Monthly Archives: February 2016

22 Great Designs of Iconic Kliban Cats printed on one side of the page

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Iiiireader

Kliban CatColor Coloring Book

By: Pomegranate

Rating: 5 of 5

I remember when Cat by B. Kliban was originally published in 1975. The cute cats became instant iconic symbols. Ever since that time, you can see his great designs show up in calendars, shirts, coffee mugs and more. Even though Mr. Kliban passed away years ago, his illustrations continue to live on. I have owned many items with his Cats on them. I especially like to pick up calendars which gives me a full years of enjoyment and then great pictures to use in craft projects. I was thrilled to find that Pomegranate publishes a coloring book as well as calendars.

The book has 22 Cat designs. The original, colorized versions are shown in thumbnail on the inside front and back covers of the book. The designs are printed in a fairly bold black. I like it with these designs as it makes it very simply to add colors and shading without having to draw details in. Your end result, like mine, will look close to the original but will have your own touches. In my case, I went entirely different colorways from the original designs and had a blast doing so. With many books, I am interested in a portion of the designs. With this one, I like all of them and could only hope that Pomegranate will come out with another book in the future.

The designs are printed on one side of heavyweight non-perforated paper. The binding is stapled rather than glued or sewn, so removing the pages from the book is as simply as removing two staples. The designs all stop well before the binding, so if you decide to cut a page out, you will not lose portions of the designs. The book opens to a fairly flat position but all you have to do is push down slightly to get it really flat.

All of my alcohol-based markers (fine, ultra-fine, and brush) bled through this paper. None of my water-based markers, gel pens, or India ink artist pens seeped through. My gel pens (all brands) required extra drying time. My soft lead coloring pencils went on the paper very thick and creamy and were very easy to blend. My hard lead pencils went on with good color and had some blending capability, too. In the comments section below, I will list the coloring medium I used to test this coloring book.

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20 Lovely Faeries Coloring Designs printed on one side of the page

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

Amy Brown Faeries Coloring Book

By: Amy Brown

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Amy Brown. I’ve seen other books by another publisher in the past but this is the first one that I have purchased. I hope that Ms. Brown brings out more of her fantasy designs under this publisher. I would love to color some of her dragons, etc. as well as these beautiful faeries.

The faeries in this book are adults and they seem almost to be caught in the act of movement. Ms. Brown is able to draw static lines in such a way that you believe you will see them walk right off the page. The dresses flow beautifully and gracefully and the placement of arms and legs and tilt of head are all spot on.

The book is printed on one side of the page with the typical CreateSpace thin white paper. The book is glue bound so you will need to cut designs out if you want to remove them from the book. All of the designs stop well before the binding and all elements are finished on the page (no half dangling open items where you have to guess where to stop coloring.) I was able to get the book to lay flat by breaking the spine.

All of my markers bleed through and my gel pens and India ink artist pens either bleed through or leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page. My coloring pencils work well with the paper and as expected for the type of lead (soft or hard.) 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. In the comments section below, I will list the coloring medium I used to test this book.

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24 Wall Paper Designs with Small and Intricate Designs details printed one side of the page

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

Art of Coloring Coastal | Leisure Arts (6809)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a coloring book of 24 designs that pertain to the coast, water, and activities common to those areas. The images are licensed from AE Publications Ltd./Shutterstock, Inc. That may mean that you will have seen some of these images before in other coloring books.

While the coloring book is very nicely made and the images certainly pertain to the coast, I was a little disappointed that every single page of the book was what I call wallpaper. These are designs that repeat over and over again with the page. The elements are cute but I am not one to really enjoy coloring 24 pages of this type of designs. In prior books, Leisure Arts had wallpaper designs but interspersed them with full page designs as well. As Leisure Arts is licensing the images, I would have thought they could have found a few designs that filled the page without repetition to include in the book. I’m very surprised that they did not do so.

The other issue I have with the book is that due to the many repetitions of the elements, the coloring areas are extremely small. I had to resort to ultra fine markers (for the larger areas) and Prismacolor Verithins and Uni-ball Signo gel pens in 0.28 and 0.38 sizes. In some cases, the areas were simply too small to get my pens and pencils in. I resorted to coloring a larger area with a single color rather than the separate colors I would have preferred. I placed a dime in the middle of a design I am coloring to give you an idea of the scale of the items. This design is about in the middle of the range. There are others which have much smaller areas to color. You will need a steady hand and good eyesight to color in this coloring book.

