Daily Archives: May 24, 2016

Color God’s Creation: An Adult Coloring Book for Your Soul (Color the Bible)

By: Caroline Simas

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely Christian coloring book by artist Caroline Simas. The theme of the book is God’s creative power. The scripture verses remind us about the inherent goodness of what He created and our role in appreciating it and taking care of it. The verses are taken from both the Old and New Testaments but the primary focus is on the Old Testament. The original, hand-drawn designs show lovely flowers, animals, including birds and fish, the earth, and even the stars.

The artist, Caroline Simas, is known for her brand, Multiple Blessings, and her work is well known in home decor and the gift industry. Her primary work is done in watercolors, gouache, mixed media, abstract and pen and ink. Based on the thickness of the lines, the designs in this book are line drawings that appear to have been done with a mixture of both regular ink as well as markers.

The translations used in this coloring book are: Holy Bible New International Version (NIV), ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), New American Standard Bible, and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

I chose my first three projects based mostly on the verses. I enjoyed coloring the designs but I really needed to think about the words and what they meant to me. It was fun to color as I meditated on the glory of creation. In a very slight way, I got a feeling of the creative spirit at the same time.

This is what I found while coloring in this book:

37 Scripture Based Creation oriented designs

Designs are printed on one side of the page

Paper is medium weight, white, smooth and perforated

Glue Bound

Alcohol and water-based markers bleed/spot through on this paper

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

Coloring pencils also leave a slight shadow and the the hard lead pencils dent the page of the page. I found that colored pencils went on well and layered and blended easily.

I recommend a blotter page below your working page to keep ink and/or dents from marring the page below.

This is a series of Christian coloring books that I really appreciate. The designs are all really nice but the focus is on the Scripture. I really enjoy coloring in these books and have given them as gifts as well.

Magic Scope: Coloring Book

By: Irina Vinnik

Rating: 5 of 5

I was first introduced to Irina Vinnik’s coloring book designs in Manic Botanic. I so enjoyed that coloring book, that I purchased Magic Scope without seeing a preview of what was inside. While the artwork is unmistakably Ms. Vinnik’s, it is different enough that it warrants a closer look when making a purchase decision. While I appreciate the abstract and rather organic look to the designs, the subject matter is quite different. Where Manic Botanic concentrated on animal and plant life, Magic Scope seems to be more about the flow of lines and other elements one into the other.

I find it to be a quite detailed book of designs, often with elements that are intricate and small to color. In one design that I colored, I chased a tiny thin line around the design as it wove in and out amongst all the others. I also saw this in her previous book as well and it is this type of detail work that I appreciate and enjoy. The designs in this book have more detailing and in some cases, remind me almost of grayscale coloring.

The paper used in the coloring book is standard CreateSpace paper. It is thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated. It is not the best of papers to work with. If you have an especially juicy marker, you may find it feathering outside of the lines fairly easily. I’ve gotten used to this type of paper as a trade-off for getting to experience so many different independent artists. I’m still not thrilled with it but I have accepted it for these books and I know what I will be getting when I place my order (though hope still springs eternal that Amazon (who owns CreateSpace) will improve the paper quality.) I also find that it works better for colored pencils than for markers so a lot of my work in CreateSpace books involves pencils.