Daily Archives: March 9, 2016

Variety of 30 Mandala style Designs and Silver Frame Display your Finished Projects Quickly and Easily

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

The Magic of Mandalas: Color, Frame & Display (Color Magic to Frame & Display)

By: ArsEdition

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second edition of the new Magic frame designs by this publisher (the first was their flower concept.) With this coloring set, there are 30 mandala style designs in a loose leaf format. The designs range from white on black to black on white. Some are intricate with small details while others have large and flowing elements that are easy to color.

The way it works is that you color your single sheet project and then put it (and all of the other sheets) back into the freestanding frame. You keep them all together to keep the front picture standing upright and not tilting backward into the frame.

For those interested, I will provide more detail below, but in a quick overview:

30 loose mandala style designs printed on one side of medium weight paper
One freestanding cardboard frame
alcohol-based markers bleed through page
water-based marker and Pitt India Ink pens do not bleed through
gel pens do not bleed through
coloring pencils work great with this paper

I really like this concept. It makes it easy and inexpensive to display your artwork. If you buy more than one style of set, you will get different colored frames. The frame is a smidge bigger than 6 x 6 x .5 inches. With this set, the frame is a matte pewter color with silver foil twirling highlights. The back of the frame is slightly accordion in style and folds open to a freestanding position. That portion of the frame is a light red and is not metallic.

The 30 loose leaf mandala style designs are printed on one side of medium weight paper and the back of the page is blank. What I noticed is that the designs mostly go edge to edge for the full six inches but the opening in the frame is much smaller. If you use the included frame, not all of your colored image with show. You can see the difference in my photos (once they post.) I was still pleased with how my mandala looked even though a lot of my work didn’t show.

I test all of my coloring books for use with a variety of coloring mediums and will list those I used in testing this set in the comments section below. Here are the results of my tests:

All alcohol-based markers (various tips and brands) bleed through the paper. None of my water-based markers or Pitt India ink pens bleed through. Nor did they leave any shadows on the back of the page. My gel pens worked well but all but Uni-ball Signo pens needed a little extra drying time. Coloring pencils worked really well with the soft lead going on thick and creamy and blending easily. The hard lead pencils did not dent the back of the page.

For my first full project, I used the brush end of my water-based Tombow markers. I put the design on my clipboard to hold it steady and it worked really well. That is how I will do the remainder of the projects. I found that the neon colors I used really made the design pop on the page while the more muted shades (red and pumpkin) seemed to recede on the dark paper.

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Black and White Version of 102 Page Graphic Novel printed on both sides of page

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

Coloring DC: Batman-Hush Vol. 1

By: Jeph Loeb

Rating: 5 of 5

I was hoping for exactly what I received a black and white version of a graphic novel. It seems to be exactly the same artwork but with the colors removed. There is a lot of heavy black but that’s okay with me. If I want to darken the black, I can always use my coloring pencils over it.

Additionally, there are areas that look more like gray tone water color that would be hard to color using traditional methods. I’ve recently learned how to use coloring pencils for gray scale images and that is what I will do with these images.

What I really appreciate is that I can now color my characters in traditional ways or pick my own color palette and go for it. In the past, I’ve tried drawing some of my favorite characters but in the end, I wasn’t happy with the result. This book will be great for my use.

I think it’s a fantastic idea for publishing companies to pull out their classics from the archive and give us the opportunity to color. I hope to see more coloring books from graphic novels in the near future.

I will provide more details below for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts, but here is an overview of what I found in this coloring book:

102 pages of black and white graphic novel plus title page
Design printed on both sides of page
Paper is heavyweight and non-perforated
Designs merge into the binding
Binding is both sewn and glued
All markers (alcohol and water) and India ink pens bleed through the page
Gel pens leave a shadow of color on the reverse side
Coloring pencils work fantastic with this paper

The designs are printed on both sides of the white, heavyweight, non-perforated page. I really didn’t expect anything other than this as it follows the format of a graphic novel. The binding is glued and sewn which makes it really sturdy but almost impossible to remove pages from the book. I don’t intend to do so anyway, so no problem for me.

The designs merge into the binding and some of the designs spread across the binding onto two pages. I was able to get the book to lay fairly flat but it took some effort to crease the spine enough. As I said before, the binding is really sturdy in this book.

I test a large variety of coloring medium on my books. I’ll list those I used for this book in the comments section below. Here is what I found:

Alcohol and water-based markers and India ink pens bleed through the page and will ruin the designs on the backside of the page. Gel pens leave a shadow of color that is easily seen on the reverse of the page. In the end, I can only recommend coloring pencils for this book and those I recommend highly. My soft lead pencils went on thick and I was able to blend them really easily. My hard lead pencils went on sharp and are perfect for the tiny spots in the designs.

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32 Pretty and Detailed Floral Designs by great new Artist printed on one side of the page

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Iiiireader

Hello Angel Big Beautiful Blossoms Coloring Collection

By: Angelea Van Dam

Rating: 5 of 5

“Big Beautiful Blossoms” is a coloring book of 32 full page designs. The subject is flowers and that is what the book abounds with. Most of the designs are strictly flowers; however, there a couple of mandalas, designs with sayings incorporated, and finally, a head view of a woman with a large floral bouquet for her hair. I really appreciate the hand-drawn designs in the book. While they don’t have the perfect look of a computer generated design, they are more true to what I would expect in my garden. That is, a large variety of flowers that each have their own unique look and quality.

I will go into detail below about what I discovered in this coloring book, but here is a quick overview:

32 Floral Inspired Designs
Designs printed on one side of medium weight white perforated paper
Back of page has inspirational quote and lines for journaling
Binding is glued
Designs stop well before the perforations
Alcohol and water-based markers, India ink pens, and gel pens all bleed through this paper
Coloring pencils work well with this paper

The designs in this book are by artist Angelea Van Dam, She is located in New Zealand. I mention that because I read somewhere that she is a kiwi artist. I had no idea what that meant but apparently it means New Zealand (I kept looking for designs that incorporated kiwis!) Her books (I have three now) all have the great helpful hints at the beginning of the book. I was impressed by the information that she provides and will certainly start experimenting with her suggestions. I really like Design Originals coloring books and I am glad to see her join their great line-up of artists.

The book is printed on one side of medium weight white perforated paper. The paper used is the standard variety from Design Originals. As usual with their publications, there are inspirational quotes from a variety of sources on the back of each page along with lines on which you can journal or note the types of coloring medium you used and what date you finished the design. It was very easy to get the book to lay flat for ease of coloring.

The designs have all finished elements or have a framing line around the outer edges. I really appreciate this added touch and try to mention it when I see it. I think it makes the finished project look that much better when this is done and I always try to point this feature out when I see it.

I test my coloring books with various coloring medium and will list those in the comments section below. Here is what I found with my tests.

Alcohol-based markers, water-based markers, India ink pens, and gel pens all bleed through this paper to some degree. Coloring pencils work well with the color going on thick. Blending soft lead pencils was easy and the hard lead pencils left dents at the back of the page.

I recommend what I do, which is to use a blotter page under the page I am working on. That will keep the rest of the book safe from ink seeping through. If you prefer, you can remove the page from the book before coloring.

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