Monthly Archives: May 2016

Magic totem: Coloring Book for Grown-Ups, Adult. Beautiful decorative animals, birds, flowers

By: Nadiya Vasilkova

Rating: 5 of 5

I’m fairly new to working with grayscale coloring and Nadiya Vasilkova’s designs are the only ones that I have done in pointillism grayscale. It was with great pleasure that I discovered that she had recently published a large number of her beautiful animal designs in this coloring book. In addition to 34 wonderful animals, there are an additional 5 similar designs in a variety of subjects as well as 10 great line drawings with slight amounts of pointillism that I can use for regular coloring.

The majority of this coloring book is printed in pointillism style. This is the style that was developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac during the 1800’s. I’m not as familiar with Mr. Signac’s work but I have seen (and studied in art history) some of Mr. Seurat’s works such as A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

In pointillism, the image is created by using very small uniform dots of color in place of the brush strokes we are used to seeing in paintings. Similar to Impressionism, the further you stand from a pointillism painting, the more you see the overall effect. The designs in this book are not printed in color but rather in varying shades and density of gray.

As with regular with grayscale coloring, you choose your colors based on the design. Light colors with light dots or areas where there are no dots, medium with medium, and dark with dark or densely dotted areas. I’ve mostly used colored pencils with my grayscale but have recently begun using a variety of markers as well.

For my first two projects in this book, I used markers. With the lion, I then went over the entire designs with colored pencils as well. Using markers has given me a very different look to my projects and is something that I am pleased to be trying and learning.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

49 Beautiful Designs with 39 in pointillism style

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is typical CreateSpace paper thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated.

Glue Bound

Designs do not merge into the binding area

Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)

Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper both oil and wax based pencils lay down good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Creative Haven Dazzling Dogs Coloring Book

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Hello Cuba! Coloring Book

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Victorian Houses Architecture Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: A. G. Smith

Rating: 5 of 5

There are 31 beautifully illustrated architectural designs of Victorian Houses in this coloring book. The designs are re-prints from two prior Dover books, Victorian Houses 2001 and The American House Styles of Architecture Coloring Book 1983. While I don’t have either of the previous books, I have seen images of designs from them. What is different about this book is that 1) the designs are printed on one side of the page and 2) the description of the house is now printed on the back of the page instead of the bottom of the page. Based on the size of the designs, I would like that they may have enlarged the designs a bit as well as there was no longer a need to accommodate the printed words.

The designs are really lovely. My husband grew up living in an older Victorian house and I enjoyed visiting it. Where I grew up (Southern California), Victorian Houses didn’t abound. I always enjoyed visiting San Francisco and seeing the lovely houses that still stood after their devastating earthquake in the early 1900’s. I’ve also enjoyed cross stitching a number of Victorian houses, so I was pleased to be able to get this book.

While the designs have a definite architectural look to them, the artist also included background scenes and people who inhabit the homes. The designs are detailed but not too intricate. For my first project, I chose a seaside house similar to one of my husband’s relatives homes. The book describes it as a seaside cottage in the Stick style from 1881. I used a variety of alcohol-based markers to finish the design. I will include a photo of this as well as the two pages of four colored samples from the coloring book.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

31 Victorian Houses (reprints from previous Dover coloring books) with description of house and style on the back of the page.

Printed on one side of white page

Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line on the outside of the designs.

Alcohol and water based markers seep through this paper. The alcohol markers bleed through immediately while the water-based markers leave heavy spots of color. I use a blotter page under my working page or I remove each page at the perforation before coloring.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page

Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Creative Haven The American House Architecture Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: A. G. Smith

Rating: 5 of 5

There are 31 designs in this coloring book which are, according to the blurb at the front of the book, a new selection of plates from The American House Styles of Architecture Coloring Book originally published in 1983. While I don’t have that book or another one from 1988 that may contain some or most of the designs in this book, I have seen designs from both. What is different about this book is that 1) the designs are printed on one side of the page and 2) the description of the house is now printed on the back of the page instead of the bottom of the page. Based on the size of the designs, I would like that they may have enlarged the designs a bit as well as there was no longer a need to accommodate the printed words.

The designs begin with a Saltbox house (Jethro Coffin House, Nantucket circa 1686) and continue through the history of American homes and ending with a Sustainable style house (designed by John Milnes Baker, 1981.) What is interesting to note is that the last home would have been very current when the first coloring book was published in 1983 but is now 35 years old and newer styles of architecture are not present in this coloring book.

I enjoyed that the artist included people and backgrounds to the architectural designs. It made coloring even more fun. For my first project, I chose to do a New England Georgian house (Richard Derby House, Salem Massachusetts, 1762.) The house style is one of symmetry and is made of brick construction. I used a variety of alcohol-based markers to finish the design. I will include photos of it as well as the two colored samples from the book.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

31 Historical styles of American houses (reprints from previous Dover coloring book) with description of house and style on the back of the page.

Printed on one side of white page

Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line on the outside of the designs.

