Monthly Archives: July 2016

Creative Haven Insanely Intricate Angular Animals Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Connor Martyn

Rating: 4 of 5

While this book definitely contains detailed designs, I don’t know if I would consider them insanely intricate. There are 31 animal designs that have been filled with what I see to be mostly triangles (though there are a few circles and other shapes as well.) The doodle elements are not tiny but they can be time consuming to color. I didn’t have to use any unusually small nib pens, markers, etc. to color my first project.

I do like doodle style designs if I don’t have to try to figure out where things stop and start and, for the most part, I found that this book was fairly easy to work with. The animals designs are all quite different but the doodles in each follow a similar format of shape and style.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:

31 Animal Designs with lots of angle style doodles.

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is standard for Creative Haven: medium weight, white, lightly rough and perforated

Glue bound but pages can be removed easily at perforations

Designs stop before the perforations

Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree

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

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils lay down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I remove pages from Creative Haven books for coloring or use card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper as a blotter below my working page. That keeps the rest of the book safe from seeping ink.

Creative Haven Insanely Intricate Shall We Dance? Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Phill Evans

Rating: 4 of 5

I have a couple of coloring books which include dance scenes in them so I thought I would enjoy this book. I also like intricate designs so I was not concerned about small elements and tiny spots to color.

What I wasn’t prepared for was just how busy this coloring book would be in reality. Every portion of the design, except for any part of a person where flesh is showing (e.g., face, arm, hands, legs) is filled with either ovals or triangles. It is so busy that it is difficult to figure out where something starts and something else begins.

The lines that are outlines are somewhat bolder than the doodle designs but I still found it difficult to decipher initially. Once I got into coloring the design, I was able to figure things out. In addition to the multitude of doodles, there are little bits and pieces of surprise elements hidden in the designs. That made it a bit more fun but not as much as many of my other coloring books.

What I really liked about the coloring book was the diversity of dances that are shown in it. There are modern dance, ball room dance, street dance, and many types of cultural dances as well.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper. In the comments section below, I will list the coloring medium I used to test this book and which I use for coloring most of my projects.

31 Extremely Intricate Dance Designs

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is standard for Creative Haven: medium weight, white, lightly rough and perforated

Glue bound but pages can be removed easily at perforations

Designs stop before the perforations

Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree

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

I suggest using a blotter page below your working page or removing pages before coloring. Card stock or several sheets of heavy weight paper works well.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils lay down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Goddess and Mythology Coloring Book (Fantasy Coloring by Selina) (Volume 9)

By: Selina Fenech

Rating: 5 of 5

I have most of Selina Fenech’s coloring books and grayscale coloring books and I always enjoy her design style. Goddess and Mythology is another fantastic book in her series. In this coloring book, there are 25 designs which is great as-is; however, as usual for Ms. Fenech, she gives us two copies of each design. That provides 50 coloring opportunities in this book. It gives me the option of coloring designs two different ways or to share a copy with someone. Either way, it’s a good thing.

The designs have many details but are not intricate or with tiny elements to color for the most part. There are a couple of nudes with very strategically placed elements so that nothing is showing. I’ve been playing with shading and have tried adding an element of clothing transparency to some of my more recent projects but that is my design choice rather than anything in the coloring book.

While the designs are printed on one side of the page, on the page opposite each design (backside of previous design page) and in light gray print, Ms. Fenech has provided the name of each individual. Along with the name, she has given us a short blurb on the history of the mythology/goddess. I found that extremely helpful as some of these stories were new to me. As I am coloring, I can always look up the name and get a more in-depth explanation but, for the most part, the amount of information provided in the book is sufficient for me.

The designs are based on stories from around the world from Greek and Roman mythology to that of the Vikings to the Far East, from Africa to England. These are the designs that are included in the book: Valkyrie, Blodeuwedd, Diana, The Lady of the Lake, Arianrhod, Aphrodite, Antheia, Athena, Cerridwen, Coventina, Fidelma, Gaia, 2 Wiccan representations, Ishtar, Isis, Nuwa, Selene, Parvati and Shiva, Tempestas, Echo, Guanyin, The Triple Goddess, Oshun, and Rhiannon,

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring mediums I test with and generally use for coloring my projects. For this book, I especially like using alcohol-based markers with colored pencil for shading and depth.

25 x 2 each Goddess and Mythology Designs (50 coloring pages)

Printed on one side of page

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

Designs do not merge into the binding and there is plenty of room to cut out pages if you choose to do so. Most designs have a framing line around the outer edge

Glue Binding

Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the paper to some degrees. Alcohol markers bleed through quickly while water-based bleeds through in spots.

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply multiple coats.

Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. It has enough tooth to get good pigment (especially with repeated layers), layer and blend easily as well. Both wax and oil based pencils worked well with the paper. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.

I use and I recommend that you use a blotter page below your work regardless of which medium you use so that ink or dents don’t mar the rest of the book. I like card stock of several sheets of heavyweight paper for this purpose.

