Category Archives: Adult Color Books

30 Nautical Designs Fun and Easy to Color printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Iiiireader

Adult Coloring Book: Breezy Sea Patterns

By: Francis Keene

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a fun book of designs which center on the ocean. There is everything from fish to mermaids to light houses (and there is even a bear which I don’t quite understand but then again, I don’t know a lot about the habits of bears!) What I really like about the designs is that while they have a good amount of detail, the designs are open and easy to color. This is a great book for someone who loves the sea but can’t color in some of the other books which have teeny tiny details. A lot of the sea animals have doodle style designs within their outlines to give the colorist a lot of opportunity to use many colors in their project.

All of the designs stop well before the binding. The designs are printed on one side of thin white non-perforated paper that is typical for books published by CreateSpace. The binding is glued but there is plenty of room for you to cut a page out if you choose to do so. All of the designs have a framing line around the outside. I really like this as it gives me a natural stopping point, saves ink/pencil, and also gives me a more finished looking project when I color.

All of my markers bleed through and my gel pens either bleed through or leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page. My coloring pencils work well with the paper. I will use a piece of chipboard or heavy paper behind the page I am working on so I don’t ruin the following page with leaking ink.

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Assortment of 56 Train and train related designs printed on one side of non-perforated page

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

Train Coloring Book: A Stress Management Coloring Book For Adults

By: Penny Farthing Graphics

Rating: 5 of 5

I have several coloring books by Penny Farthing Graphics in my collection. They are published via CreateSpace which is generally used for self-publishing. The designs are drawn by a variety of artists from all over the world and are licensed via Shutterstock.com. What we end up with is a great coloring book (although on thin paper) with a large and varied selection of designs.

This book contains an assortment of designs of trains and train-related items. The trains range from fairly simple outline forms to others that are more detailed and challenging to color. The trains also range from modern to antique. These are not, for the most part, scenes with trains in them but line drawings of trains. There are also views of track, inside the train, etc. Because the images are licensed from a variety of artists, the look and feel of the designs vary greatly.

While I could wish for thicker, perforated paper, it appears that this is the quality that comes from CreateSpace (which is an Amazon company.) What I really like about the CreateSpace is it is a way that independent artists can get their work self-published. That way, I get a huge choice of design styles albeit with not the best paper.

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) 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 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

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Another large selection of 60 Architectural Designs from Penny Farthing printed on one side of non-perforated page

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

Architectural Art Vol. 2: A Stress Management Coloring Book For Adults

By: Penny Farthing Graphics

Rating: 5 of 5

There are 60 architectural images in this second volume of Architectural Art from Penny Farthing. Once again, there is a variety of building types. What is different this time is that there are fewer older European style homes and instead there are a number of Asian homes and churches. There are a number of modern designs and even a very geometric design of a building in the girder stage. The designs range from open and easy to color to more intricate with a little more challenge.

I find coloring architectural designs to be vastly different from my usual flowers, animals, and folk art. Every once in a while, it is great to pull out something so beautifully graphic and just spend time coloring the building the way I would want it to look. It almost feels like a palate-cleansing coloring experience that lets me try something so out of my norm. I also own the first book in this series and enjoyed it so well, I bought this one as soon as it was made available.

I own a few books by Penny Farthing Graphics. They are published via CreateSpace which is generally used for self-publishing. The designs are drawn by a variety of artists from all over the world and are licensed via Shutterstock.com (which seems to be a front-runner in design licensing). What we end up with is a great coloring book (although on thin paper) with a large and varied selection of designs.

The pages are printed on thin white paper which is not perforated which is typical of books published by CreateSpace. The designs are printed on one side of the page with the back left blank. The designs stop well short of the glued binding and can easily be removed with a pen knife if you so choose.

My gel pens and markers all leaked through this paper. My coloring pencils went on well but left a shadow at the back of the page, too. Not a problem, though, as I can put a piece of chipboard or a couple of heavy weight pieces of paper under the page I am working on to keep the ink from leaking through.

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:

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

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Pretty Designs of things that are found at home printed on both sides of perforated pages

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

Home is Where the Heart Is: A Hand-Crafted Adult Coloring Book

By: Steve Duffendack

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a pretty coloring book with filled with designs of things (including pets) that can be found in a home. The designs are all fairly easy to color and are very similar in style to other coloring books by this author. The book includes designs of wine bottles, dogs and cats, mixed drinks, flowers, bathtubs, pillows, and much more. This artist as a clean and stylized look to his designs. There is not a lot of intricate details that require tiny bits of color.

The book itself is really pretty, too. It has a dust jacket which can be colored, inside and out. The outside has a beautiful touch of red foil in addition to parts that are colored beautifully. The publishers missed an opportunity when they didn’t put coloring images on the actual cover of the book.

The designs are printed double-sided on a good heavyweight white paper. What is wonderful is that the pages are perforated for easy removal. There are nine designs which appear to be spread across two pages and which will be divided if you remove the pages from the book. The good news is that all but one of them (the free-standing desk) can easily stand-alone as single page designs. The binding is sewn rather than glued so you can remove a few pages at a time by snipping a few threads.

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Fun and Easy to Color Animal Designs printed on one side of non-perforated thin white paper

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Iiiireader

Adult Coloring Books: Animals – Stress Relief Coloring Book

By: Adult Coloring Book World

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a cute book of animal designs which have been hand-selected by the publishers (which means that they have licensed the images from the artists) from around the world. This gives us a variety of styles and designs within one book instead of having to purchase multiple books. Most of the designs in the book are full body but a few (such as the cover) are head shots. The designs are mostly fairly simple to color but have enough detail to make coloring them fun. For the price, it is a great book to pick up if you are an animal lover and you like to finish your designs quickly.

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:

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

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31 Lovely Butterfly Designs printed on one side of thin white non-perforated paper

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Iiiireader

Adult Coloring Book: Butterflies

By: Two Hoots Coloring

Rating: 4 of 5

This coloring book has 31 designs which have butterflies as their main point of reference. In some cases, the butterfly is the complete design and in others, the butterfly is shown in near flowers or as part of a collage. Many of the designs are intricate and will certainly take a little more time and thought. For some of the designs, you will need good eyesight and a steady hand to color in the tiny details. Some of these areas are so tiny that even with my smallest of points of pencils and gel pens, I had problems coloring them. Because of this issue, I detracted a point from my rating. The book was printed in a smaller format than usual. Perhaps if it had been printed full size, this issue could have been avoided.

The designs in this book are are curated which means that they are licensed from various artists. It gives you a wider range of design styles but along with it, you get very different quality of lines and print. Some designs have heavy and/or dark black lines while others seem almost dark gray in color. In a few very, some of the lines seem less distinct than in others.

The designs are printed on one side of thin white paper. The pages are not perforated but ample room has been left to cut a page out if you choose to do so. The binding is glued rather than sewn so you will have to cut the pages if you want to remove them. The designs all have a small framing line on the outer portions of the designs. I really like this as it helps give work a more polished a finished look and saves me time, frustration and ink in finishing the project.

You can see a list of my coloring medium used for testing below. All of my markers (water-based as well as alcohol) and all of my gel pens bleed through this paper. My coloring pencils work well with it and behave according to their type of lead (though my hard lead pencils leave a noticeable indent on the back of the page. As the backside of the page is blank, I can use a heavyweight paper or chipboard beneath my working page to keep ink from leaking through or my indents from marring the page beneath. Chipboard can be purchased at an office supply store or on-line fairly inexpensively. I can reuse it many times over, so that is becoming my standard blotter sheet.

While I could wish for thicker, perforated paper, it appears that this is the quality of paper and print that usually accompanies an inexpensive coloring book. Because of the price, I think that the value is still there. A better quality of paper could easily double or even triple the cost of the book.

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:

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

Comparison of UK and US printing with a clear winner

Animorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge

By: Kerby Rosanes

Rating: 4 of 5

I am updating my original review of this book as of 01/07/16. I loved the artwork by Kerby Rosanes but really disliked a good number of things about the printing of the book. I became curious about the UK printing once Amazon merged the books into one item number and reviews for the UK book were consistently higher than those for the US book. I purchased a copy of the UK book to do a side-by-side comparison. I also purchased a second copy of the US version to have a clean copy to compare as I had already colored in my first book. I am including a silent video which shows a flip-through of first the UK and then the US version of the book. You may notice that I have some problems paging through the second, US version. It is because the pages are so thin, it is hard to just turn one page instead of several. Also, my photos will show a comparison of the books. The UK book is to the left or to the top of the photo as applicable.

The clear winner in all categories is the UK printing of the book. The sad thing is that the follow-up to this book Imagimorphia is being printed by the same US company (Plume). Keeping the adage of fool me once in mind, I will be buying the UK version of the second book rather than the US one. I still rate the book as 4 star on the basis of the UK version (which is also included for sale in this SKU.) The US version drops in comparison to a 2.5 star. I highly recommend spending the little bit extra and waiting a little while longer to get the UK version shipped to you.

