Category Archives: Adult Color Books

This is one of the most beautiful coloring books I have ever seen. It has 22 designs adapted from Japanese master artists, many of which may be familiar to you. The designs are detailed and intricate and include small spaces to color. It may not be the best coloring book for individuals with fine motor skill or vision issues but for those of us who can deal with those tiny spots, it is simply stunning. I have a deep appreciation for Japanese art from learning about it as a child from my best friend’s Japanese grandmother – a woman who had a profound effect on my life.

I have been fortunate enough to own two beautiful Japanese woodblock prints which were passed down to me. My daughters now have them and appreciate the beauty and skill of the artists. This coloring book explains the craft and then goes on to explain the markings that are seen on these prints: Date Seal, Censor’s Seal, Print Title, Series Title, Author Signature, and Publisher’s Seal.

As a coloring book, Floating World is excellent but it is more than a coloring book. For each designs, there is a lead-in page. On the front of the page is information about the artist and about the print. On the back of the page is a frame-worthy full-color print of the woodblock print. Opposite that page is the coloring design. On the back of the coloring design is the artist’s name and information about the print yet again. In this book, you receive 22 coloring designs and 22 full-color prints you can frame, keep, or give away. It is such a value. I would have paid the price for the prints alone or for the coloring designs. To get both is a huge bargain. My husband took one look at it and then decided we had to have a second book for his use.

The book is very well made. It is a slightly taller book than the regular coloring book. The designs and prints are printed on one side of heavyweight micro-perforated white paper. It could almost be considered a light card stock. All of the designs stop well before the perforations so nothing will be lost when you remove pages from the book. You can break the spine to get the book to lay flat. All of the designs have a framing line around the outer edge so you will have a natural stopping point when coloring.

My alcohol-based markers bled through this paper. None of my water-based markers bled through. I don’t use water colors as yet, but I did try my Tombow brush end repeatedly in the same spots (five times) and could not get it to bleed through or to warp the page. I mention this because these designs could be extremely beautiful if done in water colors (I hope someone does some and posts their pictures as I would love to see them.) My gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through but the gel pens required extra drying time. My coloring pencils worked perfectly with this paper. My soft lead pencils were on thick with hardly any effort and blended with a soft touch. My hard lead pencils did not make dents on the back of the page and I was able to get crisp and clear lines with them.

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, and Staedler triplus fineliners

India Ink: Faber-Castell PITT artist pens (brush tip)

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

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