Color Heaven’s Angels: An Adult Coloring Book for Your Soul (Color the Bible)

By: Donna Moses

Rating: 5 of 5

I have a number of the Color the Bible coloring books. This is the first one I have by artist Donna Moses, though I am familiar with some of her older cross stitch designs. Her style is very cute with cartoon-style angels and people. While the designs are cute, the message behind them is beautiful. The book follows a narrative of the Bible and each design is a presentation of a verse that mentions angels. The verse and the cite are part of the design as well. The translation(s) used are not cited in the book, so I can’t be sure of which one(s) were used.

The first design gives glory for Creation and the last design is of Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. There are pictures of Michael and Gabriel as well as Daniel in the Lions Den. I choose the empty tomb as my first project. Coloring this picture gave me a joyous feeling as I thought about the words of the Angel at the tomb.

This is what I found when coloring in this book and testing the paper with my various coloring medium. In the comments section below, I will provide a list of the coloring medium that I use for testing and for most of my coloring projects.

37 Angel Designs in Cartoon-type style by Donna Moses

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is medium weight, white, smooth and perforated

Glue Binding

Designs all have a framing line around the outside for a more finished look.

Book opens fairly flat for coloring if you crease or break the spine.

Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the paper to some degree (water-based is mostly in spots while alcohol flows through rapidly.)

Gel pens and India ink do not bleed through but can leave shadows on the back of the page.

Colored pencils work well with the paper. Both oil and wax based pencils provide good color, layer, and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can leave dents on the back of the page.

I use a piece of card stock or several sheets of heavy weight paper as a blotter sheet below my working page to keep ink or dents from ruining the pages below.

Adult Coloring Book: Doodle Worlds (The Peaceful Adult Coloring Book Series)

By: Lei Melendres

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second coloring book by artist Lei Melendres. The first, by another publisher, was Doodle Fusion and I have really enjoyed coloring with Mr. Melendres imaginative artwork in that book. This new book has taken his doodle artwork to a new level. The designs are in a circular form, kind of like a doodle mandala. I enjoy both forms of coloring, so getting designs that merge the two together has been great fun.

The designs are detailed to the point of being intricate. While they are intricate and detailed, I didn’t find the elements to be so small that I needed special pens, etc. to color them. The exception to this was the double-sided introduction page which, if you wish, you can color as well but is not counted as part of the 48 designs. There is just so much in this book to discover as you are coloring. I was in the middle of my first project and as I was coloring, I found things that I hadn’t seen at first glance. It was almost like having a treasure hunt.

The publishing of this book is a real improvement over the last book. The improved paper quality, the one page printing, and the perforation on each page are things that I look for. As an added bonus, there are two double-sided pages at the back of the book for use in determining color palettes. This is something I really appreciate.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. In the comments section below, I will include a list of the coloring medium I use for my tests and which I generally use for coloring my projects.

48 Circular format Doodle Designs plus 2 double-sided color palette test pages

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated for easy removal

Glue Bound

Opens fairly flat for coloring if you crease or break the spine of the book

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper.

Water-based markers leave colorful shadows and tiny spots that bleed through on the back of the page.

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

Colored pencils work well with this paper. The slight roughness of the paper is excellent for grabbing coloring from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to get good pigment through multiple layers of the same color, to layer different colors and to blend colors using a pencils style blending stick. Hard leads left slight dents through the page when the pencils was extremely sharp.

I suggest either removing project pages from the book or using a blotter page behind your working page. I like card stock but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper work as well.

Animorphia Postcards

By: Kerby Rosanes

Rating: 5 of 5

While I was a tiny bit disappointed that Kerby Rosanes iconic cover art design was not included in this set, that was the only small complaint I had about the set. There are 20 postcards, each with a different design. Rather than just shrink designs to fit, these are designs that are cropped and, in most cases, enlarged for ease of coloring. It makes for a whole new coloring experience for those of us who have Mr. Rosanes coloring book.

While the elements of the designs were enlarged for these postcards, I still found that I needed fairly sharp pencils and ultra-fine or brush markers and small nib gel pens to color much of the designs. Some of the designs are quite intricate and may prove challenging for those who have issues with vision and fine motor skills.

I was so happy that I could use markers without worry of bleed-through (though my alcohol-based markers did seep through a bit.) I don’t use most of my postcards as such. Instead, I mount the on cards and either frame them as gifts or use them as cards. Because of that, I don’t care about a tad of bleed through but I will include a picture of the back so you can see for yourself.

I’m actually hoping to see an artist’s edition similar to those by other artists where the designs are printed on card stock and are on the page without loss of design in the binding. That would be the perfect way to color some of the fantastic animal designs from the original book. In the meantime, this is a pint-size version of my dream Rosanes book and I am enjoying it tremendously.

This is what I found while coloring in this set of cards and testing my coloring medium on the card stock. In the comments section below, I’ll include a list of the medium I use for testing and for most of my coloring projects.

20 Designs cropped from the Animorphia coloring book by Kerby Rosanes

Printed on one side of card stock

Card stock is white, heavyweight and slightly smooth

Glue binding (in the sense of a notepad where pages can easily be removed in whole.

Back is printed for use as a postcard

Alcohol-based markers bleed through slightly. A little more than spotting but not enough to bleed onto my blotter page below. I recommend either removing the postcard from the book to color or the use of a blotter just in case. I cut down a piece of heavyweight paper to keep in the book.