Here is the data I used to come to that conclusion:

1. Size and Weight approximate and listed in similar measurements for consistency and ease of comparison:

UK Version: 9 14/16 x 9 13/16 x 6/16 inches weight 1.03 pounds (16.48 ounces)

US Version: 9 15/16 x 10 x 4/16 inches weight .68 pounds (10.88 ounces)

The UK printing is slightly smaller but is thicker and weighs more (a whopping 1.5 times the weight of the US printing) which equates into a much heavier weight of paper used for the book.

2. Cover: The UK version has a thicker cover. It has a matte black background with the tiger in a glossy print that really stands out. The words are slightly different on the front and the back wording is quite different. The orange tone for the wording is a deeper and richer color than that on the US printing. The US cover is thinner and is a semi-gloss. The orange used on the words is more of a fluorescent color. I’ve included a picture which shows the UK version on the left and the US on the right.

3. Paper Quality: Here is a huge difference. The UK version has a nice heavyweight paper that doesn’t crease easily and which does not show through the printing from the back of the page. The US version creases easily just from trying to turn the page and you can see the reverse print through on the page.

4. Binding: The UK version is sewn rather than glued. It is sewn in every few pages so you can remove that group with a few snips of thread. The US version is an odd hybrid. It is sewn in with multiple threads but the threads go through the entire book and are spaced very close together. Cutting these could be a chore. The US version is also glued together. There are a number of pages where the glue extends onto the page and you lose parts of the design whether you remove the pages or not.

5. Print Quality: The designs are printed on both sides of the page and most spread across two pages. The designs merge into the binding and in some cases, with both printings, the two sides are slightly offset. I found that this occurred more in the US version and that the offset portion was more pronounced. Additionally, there is a weird area of white between the two-page spreads on the US version. It appears that they didn’t print the entire image and just stopped at a certain point before the binding, i.e., you will never get to color the whole image because it was not included plus you get the weird dead white space in the middle of your book. I’ve included pictures which show the the problems with the US version – dead white area in the middle at the binding, some where you can see that the pages are glued together and you lose some of the image and finally, some where the images where offset to the right. In these pictures, the UK version is at the top of the photo and the US version is at the bottom.

The UK version has a crisper look to the printing. That may be a better quality ink or just what happens with a better quality paper. I’ve included a picture of the title page with the UK version on the left and the US version on the right. Obviously, the US version chose to use a lighter ink for the title but there is a difference in the rest of the print ink, too.

Also, while the US book is bigger, many of the images have portions of the sides and top and bottom missing. It appears that they enlarged the images. In some cases, they offset the images, too. There is a picture of a whale where the image has been shifted to the right, leaving dead space in the left side of the two pages and losing elements from the right side. Odd, to say the least.

6. Coloring Medium:

I will list the coloring medium I tested below. I am now testing a much larger group of pens/pencils than I did in my previous review.

All alcohol-based markers bled through the pages of both books immediately and to the same degree. The only water-based marker that did not bleed through was my TomBow with the brush end. If I used the marker end, it bled through, too. The US version showed more ink leakage than did the UK but they both did show some.

My gel pens with the larger points showed a shadow through on the US version when I used bright or dark colors. This did not happen with the UK version. None of the smaller point gel pens showed through on either version (Uni-ball Signo my new favorite for detail work.) The gel pens did require a little more drying time on the UK version this is something I have seen with better quality paper. As the ink is not seeping into the paper, it sits on top and has to dry for a minute or two longer.

There was a distinct difference in how coloring pencils worked with these books. The UK version took the soft core colors beautifully and the hard core pencils did not made indents that could be seen from the back of the page. The US version did okay with the soft core (but not as creamy or as good coverage.) The hard core pencils left distinct indents on the back of the page.

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:

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

30 Beautiful Designs of Women from Around the World plus bonus designs printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Color Me Beautiful, Women of the World: Adult Coloring Book

By: Jason Hamilton

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by Jason Hamilton. I have become a real fan with his wonderful representations of cats (on quilts and with Santa in previous coloring books.) I am extremely pleased with the gorgeous designs in this new book.

The artist has created a unique coloring book in that he has three levels of design levels. Each of the levels has ten designs. The first level is Simple Illustrations and includes women from: Korea, France, Polynesia, Spain, Italy, Southeast Asia, Canada, Morocco, Native American, and Western USA. The second level is Illustrations with Additional Detail and includes women from: Bride, Southern Belle, USA, UK, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, Nepal, Jamaica, and South Africa. The final level is Challenging Illustrations and includes women from India, Kamchatka, Victorian Lace, USA, Russia, Mexico, Norway, Brazil, Switzerland, and Ireland.

