediately. All ultra-fine and brush end water-based markers worked great and did not bleed through (essentially my Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and the brush end of my Tom Bows.) The fine tip of my Pentel and Tom Bows bled through in spots. All of my gel pens (all sizes and brands) and coloring pencils worked well with the paper though my gel pens needed extra drying time.

These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:

Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) Bic Mark-its (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo in the following sizes 0.28/0.38/0.5/0.7/1.0 and Tekwriter

Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos