Daily Archives: October 25, 2016

Jasmine Becket-Griffith Halloween Coloring Book: A Spine-Tingling Fantasy Art Adventure

By: Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchase quite a few fantasy art coloring books but the ones that top my list both in subject and in quality are those by Jasmine Becket-Griffith. Her gorgeous girls have large eyes are so expressive and they simply call to me. The art is beautiful and the publishing of the book is, once again, outstanding.

There are 46 pages of Halloween inspired designs filled with 55 different images. There are 43 full page designs and three pages which include 4 each smaller designs. As with her first book, I find it interesting to get the smaller ones and I appreciate that by doing the publishing this way, I get more to color. In fact, the only problem I have with the book is it is so good, I want more. Hopefully, there will be future coloring books in this fantastic series.
The designs are on the right hand side of the book. On the sheet opposite (which is the backside of the previous design), the artist ha provided the name of the artwork and when it was created and for what purpose. She then gives us some background information as to how and why she created the artwork the way that she did. I appreciated this in the first book and am glad to see it once again.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I used to test this book and with which I usually color my projects.
46 pages and 55 Halloween inspired fantasy designs
Printed on one side of the page
Design information is printed on the back side of the page
Paper is heavy weight, cream color, slightly rough and non-perforated
The book has a detached dustcover (inside and attached cover are both left blank.)
Sewn binding (easily to remove several pages at a time by snipping threads)
Designs have a framing line around the outer edges
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paperweight
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens did not bleed through. Gel pens required a bit more drying time.
Colored pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color and to get deeper pigment by layering the same color. I found that I could layer multiple colors well and easily blend using a pencil style blending stick. This was the case with both oil and wax-based pencils.
I am using my alcohol-based markers with pencils for detail work and shading. Because of this, I use a blotter page of card stock under my working page. It keeps ink from seeping through to the page below.

Autumn falls (night edition): printed on black paper

By: Ebony Rainn

Rating: 5 of 5

This is one of a few of my coloring books which have utilized black paper. It makes it really interesting as the paper is black front and back and the designs are printed in white ink. I also purchased the regular line drawn (black on white paper) of this same book and it is really amazing to see how much different the same design can look depending on the ink and paper used.

There are 30 designs in this book. Many of the designs are autumn related and a good number are more specific to Halloween. I like both styles. The designs are graceful and fun to color. With lots of pumpkins, acorns, owls, cats, bats, witches and more, there’s a great choice in designs to color. These are my first books by Ebony Rainn; however, I will certainly be looking for more in the future.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing this innovative paper.
30 Autumn and Halloween Designs (plus presentation page) printed with white ink on black paper
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is black (front and back), thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Plenty of room to remove designs from book if you choose to do so
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through this paper. You cannot see the bleed through easily but I used a blotter page and it saturated through to the blotter.
Gel pens and India ink pens left slightly discernible shadows on the back of the page in the sense that the paper looked darker but was still black.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good color, layer, and blend well with both wax and oil based pencils. You need to be careful not to color outside of the lines as it is very noticeably different look than the color on the white ink image. Hard lead pencils can leave discernible dents on the back of the page.
I highly suggest a heavyweight blotter page be used at all times. I use card stock or two sheets of heavyweight paper. You can have ink leak through without noticing or dent through the page and mar the pages below.

Autumn falls: A beautiful fall colouring book

By: Ebony Rainn

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchased this book of designs and also its twin which is printed with white ink on black paper. It’s amazing how different the designs look based on which color of paper it is printed on. It is a fun book of designs that work great both both autumn and Halloween. While the order of designs are slightly different in each version, they both include the same designs overall.

There are 30 designs in this book. The designs are graceful and fun to color. With lots of pumpkins, acorns, owls, cats, bats, witches and more, there’s a great choice in designs to color. These are my first books by Ebony Rainn; however, I will certainly be looking for more in the future.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing this innovative paper.
30 Autumn and Halloween Designs (plus presentation page)
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Plenty of room to remove designs from book if you choose to do so
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink pens left shadows on the back of the page. India ink pens can leak through if used heavily or with multiple coats.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good color, layer, and blend well with both wax and oil based pencils. Hard lead pencils can leave discernible dents on the back of the page.
I highly suggest a heavyweight blotter page be used at all times. I use card stock or two sheets of heavyweight paper. This will keep ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.

Johanna’s Christmas: A Festive Coloring Book for Adults

By: Johanna Basford

Rating: 5 of 5

Finally and Hooray! Johanna Basford and her publisher have listened to her fans and printed this beautiful coloring book on one side of the page. Not only that, they have perforated the pages so you can take pages out if you wish to do so. The back of the pages are not neglected either as there is the lightest of gray holiday design patterns.

The designs are beautiful and evocative of the holiday season. With everything from Christmas trees to polar bears, ornaments to prancing deer, the designs are instantly recognizable as Ms. Basford’s charming style. There are 37 designs which celebrate the Christmas season. Christmas is my favorite holiday and having such a beautiful book of designs to color will help brighten up any dreary, cold days. Not to mention they will be a wonderful way to sit and relax when the holiday season starts becoming more and more hectic.
The designs are open and easy to color. This is something that Ms. Basford began in her most recent book (Magical Jungle) and I’m pleased to see it once again. It makes it so much easier to use all forms of coloring medium and with the printing on one side, this time it really should be a choice of any coloring book medium.
While several designs are set up too appear as two page spreads, only one design actually has elements which spread across two pages (a small garland and a baseboard.) Those elements cross the perforations and spread over the binding. Not a problem as it is so small and each of the pages can easily stand along as a single design. A suggestion for future books might be a fold-out page for the design or two of this nature. That would keep the whole design together and make it that much easier to color.
The cover of the book has fold-outs front and back with coloring opportunities on it. I’ll be interested to see if the UK version still retains the dust cover as it did with Magical Jungle. The attached cover has black line drawings as well as very pretty red, green, and gold foil accents on the front. The cover can be colored, however, it is much smoother in texture than the paper inside the coloring book. The title and presentation pages can be colored as well.
I have ordered the UK version of this coloring book. Once it arrives, I will do a comparison of the US versus UK versions. You can look for the comparison in the comments section below.
This book is definitely going on my list of family and friend gifts. I can think of several individuals I would love to give it to along with a small set of markers which we get to use finally with this book.
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 medium I used to test this book and which I generally use for my coloring.
37 Wonderfully Festive Christmas/Winter Designs by Johanna Basford (this counts the potential two page spreads as separate designs)
Printed on one side of the page (did I mention Hooray!!)
Paper is heavyweight, ivory, slightly rough and perforated
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers and gel pens leave the slightest of shadows on the back of the page.
Gel pens did not bleed through the page but did require a little more drying time.
Colored pencils worked well. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with good results. I was able to layer the same color for deeper pigment, layer multiple colors and to blend easily with a pencil style blending stick.