Daily Archives: November 29, 2016

Doodles in the Flower Meadow – Adult Coloring Book: Discover the Hidden World amidst the Flowers

By: Okami Books

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a book of designs which focus on little doodle creatures. If you have seen any of the doodle people in the Zifflin line of books, these will look familiar to you. However, unlike the Zifflin books, these creatures are just present in the design they do not used to become part of another element of the design. They are cute and fun to color but don’t have the punch of what I generally find in doodle books of this nature.

The 40 designs are hand-drawn and have a kind of ink-pen look to the printing in that it is an ivory black rather than a deep black ink. It is definitely a book that will appeal to a certain type of colorist one who likes to color small areas and has a zany sense of humor. The designs are detailed and have intricate and small spaces to color.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
40 Doodle creature designs with flowers and garden themes
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: 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. The designs have a framing line at the outer edge
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Folklorique: A Folk Art Coloring Book: A Unique Antistress Coloring Gift for Men, Women, Teenagers & Seniors with Relaxing Patterns, Stress Relieving … Relief, Mindful Meditation & Relaxation)

By: Papeterie Bleu

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a coloring book of nature inspired designs. I was a little confused by the title as I thought it would be folk art in style. Instead, there are a nice variety of designs which have flowers and animals (including birds and fish as well as squirrels, bull, goat and others.)

The designs vary wildly from lightly drawn intricate detail to bold lines with large and flowing elements. It is a good book for someone to have who likes a variety of designs. It also gives the impression that more than one artist had input to this coloring book.
This is my second coloring book by Papeterie Bleu. It appears that having black line drawings on white with the back of the page in black with gray print is standard for this publisher. It is really interesting to work with and is only the second publisher I have come across who provides book in this manner.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
31 designs with focus on nature with lots of intricate details.
Printed one side of page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated. The back of each page is black with a variety of quotes and designs in gray print.
Glue Binding
Designs do not merge into the binding and have a frame around the outer edge. Plenty of room to remove pages if you wish.
Book opens fairly flat for coloring by creasing the spine hard.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper. You don’t see much more than a shadow at the back of the page (because of the black print) but you will need to be careful to use a blotter page so the page underneath does not get ruined by ink bleeding through.
Water-based markers spot through to the back of the page. Again, you can’t see it too clearly but I still recommend at blotter page with this medium.
Gel pens and India ink do not bleed through. If they leave shadows, it is hard to see through the black print.
Colored pencils work well with the rough texture of this paper. I did note that pencil style blender sticks did not work well. I found that using them smudged the black print of the design consistently. While I generally don’t test with wet blending medium, I did so for this book. I found that mineral spirits and other wet blending pens worked well and that petroleum jelly also worked well. No smudging but I would use a blotter page to be safe.
Otherwise, colored pencils did well with pigment lay down and layering with both the same color (for deeper pigment) and multiple colors. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils.

Impressions of Spring – Adult Coloring Books: Dive into the Nature and Relieve Your Stress (Animals, Birds, Meditation)

By: Okami Books

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely coloring book filled with 30 Spring inspired designs. There are lots of flowers and birds in addition to other elements which call to mind the springtime. While the animals are drawn fairly accurately, some of them include doodle style elements to enhance the fun of coloring.

The 30 designs are detailed and a few have slightly intricate elements which are fairly small to color. On the whole, it is a book that should be somewhat easy to color but may require a few pens/marker/pencils with tiny tips.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 Spring inspired designs with lots of birds and flowers plus other subjects
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: 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. The designs have a framing line at the outer edge
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Relaxing Swirls: Coloring Book for Adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

I’ve had such fun coloring in Elena Bogdanovych’s first swirl coloring book (Amazing Swirls), purchasing the second in the series was a quick decision. I’m so glad I did. I like this second book even better.

The 30 designs in the book are all based on swirling lines. Within the context, there are mandalas, abstract patterns, as well as designs which incorporate specific subjects such as people, horses, butterflies, birds, fish, flowers, etc.
The designs are detailed but not intricate and difficult to color. There are so many swirls to color that you can choose to play with just a few colors or pull out as many as you want and have a lot of fun with it. This is definitely a series that I hope will continue in the future as I have so much fun with it.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 Swirl Designs in a variety of subjects
Printed one side of the page
Paper is white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated typical of CreateSpace publications
Designs do not merge into the binding and there is plenty of room to cut out pages if you choose to do so.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a pencils style blending stick. Both wax and oil based pencils worked well with the paper. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

Journey through the Enchanted Forest – Adult Coloring Books: Inspiration and Relaxation (Animals, Flowers, Birds)

By: Okami Books

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a fun coloring book for anyone who likes to have swirling lines instead of straight. All of the designs have a flowing look to them. The subjects are forest animals, plants and even a few fairies or maidens. The animals and plants take the forefront with owl, deer, birds and a wild variety of fantastic and imaginative flowers.

The 30 designs are detailed and a few have slightly intricate elements which are fairly small to color. On the whole, it is a book that should be somewhat easy to color but may require a few pens/marker/pencils with tiny tips.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 Forest inspired designs with an emphasis on swirling lines
Printed one side of the page
Paper is white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated typical of CreateSpace publications
Designs do not merge into the binding and there is plenty of room to cut out pages if you choose to do so.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a pencils style blending stick. Both wax and oil based pencils worked well with the paper. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.

John Byrne’s Stowaway to the Stars: A Graphic Album to Color

By: John Byrne

Rating: 5 of 5

Stowaway to the Stars is an interesting and different type of coloring book. It is more rightly considered a color-able graphic short story. There are 25 design pages which are intricate and detailed to color. There is also a short story which coordinated with the designs. The portion of the story pertaining to a design is on the facing page to the design (i.e., on the back of the prior design page.)

The story is about a 14 year old girl who lives on an Earth colonized planet but who dreams of adventuring into space. She realizes her dream as a stowaway and the story (and designs) continue her adventures. Really an excellent story and the designs are equally great.
The designs are very intricate and will, for the most part, take special small nib pens/markers and very sharp point pencils to color. It is a book that would be of interest to colorists who enjoy a project which takes time and attention to finish. I would not recommend it (as a coloring book) to anyone who has fine motor or vision issues. As a story, it can be enjoyed by all.
This is what I experienced when I colored in this book and tested the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I used for testing and which I generally use for my coloring projects.
24 Science Fiction designs and a great short story
Designs are printed on one side of the page (with the story printed on the back of the pages.)
Paper is heavyweight, white, lightly rough (good tooth), and perforated
Glue Binding
Designs do not merge into the binding area. The designs have a framing line at the outer edge for a natural stopping point.
Pages can be removed at the perforation if you choose to do so. I won’t as it will destroy the continuity of the story.
Alcohol-based markers lightly seep through this paper. I like to use a blotter when working with this medium. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps ink from seeping through to the next design page and ruining it.
Water-based makers, India ink gens, and gel pens do not seep through or leave shadows on the back of the page. Gel pens take a longer time than normal to dry.
Colored Pencils work well with this paper as it has a bit of tooth to it. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a pencil style blending stick. Both wax and oil based pencils worked well with the paper.