While this is not my favorite type of design, I do enjoy some wallpaper repetitious designs. These are well done for anyone who likes really small, intricate elements which repeat many times within the page. Because of the lack of full page designs, I like the book but I don’t love it.

The designs are printed on one side of the white perforated paper. You can easily remove the pages all at once as the binding is stapled rather than glued or sewn. I prefer to remove them one by one at the perforations. The book easily lays flat by pressing down on the page. All of the images merge into the binding but as the designs are all repetitious, nothing of importance is lost when you remove the page.

All of my markers bleed through this paper. My gel pens and India ink artist pens either bled through or left color shadows at the back of the page. My coloring pencils worked exceptionally well with this paper. All soft and hard lead pencils went on thick and creamy and I was able to easily blend both types of pencils. You can either use a blotter page below the page you are working on or, as I do, remove the page from the book before starting to color.

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

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50 Great Saying Designs with cute designs printed on one side of the page

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

Attitude Is Everything: Coloring Book (Doodle Art Alley Books) (Volume 3)

By: Samantha Snyder

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book of Sayings designs by Samantha Snyder. I have a couple other of her coloring books but this is the first time I have tried one that is primarily words with designs drawn to support them. All of the sayings in the book are uplifting ones which talk to improving the way you look at life in order for life to be better. I found the designs both fun and quick to color. I enjoyed the experience and walked away from coloring each design with a better attitude about things that were troubling me.

The coloring book is a smaller format book which is typical for Ms. Snyder’s coloring books. The designs are printed on one side of bright white non-perforated paper. The designs are centered well on the page and the print quality is excellent. The binding is glued rather than sewn so you will have to cut out pages if you want to remove them from the book. By breaking the spine a bit, I was able to get the book to lay flat. I really appreciate that the artist has included a framing line around each design. That gives me a stopping point and saves me time and ink if I choose to color in the background of a designs.

All of my markers (water and alcohol-based) and India ink artist pens bleed through the paper. My various gel pens all left a shadow of color on the back of the page. My coloring pencils worked well for their lead type. The soft lead blended really well. The hard lead left indents at the page of the page if I pressed hard when coloring. I used a blotter page of card stock with working with any medium to protect the rest of the book from seeping ink or being marred by indents from my pencils.

These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. While I did not specifically test Marco Raffine coloring pencils with the book, I did complete one design with the pencils when I was testing the pencils. 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:

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

I was provided a sample copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.

Two romances in one – two women find love again after painful divorces

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On: A Novel

By: Debbie Macomber

Rating: 4.5 of 5

While “A Girl’s Guide to Moving On” is listed as a stand-alone novel by Debbie Macomber, it is really the follow-on to last years “Last One Home.”

In the newest book, we are following the youngest of the three sisters whose life has fallen apart. Nicole’s husband has cheated on her and she walks out taking their toddler son with her. Her mother-in-law, Leanne, has lived with her own husband’s infidelities for many, many years and decides to courageously follow Nicole’s example and finally divorce him.

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32 Designs with some inspired by the Bible smaller format than original book printed on side of perforated paper

"Inspiring Moments" Pocket Edition Inspirational Adult Coloring Book

By: Christian Art Gifts

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchased the larger format of this book which includes more designs and some very sturdy punch-out coloring elements. In this book, the designs have been sized down and have been cropped. At approximately 6 x 8 inches, it is indeed pocket size and very portable. In some instances, the cropping has taken a pretty big bite of the picture but there sometimes has to be a trade-off to get a small format book. I plan to take this book and its companion pocket format book with me when I report for jury duty. It will certainly be a great way to spend time while waiting to be called for a jury.

If you take it on the go, just be sure to take appropriately sized coloring medium with you. When the designs were shrunk, they also became intricate and small versus merely detailed. I find that my small nib markers, gel pens, and my hard lead ultra sharp pencils work best with these designs in this format. I also enjoy using my Tombows and doing a large swathe of color rather than trying to color in each tiny detail. I will save the same design in the larger book to have fun doing the detail work. I suggest that this is a good book for individuals with steady hands and good eyesight. If you have issues in those areas, you may want to take a look at the larger version of the book.

There are 32 hand-drawn designs in the coloring book with 12 of them Biblical inspired. That gives the colorist a good range of designs to color with a little more than a third being spiritually inspiring. The Scriptures in the book are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation and The Holy Bible, New International Version.

While I am always looking for Christian-based coloring books which focus entirely on the scriptures, it is good to have a more varied book on hand, too.

