Daily Archives: November 16, 2016

Creative Haven Sea Life Wonders Coloring Book: Amazing Designs on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Lindsey Boylan

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a few of Lindsey Boylan’s Creative Haven coloring books. She is one of the first in this line to have designs with black printed backgrounds. By doing this, the colors you use pop off the page against the dark color. I find that I like to use bright colors, even neon, as well as pastel to get the most contrast I can with the black.

The designs are complex with detailed elements. In some cases, I think I will need to use smaller nib pens to color in the smaller spaces. My preference with this type of background is to use pens or markers as my colored pencils can leave lighter marks on the black if I happen to color over the edge. I’ve found that the wetter mediums are more forgiving if I cross into the black background.
There are a wide range of sea creatures and plants with the doodle style elements that allow me to experiment with color and have fun creating my own vision of sea life.
This is what I saw while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
31 Sea Life designs including above and below the ocean
The designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white (though printed with a black background), medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.
The designs cross slightly over the perforations (nothing essential lost if you remove the pages from the book)
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.

HOLIDAY STYLE

By: Mary Man-Kong

Rating: 5 of 5

I’ve been a Barbie fan since I was a little girl. I enjoyed them with my daughters and am now having fun with them with my granddaughter. While this coloring book is aimed at children, I found that I could enjoy it as an adult as well. That makes it fun for all of us to color in. The designs are cute and the figures are big and for the most part are easy to color. There are smaller areas to color but not anything too intricate for a child.

The 24 pages of designs are a larger format than the usual coloring book. There is a handle that creates a cut through hole in all of the pages (too bad as it would have been nicer to have the whole picture but it probably makes it easier for children to carry.) There is also a fun sheet of stickers.
The paper is thin, white (rather than the usual children coloring book newspaper style pages) and pages can be removed from the glue bound edge with a little bit of care. The back of the book is a heavy duty cardboard. It makes for an excellent surface for coloring where ever you are.
What I especially liked about it for my use is that it is printed on one side of the page. This is important for me as some of the medium I use with bleed through the page.
I found that marker bleed through the page so either taking each page out to color or putting a blotter page under the coloring page works best if you are using them. Gel pens show through on the back of the page but don’t leak through. Coloring pencils work well and can be layered and blended well. Crayons work too but it is difficult to get the crayon into the smaller detail areas. I am using a combination of markers, colored pencils, and crayons for my coloring.

World’s Cutest Animal Coloring Book, The [US] (Lonely Planet Kids)

By: Lonely Planet Kids

Rating: 5 of 5

The title says it all these are some really cute animal designs. The artist, Lulu Mayo, has had several other animal books that are quite cute as well but focus on a single animal species. I was really pleased to see this new Lonely Planet offering had 22 different types of animals.

The designs are presented in a circular mandala style. They are detailed but intricate (i.e., no tiny little spots to color.) While the book is released in the Kids line, I think it works equally well for adults to color.
What is interesting about the presentation is that the facing page to each design is an already colored example. You can use it as a guide or merely enjoy how the design was colored by someone else as you pick and choose your own color scheme. It has the effect of making the designs printed one-sided (if you don’t care about ruining colored page.) That is what I will do but I will work this book from back to front so I can enjoy the picture while I am coloring.
In addition to the design pages, there is a map at the back of the book which shows where each animal can be found. There is also a couple of pages that give a small bit of information about each animal as well.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
22 Cute Animal designs presented in circular mandala form
Designs printed one side of page (with color version on facing page, I.e, back of the preceding page)
Paper is heavy weight, white, slight smooth and non-perforated
Sewn binding you can remove several pages in whole at a time by snipping a few threads
Book opens fairly flat for coloring by heavily creasing/breaking the spine
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. If you use this medium, it will ruin that colored design on the back of the page I suggest (and use) a blotter page when using this type of medium to keep ink from seeping into the next page. I like card stock for this purpose.
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens did not bleed through or leave shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils work well with this paper. Even though the paper is slightly smooth to the touch, it still had enough tooth to grip pigment. I tested both oil and wax based pencils with good results for pigment lay down, layering the same color, layering multiple colors and blending using a pencil style blending stick.
As this is noted for children (though I think it works well for adults as well), I tested crayons as well. They work well with the paper but lacked the fine point needed for some of the detailed work.

Creative Haven Fanciful Foxes Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

I own several coloring books by Majorie Sarnat including a couple in the Creative Haven line. I was really happy to pick up her new coloring book which is inspired by foxes. I really enjoy coloring foxes with their lovely fur, pointed noses, and large, fluffy tails. Ms. Sarnat’s designs take advantage of all of this cuteness and takes coloring a fox to a new and imaginative level.

As with her other coloring book designs, the 31 designs in this book are detailed with lots of swirls and twirls (though not with extremely intricate and tiny elements to color.) There is simply so much to color and to spark my imagination. My current favorite is an homage to my days of learning to type The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Long hours of practicing typing that phrase was never so much fun as coloring Ms. Sarnat’s cute design.
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 Cute, Imaginative and Detailed Fox Designs by Majorie Sarnat
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.

MERRY PRINCESSES – B

By: RH Disney

Rating: 5 of 5

We are big Disney fans at our house and were really pleased to find this coloring/sticker book. According to the product description, it is a children’s coloring book. I also found that many of the pages were fun for me to color as an adult. I like that I can share a coloring book with my grandchildren. Most of the design are very simple and easy to color while others are a bit more detailed. Those detailed designs are the ones that I use for coloring.

The 24 pages of designs are a larger format than the usual coloring book. There is a handle that creates a cut through hole in all of the pages (too bad as it would have been nicer to have the whole picture but it probably makes it easier for children to carry.) There is also a fun sheet of stickers. The paper is thin, white (rather than the usual newspaper style pages that are common in children coloring books.) and pages can be removed from the glue bound edge with a little bit of care. The back of the book is a heavy duty cardboard. It makes for an excellent surface for coloring where ever you are.
That the designs are printed on one side of the page is great for my use as my markers bled through the page. I found that marker bleed through the page so either taking each page out to color or putting a blotter page under the coloring page works best if you are using them. Gel pens show through on the back of the page but don’t leak through. Coloring pencils work well and can be layered and blended well. Crayons work too but it is difficult to get the crayon into the smaller details (especially on the dresses.) I am using a combination of markers, pencils, and crayons for my coloring.

Creative Haven Deluxe Edition Celtic Nature Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Cari Buziak

Rating: 5 of 5

I enjoy coloring Celtic inspired designs. The symmetry and movement is always a pleasure to shade and enhance. In this coloring book, the Celtic elements are intertwined with elements from nature, including: flowers, leaves, birds, insects, and fish. It is an interesting take which provides a lot of coloring potential.

The book has 63 different designs. The designs are quite detailed and in some cases, intricate with small elements to color. I can see myself (and my husband) spending many hours coloring in this book and experimenting with colorways and shading to enhance the Celtic look and feel of the designs.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
63 Celtic inspired designs with elements from nature (birds, flowers, fish, insects, etc.)
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
Designs stop well before 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.