Alcohol and water based markers seep through this paper. The alcohol markers bleed through immediately while the water-based markers leave heavy spots of color. I use a blotter page under my working page or I remove each page at the perforation before coloring.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page

Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Creative Haven Paradise Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Ted Menten

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Ted Menten. I can see that he has been heavily involved with previous Dover books, including coloring books and paper dolls. The artwork in this book is new and has not been previously published.

The hand-drawn designs show a tropical paradise. I lived in Southern California for most of my life and many of the lush settings and plants are very familiar to me. One of the things I miss most since moving away is the beautifully colored flowers that one can see year round. I also visited Hawaii a number of times in my life and many of the designs in this book bring those vacations to mind as well.

The designs are detailed without being overly intricate. Each designs has beautiful flowers and generally has either a bird or butterfly as well. For my first projects, I chose a design with a toucan and two of my favorite tropical flowers a bird of paradise and a hibiscus. I grew both of these flowers in my old garden and it was lovely to be able to color and think of those days. I will include a photo of the project as well as the two colored samples from the book.

This is what I found in going through this coloring book:

31 Hand-drawn Tropical designs

Printed on one side of white page

Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line or finished elements at the outside edges.

Alcohol and water based markers seep through this paper. The water-based more or less spot through heavily but the alcohol based flow through immediately. I use a piece of card stock under my working page to keep ink from leaking through. You can also remove each page at the perforation before coloring.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page

Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Creative Haven Art Deco Egyptian Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Dover

Rating: 5 of 5

The concept of this coloring books is interesting. The designs include classical Egyptian motifs which have been presented in an Art Deco type of style and adapted from designs by Paul Marie. I noticed that many of the type of motif are used throughout the entire book.

The book is not original but instead is based on a Dover book from 2011 (which itself was a reprint of an older French book. The disclaimer in this book says it is a new selection of prints from Egyptian Motifs in the Art Deco Style. I assume that means that there were more than 31 designs in the first book. Also, it doesn’t sound as if the first book was a coloring book. I don’t know if this book has been modified or not for use in coloring but I can say that the designs are very detailed, intricate, and have very small spots for coloring.

The designs are all quite beautiful. For my first project, I chose a design that includes many of the motifs in the book. I used Copic alcohol-based markers and instead of coloring each tiny spot separately, I chose to use a single color over many tiny spots. I can then go over it with very sharp pointed colored pencils to add details. I will include photos this project as well as the two colored samples from the book.

To color some of the detailed elements in this book, you may need to have very small nib pens and markers to get into the little spots. I’ve found that gel pens in 0.28 and 0.38 are great for this type of detail.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

31 Egyptian Motif Designs in Art Deco style

Printed on one side of white page

Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line or finished elements at the outside edges.

Alcohol and water based markers seep through this paper. The alcohol markers bleed through immediately while the water-based markers leave heavy spots of color. I use a blotter page under my working page or I remove each page at the perforation before coloring.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page

Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Posh Adult Coloring Book: Thomas Kinkade Designs for Inspiration and Relaxation

By: Thomas Kinkade

Rating: 5 of 5

Fairy World Coloring Pages: Beautiful, Magical Mystical Fairies to Color

By: Barbara Lanza

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by Barbara Lanza. The other two are by different publishers and while that makes a big difference in how the book is put together, Ms. Lanza’s artistic style remains constant and is of high quality. As an extra plus, there are ten pages of tutorials about use of color, medium, and coloring methodologies in the front of the book. As Ms. Lanza has written several successful books about drawing and coloring fairies, getting this information in this coloring book is extremely helpful.

This coloring book has 55 fantasy designs. Some are of fairies by themselves while others include flowers and still others have detailed and fairly elaborate backgrounds. The designs range from open and flowing and easy to color to those that will take some time and thought. I believe that there are some re-prints in this book as I have seen some of these pictures before; however, they are not in my two coloring books so I believe they might be from out of print books.

As always, I enjoy coloring Ms. Lanza’s fairies. She gives them an ethereal and flowing quality that I find really appealing. I love trying to match my colors to the concept of a windblown skirt. I am experimenting with the idea of translucent cloth and one of the fairies in my first projects in this book is one such design. I used my various Copic alcohol-based markers as well as a couple of other markers for small details. I added shade and definition with a variety of colored pencils.

This is what I found in coloring and testing this book:

55 Fantasy Fairy Designs

Designs are printed on one side of the page.

The paper is medium weight, white, smooth and non-perforated.

Some designs merge into the binding area

Sewn Binding

You can remove several pages at a time by sipping binding threads without loss of any portion of the designs

I had to break the spine to get the book to open fairly flat.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper. I used card stock as a blotter below my working page to keep the rest of the book ink-free.

Water-based markers leave the slight of shadows on the back of the page. Nothing bled through that would damage pages below.

Gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through but gel pens needed extra drying time.

Coloring pencils were mixed. I found that both wax and oil based pencils had good color and layered well but blending was a problem on this smooth paper. The color seems to adhere to the original spot and only light blending happens as the very edges. Hard lead pencils did not dent the back of the page.

Mary Engelbreit’s Color ME Too Coloring Book

By: Mary Engelbreit

Rating: 5 of 5