Author Archives: Iiiireader

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Thomas Kinkade Designs for Inspiration and Relaxation

By: Thomas Kinkade

Rating: 5 of 5

Fairy World Coloring Pages: Beautiful, Magical Mystical Fairies to Color

By: Barbara Lanza

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by Barbara Lanza. The other two are by different publishers and while that makes a big difference in how the book is put together, Ms. Lanza’s artistic style remains constant and is of high quality. As an extra plus, there are ten pages of tutorials about use of color, medium, and coloring methodologies in the front of the book. As Ms. Lanza has written several successful books about drawing and coloring fairies, getting this information in this coloring book is extremely helpful.

This coloring book has 55 fantasy designs. Some are of fairies by themselves while others include flowers and still others have detailed and fairly elaborate backgrounds. The designs range from open and flowing and easy to color to those that will take some time and thought. I believe that there are some re-prints in this book as I have seen some of these pictures before; however, they are not in my two coloring books so I believe they might be from out of print books.

As always, I enjoy coloring Ms. Lanza’s fairies. She gives them an ethereal and flowing quality that I find really appealing. I love trying to match my colors to the concept of a windblown skirt. I am experimenting with the idea of translucent cloth and one of the fairies in my first projects in this book is one such design. I used my various Copic alcohol-based markers as well as a couple of other markers for small details. I added shade and definition with a variety of colored pencils.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

55 Fantasy Fairy Designs

Designs are printed on one side of the page.

The paper is medium weight, white, smooth and non-perforated.

Some designs merge into the binding area

Sewn Binding

You can remove several pages at a time by sipping binding threads without loss of any portion of the designs

I had to break the spine to get the book to open fairly flat.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper. I used card stock as a blotter below my working page to keep the rest of the book ink-free.

Water-based markers leave the slight of shadows on the back of the page. Nothing bled through that would damage pages below.

Gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through but gel pens needed extra drying time.

Coloring pencils were mixed. I found that both wax and oil based pencils had good color and layered well but blending was a problem on this smooth paper. The color seems to adhere to the original spot and only light blending happens as the very edges. Hard lead pencils did not dent the back of the page.

Mary Engelbreit’s Color ME Too Coloring Book

By: Mary Engelbreit

Rating: 5 of 5

Inspiration of Grace: Adult Coloring Book

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 4 of 5

Inspiration of Grace is a coloring book filled with designs which are all licensed from Shutterstock. Some of the designs have a clear religious subject while others (such as two birds on a heart) do not have a specific Christian message. I’m not sure why some of the designs were included.

The designs are interesting but the printing is uneven in the book. Some designs are printed more gray tone than black. Also, unlike the other coloring books curated by the Mayo family, not all of the designs have framing lines around them. I wish they had been as consistent in this book as the others.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to do a mosaic version of a cross. I was testing a new (to me) type of water-based brush markers and had a lot of fun using all of the colors in the set.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

24 Licensed designs most with Christian Themes(licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Tranquil Gardening

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 4 of 5

Tranquil Gardening is a coloring book with 24 various garden setting and/or flower designs. The designs are all licensed from Shutterstock. Many of the designs are ones that I have not seen before though I have several of them in other coloring books. A few of the designs seem to have been manipulated slightly in order to fit on the page as they seem longer or fatter than I would expect given the subject matter.

Otherwise, he printing is well done, the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page. If you like to color flowers and plants (with a few animals as well) and want a good inexpensive with a variety of artists work, this could be a good coloring book for you.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to do a a scene of a woman collecting flowers in her garden. For me, it had a real seventies vibe to it. I used a variety of Sharpies and Tombow markers to finish this design.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

24 garden/flower designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Tales of the Fantasy flight of the fairies (Adult Coloring Books) (Volume 2)

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a very pretty coloring book which includes 23 fairy designs (24 if you include the intro page.) There are a variety of styles, which makes sense as the designs are all licensed from Shutterstock. I’m very happy to see the attribution on the Look Inside on Amazon. It lets you know immediately that the designs are curated rather than drawn by the editor of the book.

For me, Mayo family has done a good job of curated these images as most are not familiar to me. The printing is well done, the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page. Most of the designs are detailed and some are quite intricately drawn.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to color a fairy playing tug-of-war with a bird. She is in a garden setting and they are tugging at a beautiful flower. I really enjoyed coloring this designs using a variety of Sharpies and Bic Mark-it alcohol-based markers.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

23 Fairy designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Percy Presents: Mystic Island: An Adult Colouring book with Original Hand Drawn Art by Narelle Craven

By: Ms Narelle Craven

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Narelle Craven. My understanding is that there are two others though at the time I write this review, only one of the two are available on Amazon.

The designs are all hand-drawn and feature the fantastic creatures that inhabit Mystic Island. Percy is a little penguin who finds his way onto each of the designs. He also appears on the backside of each of the pages.

The designs are well printed and are imaginative and inventive. I like that some of the girls and women in the coloring book are featured wearing glasses as many of us wear, too. The designs include fairies, dragons, unicorns, girls, animals and many types of flowers. I had a lot of fun coloring my first two designs with which I used a variety of markers.

Here is what I found in this coloring book:

38 Hand-drawn fantasy designs featuring Percy the penguin
Printed on one side of the page.
Paper is typical CreateSpace thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated.
Glue bound
Some designs merge into the binding area and parts of the design will be lost if you cut pages out.
Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I used a blotter page of card stock below my working page to keep ink from seeping through.
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work fairly well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

The Fantasy Forest Adult Coloring book (Mayo Family Adult Coloring Books) (Volume 1)

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 4 of 5

The Fantasy Forest is an interesting set of licensed designs which feature fantasy forest animals and flowers and other plants.

The designs are all licensed from Shutterstock and the Mayo family has done a good job of curated these images as most are not familiar to me.

The printing is rather uneven in this coloring book. Most of the designs are well printed with black print; however, there a couple that are lighter shades of gray. What is nice is that the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to do a grouping mushrooms houses that make up a little city. There are several mushroom designs in the book but this one struck my fancy first. I used a variety of Bic Mark-it and Tombow markers to finish my design.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

23 fantasy Forest style designs designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s Halloween Coloring Book Volume 4: Whimsical Witches, Ghosts, Pumpkins and Vampires (Lacy Sunshine’s Coloring Book)

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

Halloween is the fourth coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. This coloring book is different from the other three in that it includes a number of designs that are not big-eye girls. There is a ghost, a vampire, zoombies and even a mummy. There are still many of the other sweet characters from her three previous books, such as Eleanor and Pickles and Rory Sweet Urchin. They are all dressed up for a spooky Halloween.

I am always looking for fun Halloween designs and this book is certainly a great addition for me. I don’t have many of this style of book and certainly nothing for Halloween. I enjoy coloring these quick projects and look forward to coloring more in this book. I also hope to see more designs by this talented artist as well.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

30 Halloween designs from the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

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

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s “The Boo’s” Coloring Book Volume 3: Whimsical Big Eyed Girls and Fairies

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

The Boos is the third coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. In this book, there are 30 designs which of of a variety of different characters. Some are cute little fairies while others are sweet little girls (some even appear to be toddlers.) There are seasonal girls and even a Mary Had A Little Lamb girl.

What the characters all have in common is the sweet expressions and large eyes that are the signature of this artist. I really enjoy coloring this style of design it makes for a fun and quick project. I sometimes find that when I am working on something that takes days to finish, it makes sense to stop and do something fun that I can finalize in an hour or two.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

30 Big Eyed Girls and Fairies the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

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

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.