Daily Archives: November 27, 2015

This is a fantastic calendar for any fan of Johanna Basford’s beautiful artwork. There are twelve designs selected from the original Secret Garden and unlike the portfolio version of the book, the calendar actually does enlarge the images and makes it even easier to color. It will also make for a really nice piece of art that can be framed. It also has some of the Inky Treasure Hunt elements to make for a little more fun while you are coloring. Unlike the book, there is no key to finding the treasures.

Unlike the book, these designs are printed on white rather than cream. The designs are set far enough away from the artwork that the calendar hole can be covered by matting or a frame if you choose to take the calendar apart after you have colored the pictures. The calendar is 12 x 12 inches, so it is considerably larger than the original book at approximately 10 x 10 inches. If my pictures come through as planned, you will see that I have put my most recent copy of the book next to the calendar so you can see the difference in size.

As a calendar, it has the major holidays with emphasis on British ones (which makes sense, of course.) It has a back look at the prior month and a forward look at the next month. The back of the cover page has a small date calendar for 2015, 2016, and 2017 so it is a really useful calendar for my purposes.

The front cover has gold foil elements and can be colored, too. The back can also be colored but it is much smaller to work with those images. There is a title page which can be colored but you will need to be careful with the coloring medium you use as it could leak through and ruin the January image.

The paper used for the calendar is a decent weight card stock. It is bright white. The binding is a traditional two staples at the fold in the middle of the book, so taking this calendar apart later should prove to be a very simple project.

I tested a variety of markers and gel pens as well as pencils. I found that all permanent markers, Sharpies, Copics, etc. bled through immediately and heavily. My water-based markers were mixed with only two proving to have no leakage. Those two were my Staedler triplus fineliners and my Tombow duel brush (both the brush and the marker points.) My Stabilo 88’s bled through with dark and bright colors being most noticeable. Other colors left a shadow on the back of the page. All other water-based markers bled through to varying degrees with all of the variety of colors I used. My gel pens (Fiskars and TekWriter) worked well but needed some extra drying time which is standard for a better grade of paper. I tried my Derwent Studio, Prismacolor Premier, and Prismacolor Verithins coloring pencils and they all worked great and as I would expect given the types of lead that they have. If you are using any other type of coloring medium, I would suggest testing before you use it to see if it leaks through.

I am fine with the bleed-through and will use whatever medium I choose. With the exception of the title page, all of the artwork backs onto the monthly calendar and I don’t mind losing the dates, etc. once I start coloring in the book. Included with the calendar (to keep it safe) is an excellent piece of chipboard that is the perfect size to use as a safety paper when you are coloring. Be sure to save it to use for this purpose as it might be difficult to find a 12 x 12 inch piece of paper or chipboard later.

I am so very happy to get this calendar in fact, I ordered two. I want to use one for the year but I can’t wait the year to color it. It’s fantastic that the pictures are larger as it will make it easier to color. I think it is a great gift to give to any colorist and I will be buying some additional copies to give as holiday gifts this season.

This is a very cute and fun Christmas coloring book. The style of the designs range from whimsical to elegant with a few stop offs at simply cute. It includes Christmas trees, Santas, stockings, and lots of fun items associated with the holidays. The designs are easy to color with only a few having intricate and small areas. I like that some of the designs have a heavy black background as it will save me a lot of time and ink not having to color it all in. It will also give a great pop to my final coloring.

The pages are printed on thin white paper which is not perforated. 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.

What is really quite nice about this line of books by Grace Sure is that she is also making them available for you to print additional copies if you purchase the book. You can either purchase the book and get the access to the on-line version. If you prefer, you buy the Kindle version of the book or, at the time I am writing this review, you can use your Kindle Unlimited to borrow it, too. You can decide to print the designs on whatever paper can use in your printer. When I have this option, I use my laser printer on chipboard. It keeps it safe from my water-based markers and water colors and gives me a good surface to color on. I may do this for a couple of prints but I am happy with the quality of the printed book for most of my coloring needs.

A free sample of this coloring book was provided for test and review purposes.

This is an absolutely adorable book of cats not only in hats but in costumes, too, for the most part. There are so many cute ones to color, I’m not sure where to start. The cover art picture is cute, but I am a Sherlock Holmes fan, so that may be my jumping off point. The Carmen Miranda inspired kitty is also a contender for my first coloring project. I was in cat rescue in the past and seeing these kitties makes me think of all of the kitties I fostered and adopted over the years. I will have fun putting some of those cats personalities into these pictures.

The designs are printed on one side of a nice medium weight non-perforated paper. The binding is glued rather than sewn but all of the designs stop well before the bound edge, so you can easily cut them out if you choose to do so without losing any part of the design.

All of my markers seeped through the page. My gel pens left a shadow on the backside of the page. My coloring pencils worked well with this grade of paper. If I choose to use anything other than pencils, I will put a heavyweight paper or chipboard under the page I am working on to keep any ink from damaging the rest of the book.

There are 60 architectural images in this book. There is a wide variety of building styles from older Dickensian style town scenes to traditional homes and buildings to very modern architecture. The designs range from open and easy to color to more intricate with a little more challenge. This is a great coloring book for me to use when I feel the need to have straight lines and order in my coloring. I do a lot of wild designs but sometimes coloring something like a building helps to get my mind in straight order (especially useful when I need to make a shopping list afterward!) While I love my house, coloring in this book gives me an opportunity to think what if I lived or worked here? How would I want it to look.

This is my second coloring book 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. 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. 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. The designs all have either frames to finish the edge of the design or have all of the design elements finished so I am not left hanging without a proper ending point. I really appreciate this care in design as it gives me a more finished looking final page.

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.

I am really looking forward to coloring in this book. I’m also really pleased that CreateSpace is offering an avenue for artists (or groups of artists) to self-publish their designs. Added to that, Penny Farthing brings in so many designers in one book, it is a real adventure to color. Between the two, colorists have a huge choice of artwork to choose from.

A free sample of this coloring book was provided for test and review purposes.