Author Archives: Iiiireader

The World of the Hunger Games: The Official Coloring Book

By: Scholastic

Rating: 2 of 5

I’ll include a silent video flip-through so you can decide if this book meets your expectations (as it did not meet mine.)

When I pre-ordered this book, there wasn’t a product description but a coloring book which was the official one and based on all four movies should include a good number of designs of the characters stand-alone and in iconic scenes as well, right? Apparently, not this one. There are a couple of scenes shown but two are from behind and one has Katniss strategically covering her face as she pulls back her arrow.

There are a few character designs at the end of the book but not what you would expect based on other movie/book coloring books out there. These few designs seem to be more focused on the fashion rather than the character.

While the designs in the book are well drawn, most are architectural in nature. If you are going to show me Katniss’ living quarters, then show me her in those quarters. Ditto with the rest of the areas shown.

I expected to see scenes from the movies and instead received what look like designs of empty sets, quite a few of symbols and district shields and also a number of wallpaper style designs of repeating patterns. Had I been able to see a Look Inside of this book at any point, I would not have ordered it.

While I won’t be testing the paper with my coloring medium because I fully intend to send this book back, I can tell you what I have seen about the paper.

94 pages of designs mostly based on sets and symbols and very few including any characters.

Printed on both sides of the page

Paper is medium weight, ivory, smooth and non-perforated

Glue binding

Designs merge into the binding area

Most designs spread across two pages

Little Witches and Wild Things: A Magical Adult Coloring Book to Celebrate Halloween

By: Kristi Elgaaen

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a beautifully drawn coloring book with Halloween, witch and animals design pages. The book includes 41 designs (including the presentation page and the introduction page.) A number of the main elements of the designs are repeated with different and/or varying amounts of detail in the background. Some of them are cropped and close up details of a larger design. The lines are very light in color compared to most other coloring books so that they recede in the finished, colored project.

The designs are highly detailed and contain many intricate and small details for coloring. Even the designs with less detail are still a good challenge for coloring. The designs of the little girl witches are very sweet. The cover of the book is not indicative of the designs in it.

I’ll confess to being a tad confused as the artist has two other books of the same title available at this point. One is particularly for left-handed colorists, so I understand that one. The other book, which was published ten days earlier than this one, is the book that puzzles me. It appears that this book has more designs in it but that the other one has fewer designs but has two copies of each one. From what I can see, there are designs common in each of the same titled books.

Other than the confusion over the books with the same name, I think this is a fantastic coloring book for someone looking for a bit of a challenge with detail and who likes to color Halloween inspired designs. I’m really pleased with the book and hope to see more from this artist in the future.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.

41 Halloween-inspired designs, including both the presentation and introduction pages

2 color test pages as well as blank pages at the back to test your various medium

Designs are printed on one side of the page

Paper is typical for CreateSpace, thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated

Glue Binding

Designs do not merge into the binding area and most have a framing line at their outer edges

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page easily

Water-based markers bleed through in spots to the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through in spots if you use multiple coats or apply the ink heavily.

Colored pencils worked nicely with this thin but slightly rough paper. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and got good color with multiple layers of the same color, good results from layers of different colors and nice blending results using a blending stick. Hard lead pencils can dent through and damage the page below.

I suggest using a blotter page of card stock or a couple of sheets of heavier weight paper under your working page. It can keep seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Supernatural: The Official Coloring Book

By: Insight Editions

Rating: 4.5 of 5

My husband and I really enjoy watching Supernatural so when I saw this coloring book, I pre-ordered it immediately. The designs in the book are lots of fun and bring back a lot of memories of the previous seasons and some iconic scenes.

Sam and Dean Winchester are the main focus of the coloring book but lots of the other characters (including Castiel and Crowley) are included as well. The drawings are well done and, for the most part, look very realistic. There are a few pages of wallpaper style designs (repeated patterns) but not too many. There are also designs of items that are symbolic to the show.

I wish that a better grade of paper had been used and that less pictures spread across two pages. The two page spreads make it difficult to color into the binding to finish the design. The paper is ivory but is thin enough that, in some cases, the heavy black lines from the design on the back of the page shows through. This could have been solved by a better grade of paper or lighter lines versus heavy black ones. I haved detracted a half star for these issues but as I as can’t do that on Amazon, I rounded it up there and gave the book a 5 star rating instead of a 4.5.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will include, in the comments section below, a list of the coloring medium I use for testing and for most of my coloring projects.