The coloring book has an elastic band which is attached at the back and holds the entire book together very nice if you have it thrown in a handbag or backpack. The designs are printed on one side of perforated paper. The design extend beyond the perforations and, in some cases, you will lose parts of the design when you remove the page. Some of the lost area may be important to the designs. The binding is glued rather than sewn but you can remove the designs at the perforations. I was able to get the book to lay fairly flat by push quite hard and breaking the spine. The publishers has used a red ink on the three unbound sides of the page and in some of the designs, a little of the ink as crept further onto the page. It didn’t interfere too much with my coloring but it was an additional expense on their behalf that had a detrimental effect.

All of my markers (both alcohol and water based) bled through this paper to some degree. My gel pens and India ink artist pens did not leak through. My soft lead coloring pencils worked well but did not go on as thick as on some better grade books. My hard lead pencils worked as expected and did not dent the back of the page. I recommend a cutting down some card stock or other heavy paper to act as a blotter with this book. Or, if you prefer, you can simply remove the page from the book before you start to color. In the comments section below, I will list the coloring medium I used in testing this book.

24 Great Mandala Designs from Leisure Arts printed on one side of perforated page

Art of Coloring Mandalas | Leisure Arts (6811)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

I have enjoyed all of the prior offerings by Leisure Arts in their adult coloring books, so when I saw that they had come out with some new books it was an easy purchase decision. This is a book of 24 mandalas and the images are licensed from AE Publications Ltd./Shutterstock, Inc. That may mean that you will have seen some of these images before in other books. I have not so these were all new to me. It is a bit surprising to me that Leisure Arts is licensing images as they have a huge group of designers in other crafts so I would expect that they would do something similar with adult coloring books. Perhaps that will happen in the future.

The designs are mostly full page rather than a singular circular mandala (though my first choice to color was a circular mandala.) Leisure Arts has taken the circular form and than added corner elements to fill the page. In some cases, there is a repetition of the mandala to form an almost wall paper effect across the page. Many of the designs are complex and detailed and a few have intricate and small details.

The designs are printed on one side of the white perforated paper. The binding is stapled rather than glued or sewn. You can easily release the pages all at once by removing the staples but I prefer to remove pages one at a time at the perforations. I can easily get the book to lay flat by opening and pushing down on the binding. Almost all of the images merge into the binding but nothing of importance is lost when you remove the page.

All of my markers bled through the paper easily. My gel pens and India ink artist pens either bled through or left color shadows at the back of the page. My coloring pencils worked exceptionally well with this paper. All soft and hard lead pencils went on thick and creamy and I was able to easily blend both types of pencils. I will probably remove pages as I go along to color but if you want to keep the book complete and use some of the medium that bleed through, put a blotter page under the page you are working on to keep the ink from seeping 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:

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

Smaller Format coloring book with 32 hand-drawn Designs some based on the Bible printed on one side of perforated page

"Cups of Joy" Pocket Edition Inspirational Adult Coloring Book

By: Christian Art Gifts

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the pocket size version of a larger format coloring book. This pocket size coloring book has 32 designs (versus 50) larger book but has only 12 designs which are Bible-inspired. This coloring book is approximately 6 x 8 inches and the images from the larger book have been reduced and cropped to fit into this format. That resulted in the loss of some parts designs and in the coloring spaces being made smaller. The designs are detailed and intricate but I don’t feel that most will require unusually small nib coloring medium to finish the designs.

The designs are fun and flowing and provide an all around coloring book with some Christian designs. I generally look for Christian coloring books in which all the designs are Scripture based but I like this series (and the larger format series from which these were taken.) It is a great way to get coloring designs of all kinds in one book. The huge plus is that it is hand-drawn artwork versus computer generated. The Scriptures in the book are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation and The Holy Bible, New International Version.

There is an elastic closure band on this book which is very convenient for taking the book along with you. It will keep it from opening in your purse or backpack. The designs are printed on one side of perforated paper and the designs extend a bit past the perforations. You will lose a small portion of the design if you remove the page. The binding is glued rather than sewn but you can remove the designs at the perforations. I was able to get the book to lay fairly flat by push quite hard and breaking the spine. The publishers has used a green ink on the three unbound sides of the page and in some of the designs but thankfully none of the ink crept onto the coloring page.

