Daily Archives: July 12, 2016

Johanna Basford 2017 Coloring Day-to-Day Calendar

By: Johanna Basford

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first daily calendar set by Johanna Basford. The designs in the set are excerpted from Secret Garden Enchanted Forest and Lost Ocean. The pictures are generally cropped from the full design and have either been enlarged or made slightly smaller to fit the design area on the daily calendar page.

The designs are really fantastic given the daily concept of the calendar. Usually, with this type of calendar, designs are small and somewhat simple. These designs are really beautiful and detailed but for the most part, are not small and difficult to color. There are a couple of designs that borderline that area but for the most part, some designs have been enlarged from what they were in their respective books and are actually easier to color (though, of course, it is only a portion of the original design.)

I plan to work a few pages ahead of the calendar so I can enjoy the current day in its fully colored glory. It’s a fun way to revisit some of my old favorites but still feel like I’m having a new coloring experience. I look forward to this style of calendar again in the future from Ms. Basford.

The pages are a full 5 x 7 inches as is the beautiful keepsake box that the calendar sits in. The box is decorated in black and white with gold foil touches. The inside of the box is white print on black background and there is a black attached ribbon which can be used as a bookmark in the pages.

The design portion of the page is slightly taller than four and one half inches by four and three eighths inches wide. The rest of the page is the calendar portion. The pages are loose leaf in the box. Monday through Friday each have their own page and Saturday and Sunday share a page. There are also four color testing pages included in this box as well.

The paper is fairly thin, white and lightly smooth. The designs are printed on one side and the reverse is blank. I tested my various coloring mediums and this is what I found:

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper

Water-based markers can leave a slight shadow on the back of the page

India ink pens spot through the paper

Gel pens do not bleed through or leave shadows

Colored pencils work well with the paper. While it feels smooth to the touch, I found that there was still enough tooth to the paper to get good pigment coverage, especially using multiple layers. I was also able to layer different colors well and to blend easily using a pencil style blender stick. This was true of both oil and wax based pencils.

If you use markers or India ink, I suggest that you place the page you are working on on a blotter page of heavyweight paper. Just be sure not to have another calendar page below your work and you should be fine. Otherwise, you could damage the page(s) below.

The Art of Marjorie Sarnat: Elegant Elephants Adult Coloring book

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a number of coloring books by Marjorie Sarnat by several different publishers. This makes a difference in the paper used, whether or not colored samples are included and also whether or not the pages are perforated. “Elegant Elephants” is a book published by a new (to me) publisher and, in this case, other than the designs on the front and back cover, there are no colored samples and the pages of the book are not perforated.

The designs are really quite special and there are 34 of them in this book. As with all of Ms. Sarnat’s coloring books, the designs are very detailed but don’t have tiny, intricate details that are hard to color. There are a number of “doodle” style designs as well as designs which feature other types of details added to the hides of the elephants. This makes coloring fun as you can color the creatures in any fashion you can imagine.

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

34 Detailed Elephant Designs by Marjorie Sarnat

Printed on one side of the page

Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and non-perforated

Glue Binding

Designs do not merge into the binding area and there is enough room to cut pages out if you choose to do so.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper. I suggest you use a heavyweight blotter page of card stock or several sheets of paper below your project page if you are using alcohol-based markers. This will keep seeping ink from ruining the pages below.

Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the paper but do leave slight shadows on the back of the page.

Colored pencils work extremely with this paper. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and got good results with color, layers of the same color, layers of different colors, and blending with a pencil style blending stick.

This is a revised review of this coloring book. I purchased my first copy of the book from Amazon. Shortly thereafter, I was informed by the publishing company that they had switched printers and the new paper used was an improvement. They provided me with a copy for test and review purposes.

I agree that the new paper is a vast improvement over my original copy. I have since purchased additional copies of the new book as gifts for families and friends. Apart from the lack of perforated pages, I rate this printing as good as any other coloring books I have purchased by Marjorie Sarnat.

Whimsical Halloween Coloring Book: Witches, Vampires Kitties and More!

By: Molly Harrison

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second Whimsical coloring book by Molly Harrison. In this series, she highlights little girls with cute round faces and non-existent noses. They have an adorable look to them with their little eyes, broad faces, and fly-away hair. I did notice that a couple of the designs are duplicates of those I have in my other book. I’m not sure about this first book in this series as I don’t own it.

In this particular book, the designs are related to Halloween. There are witches, fairies, mummies, pumpkins, owls, kittens, and so much more. I always have a lot of fun coloring these little dolls and hope that someday Ms. Harrison will do a grayscale coloring book featuring them.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and using my coloring medium to test the paper (which is typical of CreateSpace who is the publisher of this book):

32 Cute Halloween Designs featuring little girls

Printed on one side of the page

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

Glue Binding

Designs do not merge into the binding area and can easily be cut out if you choose to do so.

Designs have a double framing line around the outside to give the project a more finished appearance and to save time and ink by not having to color the entire background.

Book opens fairly flat for coloring purposes.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper.

Water-based markers bleed through to a lesser degree with spotting more than a full bleed through

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink can bleed through if I use multiple coats or blending of two colors.

Colored pencils work really well with this paper. I can get good color with both wax and oil based pencils. I can layer and blend well using a blending pencil. Hard leads such as Verithins can dent/score through to the back of the page.

I used and recommend the use of a blotter page of card stock or several sheets of paper under your working page to keep seeping ink and dents from ruining the design below.