Daily Archives: October 19, 2016

55 Detailed and Fun Garden/Flower designs by Angela Porter – printed one side of the page

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Iiiireader

ESCAPES Joyful Gardens Coloring Book

By: Dr. Angela Porter

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book in Creative Haven’s new Escapes line. Dr. Angela Porter is a designer who is one of my absolute favorites. I always have a lot of fun coloring the beautiful and detailed designs she creates. The designs in this book celebrate flowers and gardens. There are a few other fun elements, such as birds, balloons and even a castle to make coloring all the more fun.

I have a number of her books by other publishers and two in the Creative Haven line. I found that “Joyful Gardens” while detailed, is definitely less so than some of her more recent “Entangled” books. I like the change as I am able to use broader tip medium with some of the designs in this book. The garden designs are still detailed but do not contain as many intricate and tiny elements.

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Lovely Coloring Story Book based “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens – printed on both sides of the page

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Iiiireader

A Christmas Carol: A Coloring Classic

By: Author: Charles Dickens; Illustrators: Kate Ware and Vladimir Aleksic

Rating: 5 of 5

I have purchased a number of the coloring books in this series (A Coloring Classic) and have been really pleased with them. “A Christmas Carol” ranks with the best in the series by way of both the illustrations and the extremely abridged story which accompanies them. In addition to the story, there are two pages at the back of the book which provide really interesting bits of information about Christmas during the Victorian period.

The story hits all of the points that I look for in the tale and the drawings provide a great series of illustrations which match with and enhance the story. While it does not replace the novel, it is a fairly good stand-along story book. I still recommend keeping a copy of the full novel close by as it is such a wonderful tale to revisit during the holidays especially.

The illustrations are well done and are by two artists (Vladimir Aleksic and Kate Ware) but is done so well that the transition between the two is fairly seamless. I would be hard pressed to guess which art was done by which artist. The designs are detailed and some include intricate and small areas to color. Overall, the designs have a flowing and rather elegant look to them.

The cover is in black print on white (with elements you can color) with extensive red foil highlights on the front. Both covers fold out and there are some elements on the flaps that can be colored. The inside of the covers also include some pretty patterns that can be colored as well.

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31 Graceful Mermaid Designs printed on one side of the page

Posted on October 19, 2016 by iiiireaderadmin

Creative Haven Mermaids Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Barbara Lanza

Rating: 5 of 5

I have several coloring books by Barbara Lanza (one of which is by Creative Haven as well.) Those books all focus on fairy designs so I was really pleased to see that her newest book is a departure from what I have seen in the past. This coloring book has 31 different mermaid designs.

The designs have Ms. Lanza’s usual graceful look. There are designs of mermaids singly or in groups. There are ocean scenes above and below. There are plants and sea life as well. The drawings are detailed without being overly intricate and are a pleasure to color.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
31 Mermaid Designs the majority of which have beautiful backgrounds as well
Printed one side of the page
Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but you can remove pages at the perforation easily
Most Designs extend past the perforations
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers bleed through in spots and leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if you apply heavily or with with multiple layers.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to use both wax and oil based pencils equally well. They lay down good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.
I either use a blotter page under my working page or I remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.

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31 Wildly Different and Imaginative Designs printed one side of the page

Posted on October 19, 2016 by iiiireaderadmin

Creative Haven Bizarro Land Coloring Book: by Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro (Adult Coloring)

By: Dan Piraro

Rating: 5 of 5

Bizarro Land is one of the most interesting and imaginative coloring books that I have come across. The subject matter of the designs is so different that I fully understand the title. The designs are bizzare and thought-provoking with so many nuances, it is hard to grasp the full concept of the drawing just by looking at it.

The designs are by cartoonist Dan Piraro, who brings to paper his concept of another land or planet. It is one where a woman’s head is that of a pug. Where a man can have a animal cage (complete with animal) instead of a torso. The rules of our world are completely displaced and are limited only by Mr. Piraro’s imagination. What is cool is that I get to bring my concept of color to these drawings and give them my own spin.
The designs are very detailed and in many places are intricate with small spots to color. I am using a wide variety of coloring medium as I feel that anything goes with this coloring book.
This is what I saw while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.
31 Wildly imaginative and more than slightly bizarre designs from cartoonist Dan Piraro
The designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.
The designs stop well before the perforations
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers bleed through in spots and show colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through when I apply more than one layer of ink.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with similar results. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.
I suggest either removing pages from the book to color or using a blotter page under your working page. I like card stock as it keeps ink from seeping through and damaging the pages below.