In addition to the three levels, the artist has included seven designs which are zoomed in images of other of the designs already mentioned above. The zoomed shot gives the colorist the opportunity to add more detail and shading to their project.

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Beautiful 126 page Assortment of Flora Chang’s Folk Art Designs printed on both sides of non-perforated paper

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Happy Doodles for Fun & Relaxation: Flora Chang

By: Flora Chang

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a wonderful book of 126 pages of folk art designs by artist Flora Chang. I have been eagerly awaiting this book and pre-ordered it early on. There are so many designs I want to color, it is hard to figure out where to start. The designs include flowers, birds, circus people, cats, and much more (even including a garden gnome.) The designs are nicely intricate without lots of small details. There are plenty of opportunities to play with color on each and every page.

I own a couple of other books by Posh Coloring and it looks like they are (wisely, in my opinion) venturing into books based solely on a particular artist’s work rather than a subject matter. I love to get a great book with a variety of a single artist’s designs that way I know which book to grab when I am in the right mood.

The designs are printed on both sides of a medium weight non-perforated paper. The designs do not merge into the binding nor do they spread across two pages. The binding is glued rather than sewn. You can cut the pages out without losing any of the design but you will have design on both sides of the page, so you should look to see if you are cutting on the proper spot for both sides. I was able to break the spine enough to get the book to lay fairly flat. The designs have finished elements on the sides and/or have a framing line that defines where the colorist can stop. I really appreciate this as it gives my project a good finished look when I am done.

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126 pages of Inspirational Quotes with Designs by Deborah Muller printed on both sides of non-perforated paper

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Inspirational Quotes for Fun & Relaxation: Deborah Muller

By: Deborah Muller

Rating: 5 of 5

My first coloring adventure with Deborah Muller was her 2016 Coloring Calendar. The calendar is definitely Christian in nature. This collection of 126 pages of designs is more universal. It certainly includes some Christian elements but it also has quotes from others, including Ghandi, as well as just great motivational and inspirational sayings. The designs are very pretty and are fun to color. I find myself grabbing lots of colors and various medium when I sit down to color Ms. Muller’s designs. There is so much going on, I feel that I can pretty well do anything as far as color is concerned and it will come out great. The designs are detailed and a good number are what I would call intricate (with some including small areas to color.)

The designs are printed on both sides of a medium weight non-perforated paper. The designs do not merge into the binding nor do they spread across two pages. The binding is glued rather than sewn. You can cut the pages out without losing any of the design but you will have design on both sides of the page, so you should look to see if you are cutting on the proper spot for both sides. I was able to break the spine enough to get the book to lay fairly flat. Most of the designs have finished elements on the sides and/or have a framing line that defines where the colorist can stop. I really appreciate this as it gives my project a good finished look when I am done. There are a few that are open-ended but the majority are well finished.

All of my alcohol-based markers bled through the paper immediately. The water-based were rather mixed. My Tombow’s did not leak through when I used the brush end. My other water-based markers did not bleed through completely but you could definitely see a shadow of the color on the backside of the page. None of my gel pens leaked through and they did not require additional drying time. My coloring pencils worked great and behaved according to their lead type (hard/soft core). If I decide to use markers other than my Tombow’s, I will be giving up the design on the back of the page I am working on. If you want to color with any medium other than coloring pencils, there is a good chance you will destroy the design on the back of the page you are working on (and be sure to put a heavy weight piece of paper or card stock under your work so it won’t leak through further.)

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:

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

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

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Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Adult Coloring Book: Breezy Sea Patterns

By: Francis Keene

Rating: 5 of 5

Train Coloring Book: A Stress Management Coloring Book For Adults

By: Penny Farthing Graphics

Rating: 5 of 5

Architectural Art Vol. 2: A Stress Management Coloring Book For Adults

By: Penny Farthing Graphics

Rating: 5 of 5

Home is Where the Heart Is: A Hand-Crafted Adult Coloring Book

By: Steve Duffendack

Rating: 5 of 5

Adult Coloring Books: Animals – Stress Relief Coloring Book

By: Adult Coloring Book World

Rating: 5 of 5

Adult Coloring Book: Butterflies

By: Two Hoots Coloring

Rating: 4 of 5

Animorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge

By: Kerby Rosanes

Rating: 4 of 5

Color Me Beautiful, Women of the World: Adult Coloring Book

By: Jason Hamilton

Rating: 5 of 5

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Happy Doodles for Fun & Relaxation: Flora Chang

By: Flora Chang

Rating: 5 of 5

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Inspirational Quotes for Fun & Relaxation: Deborah Muller

By: Deborah Muller

Rating: 5 of 5

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