78 pages of designs inspired by the Supernatural television series
plus 16 pages of color photo pages. These photo pages are of some of the designs included in the book.

Designs are printed on both sides of the page

Paper is thin, ivory, slightly rough (good tooth for colored pencils) and non-perforated

Glue binding

Designs merge into the binding area

Many designs spread across two pages

The coloring book is difficult to open to a flat position and coloring into the binding area will be difficult as well

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper quickly. I don’t recommend these as they bleed through and ruin the design on the back of the page.

Water-based markers can show the slightest of shadows on the back of the page depending on the color used and how heavily you apply it.

Gel pens and India ink pens left shadows on the back of the page.

Colored pencils did the best with this paper. This is the medium I will use to color in the book. I tested oil and wax-based pencils and got good results with both. I was able to get good pigment with light application and deeper pigment with multiple layers. I also was able to layer multiple colors well and blend easily using a blending stick.

Creative Haven Steampunk Mandalas Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

I have both of Marty Noble’s previous Steampunk inspired coloring books. Those are figure and machine drawings versus the mandala format of this new book. I recognized many of the elements from the first two books as incorporated (in smaller form and format) into the mandalas in this book. Because of the circular format, many of the designs represent cogs and clocks which evokes steampunk as well.

The designs are all in circular format and includes gears and clock workings, guns, hot air balloons as well as elements of fashion (such as hats, wrist-lets, feathers, gloves and goggles.)

The designs in this book are detailed and contain intricate and small areas to color. I used my ultra-fine point markers and pens to color the clock mandala as my first project. I’ll post a photo of it as well as samples from the book.

This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

31 Steampunk inspired mandalas in circular format

Printed one side of the page

Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding but you can remove pages at the perforation easily

The designs stop well before the perforations

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots and leave colorful shadows on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if you apply heavily or with with multiple layers.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to use both wax and oil based pencils equally well. They lay down good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.

I either use a blotter page under my working page or I remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.

Creative Haven Animal Whimsy: A WordPlay Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jessica Mazurkiewicz

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a coloring book with designs of animals made up of words. I’ve done this type of pattern with cross stitch before but never with coloring. The projects are fun and fairly fast to color. There is plenty of room to add embellishments or blending if you choose to do so. The words describe the animal and take on the shape of the animal as well.

There are lots of animals in these designs, including: elephant, cat, rabbit, horse, wolf and more. I chose to do the design of the rabbit as my first project. I’ve been visited by a number of them over the spring and summer as they sampled my garden vegetables. I’ll post a photo of my first project as well as samples from the book.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

31 Animal word play designs

Printed one side of the page

Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding but you can remove pages at the perforation easily

The designs stop well before the perforations and have a framing line around the outer edge

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if you apply heavily or with with multiple layers.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with similar results. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.

I either use a blotter page under my working page or I remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.

Creative Haven Art Deco Patterns Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: William Rowe

Rating: 5 of 5

This coloring book contains designs which were first introduced in two Dover books: Original Art Deco Allover Patterns (1989) and Original Art Deco Designs (1973). As I don’t have either of these two previous books, the designs are all new to me. At a guess, the original books were also printed double-side and without perforations so the re-publishing of them in the Creative Haven line makes them much more friendly for those who like to color with a variety of mediums.

The designs are interesting patterns and include shapes that are certainly evocative of the Art Deco period. The designs are made up of straight lines and circles without any sort of swirls which is certainly a trademark look of the clean lines of the art period. I choose to do my first project as a gray and purple scale with colors moving from light to dark in a variety of patterns. I’ll post a photo of my first project as well as samples from the book.

I did not find the designs to be overly detailed or intricate so coloring them was fairly easy. A number of the designs are heavy in black ink but I will simply incorporate that into my color scheme for that page and consider it a saving of black ink.

This is what I saw while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

31 Art Deco inspired Pattern designs

Printed one side of the page

Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding

The designs stop well before the perforations and most of the designs have a framing line around the outer edge

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if used in several coats or applied heavily.

Colored pencils work well with this paper. They lay down good color for nice pigment, layering the same color provides deeper color, and I could easily layer multiple colors as well as blend using a pencil style blender. This was true of both oil and wax based pencils. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I use, and recommend the use of a blotter page when working in the book. You can also remove a page before coloring. Either will keep ink from bleeding through and damaging pages below. I use card stock for my blotter page.