Water-based markers, gel pens, and India ink artist pens do not bleed through this card stock.

Colored pencils worked well. Both wax and oil based pencils provided good color, layered, and blended well. Hard lead pencils provide deep and crisp color.

Charles Santore: Snow White Coloring Book

By: ?

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchased two new coloring books, by Pomegranate, based on the artwork of Charles Santore. The other book (Aesop’s Fables) had much darker shading than this book but still Snow White has a lot of shading in lighter tones of gray. I found that the same technique I used for Aesop’s Fables worked well for dealing with the unusual amount of gray in these designs. I treated them as if I were working on a grayscale design by laying down a foundation of color using alcohol-based markers. Once that I was done, the gray shading became the shading in my colors. I added colored pencil details and highlights and was really pleased with the end result.

The designs are really elegantly drawn with fine details from the original artwork. Thumbnails of the original watercolors of each design are printed in glossy prints on the inside of the front and back covers. I appreciated this touch as at times I needed to look at the pictures to determine which part of the design I was coloring. I used my own color choices rather than following exactly what the artist had done originally.

The story in this book is slightly different from what most people think of with respect to Snow White. I am planning on buying the children’s book which includes these designs so I can follow the story along as I color and to give to our grandchildren when I am finished coloring the book for them.

This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use to test with and which I use most of the time to color my projects.

21 Snow White designs based on the original artwork by Charles Santore with lots of gray shading

Designs are printed on one side of the page

Paper is heavyweight, slightly off-white, slightly rough to the touch and non-perforated

The Designs are bound by two heavyweight staples which can be removed to release all of the page from the book without any loss of design.

Designs do not merge into the binding area

Pages can be cut out if you wish without losing any design elements.

Book easily opens to a flat position for coloring.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper easily.

Water-based markers leave shadows and slight spots of color bleed through on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page.

Colored pencils work well with the paper. It has a slight roughness to it that allows good pigment coverage from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to layer and blend easily with both as well.

Charles Santore: Aesop’s Fables Coloring Book

By: ?

Rating: 5 of 5

When I first received this copy of Aesop’s Fables, I was a little concerned by all of the heavy shading in dark gray and black. I finally determined that the best way to deal with this was by using some of my recently learned grayscale techniques. In essence, I let the shadows in the book become my shading in my colored projects. What I found worked best for me was to use alcohol-based markers to put in the majority of my color as a foundation color and then to use colored pencils sparingly to add slight tonal changes. By utilizing this technique, I was really happy with the finished result.

The designs are all so beautiful and are well done representations of the original artwork. Thumbnails of the original watercolors of each design are printed in glossy prints on the inside of the front and back covers. I found this valuable in looking for clues as to what was what in the design. As I did with my first project, I am sure to create my own colored version as I color my way through the book.

Both my husband and I enjoyed Aesop’s Fables as children and we are both looking forward to telling these tales to our grandchildren. The pictures are representations of the stories, so we will need to have a written version of the tales at hand as well.

This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use to test with and which I use most of the time to color my projects.

21 Aesop’s Fables designs based on the original artwork by Charles Santore

Designs are printed on one side of the page

Paper is heavyweight, slightly off-white, slightly rough to the touch and non-perforated

The Designs are bound by two heavyweight staples which can be removed to release all of the page from the book without any loss of design.

Designs do not merge into the binding area

Pages can be cut out if you wish without losing any design elements.

Book easily opens to a flat position for coloring.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper easily.

Water-based markers leave shadows and slight spots of color bleed through on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page.

Colored pencils work well with the paper. It has a slight roughness to it that allows good pigment coverage from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to layer and blend easily with both as well.

Blooms, Birds, & Butterflies Coloring Postcards (gold foil on every card!)

By: Peter Pauper Press

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely set of 16 postcards for coloring. The designs feature the artwork of Andie Hanna. I so enjoyed Ms Hanna’s coloring book (which this set is based on), that when I saw the postcards were available, I purchased them on a pre-order. There are birds, flowers, and butterflies as well as paisleys and other pattern designs as well.

The set is 2 each of eight designs. The postcards are loose leaf and come in a folding book-style holder that has a gorgeous cover. It as well as each of the postcards, are accented with shiny gold foil. It makes for a much more elegant postcard than those I usually color. The designs are detailed and they have small and intricate details. I suggest only the smallest of marker or pen nibs or very sharp pencils.

I started my first project thinking that I would use a number of colors but, in the end, I ended up finishing the design in one color only. I just loved the elegant look of purple, gold and white.

This is what I discovered when I colored and tested my coloring medium on these postcards:

8 x 2 each gold accented postcards for coloring based on artwork by Andie Hanna

Printed on heavyweight card stock

Cardstock is white, smooth, and is pre-printed for use as postcard on the back

Alcohol and water based markers, gel pens, and India Ink pens did not bleed through this card stock

Colored pencils work well with good color with both oil and wax based pencils. The design elements are so small, I could not do a good check of layering and blending, so I can’t verify if they work well or not.