Monthly Archives: June 2016

Color the Classics: The Wizard of Oz: A Coloring Book Trip Down the Yellow-Brick Road

By: Jae-Eun Lee

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the fourth storybook coloring book I have purchased by Jae Eun Lee. I know that there is a fifth one due out this year and I am sincerely hoping that there will be more next year. I had some issues with the first book in the series (Anne of Green Gables) having too many story pages as opposed to coloring pages but each book since then has had a much better mix. I also prefer that much of the story is now incorporated into the coloring pages rather than taking up a page by itself. To be fair, those story pages have very elaborate designs to color as well but I wanted more of the actual designs to color.

In this book the mix 18 story pages and 50 design pages for a total of 68 actual storybook pages. There are also four pages of thumbnails of the images and nine other pages (preface, forward, and title pages or those pages following the end of the story) which have designs that you can color.

Once again, the pages are beautifully illustrated with highly romanticized images. The designs are detailed but are not intricate with tiny elements. I was easily able to color using just the standard pencil point.

This is the story based on the original book by L. Frank Baum. The story is certainly not complete, so you will want to keep a copy of the book along with it. The story included just gives a little bit of foundation to the pictures which immediately follow it but will not give anyone reading it a real idea of what the story is fully about.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose a picture that included Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion. I used my Faber-Castell Polychromos for this book and found that though these, as well as other oil-based pencils did not blend as well as I might like, I liked the way the pencils worked with the paper otherwise and I used them more for layering colors and shading more so than for any blending. For fun, I will use a different brand of colored pencils for coloring each book in this series to give each one a slightly different appearance.

Here is what I found in a brief overview:

68 pages of Designs and Story Book Illustrations plus extra pages that can be colored as well

Printed on both sides of page

Pages are heavyweight, slightly smooth and non-perforated

Glue Binding

Some Designs merge into the binding

Some Designs spread across two pages

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page

Water-based markers do not bleed through

India ink pens do not bleed through

Gel pens do not bleed through but require extra drying time

Coloring pencils did well in laying down good color with this paper. I found that for the most part both oil and wax based pencils worked well except neither were great for blending. Wax-based pencils did better at blending than did oil-based colors but both were acceptable for my use. Hard lead pencils did not leave dents on the back of the page.

The Adventures of Rover’s Magical Kingdom 1: Coloring Book for all … (Volume 1)

By: Global Doodle Gems

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Rover Hsiao. The designs range from fairly simple with wide open areas to color to more detailed and intricate designs. The designs have a very playful look and feel which is in line with the title referring to the author’s magical kingdom.

There are cute little girls, animals, doodle hearts, mandalas and sweet looking young women in these designs. I chose one of a little girl and another of a young woman for my first two projects. I enjoyed coloring them with various coloring pencils.

This is also my first book by the publishing company, Global Doodle Gems, so I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as paper quality, etc. I found the book to be on par with books published through CreateSpace (similar paper quality, printing, etc.) so if you are familiar with that company, you will have an idea of what to expect there.

This is what I experienced while coloring and testing this coloring book:

60 Cute Designs in a variety of styles and subjects

Printed on one side of the page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Book can be forced into a fairly flat position by breaking the spine.

Alcohol and water based markers bleed through this paper.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page and India ink pens can spot through if more than one coat of color is applied.

Colored pencils work well with this paper. I found that both oil and wax based pencils put down good color. I use multiple light coats to build up to a deeper pigment. I could layer and blend well with all pencils except some of the harder lead pencils did not blend as well as the other brands of pencils. Very hard lead pencils, such as Verithins, also had good color but could leave dents that could be seen at the back of the page.

I recommend using a blotter page of card stock or heavy weight paper or several sheets of regular paper to keep ink or dents from marring designs below the page you are working on.

Creative Haven Steampunk Devices Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jeremy Elder

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a couple of steampunk style coloring books and those books focus on the fashions and on people rather than on machines and methods of transportation. I was pleased to find this older Creative Haven book which is more about the devices.

The coloring book, by Jeremy Elder, has a much more masculine feel to it. There are bold lines and scenarios that are more Jules Verne than the more romantic and stylized designs in my other books. The people in this book have more of a cartoon look and feel than anything true to life. The fun part of coloring in this book is in making the robots come to life or playing with shading color to bring attention to a newly imagined type of machinery or transportation.

For my first two projects, I had fun using a variety of colored pencils. For the boat, I used Prismacolor Premier Soft core pencils and for the robot, I used Marco Raffine’s 72 color pencils.

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

31 Steampunk style designs with focus on machines and transportation

Printed on one side of white page

Paper is white, slightly rough, and is perforated

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the perforation. Most, but not all, designs have either a framing line around the outer edge or finished elements.

Alcohol and water based markers leak through this paper. The alcohol markers bleed through immediately while the water-based markers leave heavy spots of color depending on how much I have to use to fill in the spot properly.

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. Both wax and oil-based soft pencils lay down good color. My preference is several coats of light finish to get the pigment I prefer. I was able to blend and layer well with this paper as well. Hard lead pencils may leave dents on the back of the page.

I use a blotter page under my working page or I remove each page at the perforation before coloring to prevent damage from seeping ink or marring dents.