Fairy Tale Coloring Book

By: Tomoko Tashiro

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really elegant and pretty fairy tale coloring book. There are 78 pages of designs (79 if you count the title page) with most of the designs spreading across two pages. The designs are detailed and intricate with many have very tiny spots to color. This may not be the best choice of coloring books for someone who has fine motor skill or vision issues.

The fairy tales included are: Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Swan Lake, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Cinderella, The Magic Horse, The Mermaid, the Snow Queen, and The Nutcracker. The titles are incorporated into many of the pages within elegant banners.

I own this coloring book in the Japanese version and will provide a comparison to that edition at the end of this review. The video and photos, with the exception of the ones showing both books, are of the US version only. I reviewed the Japanese version of this book in February 2016. In the photos that show both version, the US version is at the top and the Japanese version is at the bottom.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing it with my coloring medium.

78 pages of designs based on fairy tales

Designs are printed on both sides of the page

Paper is heavyweight, white, smooth and non-perforated

Sewn Binding

Attached cover with gold foil accents

Many designs spread across two pages

Most designs merge into the binding area

Book can lay fairly flat by breaking the spine.

Alcohol-based markers, water-based markers, and Indian ink pens all bleed through this paper to some degree. The only exception was Tombow brush end markers which left a slight shadow when I used dark colors.

Gel pens leave faint shadows on the back of the page.

Colored pencils work well for the most part. I had problems blending hard lead pencils which ended up rather smeary as opposed to well blended. Otherwise, softer lead oil and wax-based pencils provided good pigment, layered well and blended well using a blending stick.

All forms of wet medium from markers to pens may show through to the back of the page and mar the design on the back.

Comparison to Japanese version:

The US version cover is fixed while the Japanese version has a removable dustcover. The paper in the US version is white and smooth while the Japanese version is slightly off white and has a bit more tooth to the feel of the paper. Coloring medium worked similarly although all colored pencils blended well on the Japanese version.

For me, one of the biggest difference was with the binding. The US version is sewn and lays fairly flat so that I can, with some effort, get into the binding area to color. The Japanese version was glued and I could not get it to open to a flat position. It was simply impossible for me to color into the binding. That may have just been my copy but I have had this issue with some types of glue binding before.

Additionally, the Japanese version had several pages at front and back explaining coloring medium and the stories but as I don’t read Japanese, it was not of use to me. It also had thumbnails at the end of the book which I wish the US version had included but it did not.

While I like the paper in the Japanese version, my preference is for the US one as, even though my pencils didn’t behave as well, I could color the full picture.

America’s Favorite Birds: 40 Beautiful Birds to Color

By: Myoko Chu

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a beautiful coloring book which focuses on 40 American birds. The designs have a nice level of detail and the details look more like feathers to me than simply doodle designs which is unusual compared to most the other bird coloring books I own. The book is separated into seasons so you will know what time of year to be looking for each birds. There is also information about how to learn more about birds in general at the front of the book. I’ll list the birds included in the comments section at the end of this review for anyone interested.

The designs are printed well with nice dark lines and some background as well. The information about each bird is on the back of the page opposite the coloring design. While I really appreciate having the information, I wish it had been printed on the back of the design page so if I chose to remove it from the book, the design and information would stay together.

I, personally, do not plan to remove pages as it will disrupt the continuity of the information about the bird and then the picture. This book is quite beautiful and well published and can and will be a coffee table book for my guests to enjoy. Quite often, I will only put out books once I have finished coloring them; however, the wealth of information and pictures in this book is great as-is and I will leave it out even in the midst of my coloring in it.

The cover is quite pretty with green foil accents. It is attached and both front and back covers fold out to great information. On the inside of the front cover, there are small thumbnails of the actual designs with the page number at which you can find it (a visual table of contents.) The back page folds out to color photographs of each bird (though not the one on which the design is based) so you can see the colors of the bird to inspire you.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the pages.

40 American Bird Designs with backgrounds

Designs Printed on one side of page with information summary and thumbnails printed on the back of the page.

Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth and perforated

Sewn binding

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper.

Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens did not bleed through the page.

Colored pencils worked well with the paper. It has a slight amount of tooth and was able to grab pigment well. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and was able to get good color by layering multiple coats of the same color, also layered different colors, and blended easily using a blender stick.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith Halloween Coloring Book: A Spine-Tingling Fantasy Art Adventure

By: Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Rating: 5 of 5