My alcohol and water-based markers all bled through this paper to some degree. My gel pens and India ink artist pens did not and did not create shadows on the back of the page. My soft lead coloring pencils worked well but did not go on as thick as on some better grade books. My hard lead pencils worked as expected and did not dent the back of the page. I recommend either removing the page before coloring or cutting down some card stock or other heavy paper to act as a blotter with this 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:

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

31 Detailed Ornamental Fashions

Creative Haven Ornamental Fashions Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Ming-Ju Sun

Rating: 5 of 5

I own and have enjoyed coloring in a number of fashion color books by Ming-Ju Sun in the Creative Haven line. This is another great book but it is quite different from the others that I own. Those books dealt with period fashions (e.g., 1950’s, Art Nouveau, etc.) while this is a book called ornamental fashions. The fashions are wildly inventive and creative with lots of detail for coloring. These girls seem almost futuristic Sci-Fy with swirls and twirls twisting around their clothing. I even had problems deciding where the dresses started and stopped. You could certainly show a little more skin that I have by choosing to color areas in flesh tones. I felt that I had more creative control over my coloring with these options and that was fun and different. According to the back of the book, the designs include: “Rosettes, medallions, and sinuous running vines are among the motifs inspired by the decorative arts for these 31 original fashions. The designs adapt ornaments from carpets, textiles, wood carvings, paintings, architecture, jewelry, and other sources.”

The coloring book is well made as are all of the Creative Haven books. The designs are printed on one side of their medium heavyweight paper. The pages are perforated for easy removal from the book. The binding is glued but that is not an issue as you won’t need to cut pages out of this book. I was able to get the book to lay flat by slightly breaking the spine. The designs all stop well before the perforations. Each of the designs has a framing line around it which I really appreciate and always try to mention when I see it. It gives me a natural stopping place if I choose to color in the background and saves me time and ink.

All of my markers (alcohol and water-based), my gel pens, and my India Ink artist pens either bled through the paper or, at best, left shadows of distinct color on the backside of the page. My coloring pencils worked on and as expected for their lead type and for the standard Creative Haven paper that is used in this book. In the four designs I have colored so far, I have used markers, gel pens and coloring pencils. When I used the markers and gel pens, I used a blotter page behind the page I was working on to keep ink from seeping through. You can use heavyweight paper or card stock the same way or you can simply remove the page from the book and not be concerned about ruining the rest 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:

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

31 Landscapes/Seascapes showing the Animal and Plant life printed on one side of perforated page

Creative Haven Nature Vistas Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jeremy Elder

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the second Creative Haven coloring book I have by Jeremy Elder. The first one is Steampunk Devices which is very different in style and tone from this book. In Nature Vistas, Mr. Elder has gone for a more natural look and feel to his designs (versus the fantasy of steampunk.) The book depicts scapes from underwater to desert to forest and everything in between. The designs are detailed but not what I would call intricate. I don’t believe you will need special fine point gel pens, markers, or ultra sharp coloring pencils to color in this book. The artist provides some detail for the animals but also leaves enough room for the colorist to use special techniques should they wish to do so.

The designs in the coloring book are printed on one side of perforated paper. The paper is the standard medium heavyweight that is used in the Creative Haven line. The binding is glued but not a problem as you can remove pages from the book via the perforations. I was able to get the book to lay flat by push down hard and slightly breaking the spine. The designs all end before the perforations and they all have a framing line around the outside of the design. That gives a more finished look to my projects and is what I prefer in my coloring books.

My markers all bled through this paper. My gel pens either bled through or left a shadow at the back of the page. My India ink pens also left a shadow on the backside of the working page. My coloring pencils worked well on the paper and behaved as I expected from the type of lead (soft or hard) and the brand. I will use card stock or heavyweight paper behind my working page to keep ink from leaking through. You can also remove pages before you color them and keep the rest of the book safe.

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Monthly Archives: February 2016

Kliban CatColor Coloring Book

By: Pomegranate

Rating: 5 of 5

Amy Brown Faeries Coloring Book

By: Amy Brown

Rating: 5 of 5

Art of Coloring Coastal | Leisure Arts (6809)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 4 of 5

Attitude Is Everything: Coloring Book (Doodle Art Alley Books) (Volume 3)

By: Samantha Snyder

Rating: 5 of 5

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On: A Novel

By: Debbie Macomber

Rating: 4.5 of 5

"Inspiring Moments" Pocket Edition Inspirational Adult Coloring Book

By: Christian Art Gifts

Rating: 5 of 5

Art of Coloring Mandalas | Leisure Arts (6811)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

"Cups of Joy" Pocket Edition Inspirational Adult Coloring Book

By: Christian Art Gifts

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Ornamental Fashions Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Ming-Ju Sun

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Nature Vistas Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jeremy Elder

Rating: 5 of 5

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