Balance – For Crayons And Wide Tipped Markers: Angie’s Gentle Mood Menders – Volume 1

By: Angie Grace

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second coloring book by Angie Grace. The first one, Breathe is part of the Extreme Stress Menders series. This book, Balance is the first in the Gentle Mood Menders series. It is a re-working of her popular and best-selling original Balance book.

This big difference is that this book has been made easier to color. Rather than the large and somewhat intricate designs of the first book, this one focuses on the central portion of the design but it is in the same space as the original book. That means a more open design that you can use larger coloring medium with. The mandalas are still quite detailed and are certainly fun to color.

In addition to larger tipped medium, I think it is also a book that can be used by individuals who could not color in the original book due to fine motor or visual issues. While I can’t compare it to the original book as I don’t own it, I did compare it to Breathe. I find that coloring in this book is a lot of fun and that the projects went by quickly for me without having to work in small detailed areas with tiny nib pens.

For my first two projects, I did one in spring colors and the other in fall colors. I plan to do a winter and summer one as well. I used a variety of Sharpie and Bic Mark-it Fine point markers (as opposed to the ultra-fine I used in the other book.) As promised by the title (for use with crayons and wide-tipped markers), I had no problems at all with the fine-point (wider tipped) markers. It was fun to be able to use them for mandalas as I generally cannot due to the size of the nib.

This is what I experienced while coloring in and testing my coloring mediums with this book:

50 Mostly Circular style Mandalas with wider lines and more open space than most mandalas

Printed on one side of the page.

Smaller format book to save paper and lessen dead white space above and below the mandala. This also makes it easier to frame if you choose to do so.

Typical CreateSpace paper thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated

Designs stop well before the binding area with plenty of room to cut pages out.

Book lays open fairly flat if you break the spine by pressing down hard on it.

Alcohol and water-based markers seep through this paper to varying degrees (water-based are more spotty depending on the brand.)

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page India ink can spot through if you use more than one layer of ink for coverage.

Colored pencils work well with this paper. I got good color with repeated layers with light pressure. I can layer and blend well with both oil and wax-based pencils. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.

I recommend the use of a blotter page for under your working page. That way you can keep seeping inks and marring dents from damaging the design below. I like card stock for this but you can use any heavyweight plain paper or multiple sheets of lighter weight paper.

The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Coloring Book

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: 4 of 5

Rather than discuss how this coloring book is like or different from movies (or the books), I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book. I will note that this coloring book is based on the movie trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. The characters look like those actors or characters rather than any illustrations in this books.

The designs in this book have two distinct styles. This makes sense as the credits for them are both to an individual (Nicolette Caven) as well as a company. They are different but mesh fairly well together. The designs with the wording are generally fairly simple to color while the more elaborate two-page spreads are quite involved, detailed and have intricate and small spots to color.

Doctor Who: Travels in Time Colouring Book

By: BBC

Rating: 5 of 5

Adult Coloring Book with Color by Number or Not – Mandalas Vol. 1 (Volume 2)

By: C. R. Gilbert

Rating: 5 of 5

This my second book in this series of coloring books which are designed to teach you to color. The concept of the book is quite different. As with my first book in this series, 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.

While I generally do not do color-by-number books, I really like the way this book is put together. As I don’t like to have numbers showing through, 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, the pre-numbered designs work well, too.

There are 20 different mandala designs in this book. They range from fairly simple to very detailed. For my first two projects, I chose a a designs that had fewer intricate spots but involved many round shapes. I used different coloring medium for each (pencils on the free-style version and water-based markers on the pre-numbered one.) 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 three shades of blue.

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
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.

Mermaids Grayscale Coloring Edition (Fantasy Coloring by Selina) (Volume 7)

By: Selina Fenech

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second grayscale coloring book by Selina Fenech. While I loved the artwork in both books, this book is a vast improvement in how it is printed compared to the copy of her first book that I purchased. In that book, the skin tones were too dark and rather muddy. Because of how clear and good the contrast is in this book, I am left wondering if I received a bad printing with the first one.

I really like this book. I love the artwork as I do with Ms. Fenech’s line drawn coloring books as well. This book appears to have been taken, at least in part, from the first mermaids line coloring book Ms. Fenech published. I don’t own that book so I can’t verify that for sure.

This book has many mermaids both close ups of one and group designs of multiple mermaids. There are a couple of designs that mimic Art Nouveau poster art and which match the lovely fairies that I colored in the first grayscale coloring book by this artist.

I’m looking forward to coloring these pictures and having fun with the colorways because the book contains two of each of the twenty-five designs. If I really mess something up, I have another one to try. If I have problems deciding on a colorway, I have two designs that I can try two different ways. For my first projects, I used alcohol markers with an overlay of colored pencils. It worked well but as I am new to all of this, the results are not all that great but I sure enjoyed the time I spent coloring these pretty pictures.

25 x 2 each Grayscale Designs from Selina Fenech’s actual artwork

Printed on one side of CreateSpace typical white, thin non-perforated paper

Glue Bound

Designs do not merge into the binding area. There is a framing line around the outside of each design so you can cut the page out without any design loss.

Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper (I suggest you use a blotter page below the page you are working on if you use these.)

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

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. You can put down light to heavy color, it blends and layers well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.