Daily Archives: May 10, 2016

Adult Coloring Book with COLOR BY NUMBER or NOT

By: C R Gilbert

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book that is also a book which can help teach you how to color as well. The concept of the book is quite different. There are two versions of each of the 20 designs. The first is a regular line drawing and the second has color numbers placed in each of the segments of the design. These two pages are followed by an additional page which provides the key to the color by number page as well as two additional spots where you can use your own colors to replace the colors for each number. On this page, you are provided two segments of the design in which you can test out your color choices.

I generally don’t do color by number because I can see the numbers through (as I don’t press really hard with my coloring pencils.) I really like the way this book is put together, though. I can follow the key for colors but do it on the version of the design that doesn’t have the numbers printed. For those who can cover those numbers or for those who simply don’t mind, you can use the pre-printed, numbered design.

There are 20 designs in the book and they range from mandalas to repeating patterns to animals. For my first two projects, I chose a fish design. I used the same brand of coloring pencils for each. I did my version of the design first so I would not be influenced by the color by number design and used a wide variety of colors. I then colored the same designs using the pre-printed number page and following the color key which essentially used two colors (red/blue) and left the white as blank. I had fun doing both styles and happy with both results.

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

20 Designs printed in two formats along with 20 test pages as well for a total of 40 coloring opportunities
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated paper typical of CreateSpace published books
Book is Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area and either framed with a line or have all elements finished at the edges
Coloring book can open fairly flat for coloring purposes
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink can spot through or leave shadows of color depending on how much I put on the page.
Coloring pencils work well: wax and oil based soft lead lay down color (both with a soft and a firm hand), layer, and blend well; hard lead (like Verithins) dent the back of the page but lay down good color

I received a free sample copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.

Lost in woods

By: Yu Chen Huang

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by the talented artists at Dream State Studio. This new book is by artist ChO (Yu Chen Huang.) In addition to this coloring book, she was a contributing artist on another of my favorite coloring books Fantastic Animals. The designs in Lost In Woods have a similar look and feel lots of animals with some being very imaginatively drawn while others are most realistically drawn.

The 28 designs in this book are quite detailed and intricately drawn with lots of doodle elements. There are many tiny spots which require either a very sharp pencil or tiny nibs on pens and/or markers.

For my first project that I will upload, I used an undercoat of alcohol-based markers and then finished the design with a variety of soft and hard lead coloring pencils. While my project had some small areas to color, it was not one that I would consider as intricate as many others in the book.

This is what I found out about this book while testing and coloring in it:

28 Imaginative and Intricately drawn Animal designs
Thumbnails of each design are printed at the front of the book
Designs are printed on one side of the thin white non-perforated paper (typical of CreateSpace coloring books)
Some of the designs merge into the binding area and you will lose some portion of the design if you remove it from the book
Glue Bound
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. The soft lead pencils blend and layer well; however, the hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

As with all Create Space published books, I highly recommend using a piece of card stock or other heavyweight paper under the page you are working on. This will keep dents and seeping ink from ruining the pages below.