Monthly Archives: February 2017

Lang Dreaming In Color Coloring Book by Lisa Kaus (1020102)

By: Lang

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a large format coloring book with 100 designs. The designs are of gardens and plants and have a very sketchbook like quality to them. It is almost as if these were the preliminary sketches to the artist’s final work. Because they are hand-drawn, there are inconsistencies and areas where lines are missing or don’t meet up, etc. The designs are detailed and in some cases intricate.

I am very impressed with the way this book is published. The coloring book has 100 pages and is very well made. I wish most coloring books were made to this level, let alone having so many designs to choose from.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 hand-drawn garden designs with a sketchbook feel
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Many designs do cross over the perforations but stop short of the spiral binding. If you remove pages from the book, the edge that you will lose does not contain essential elements of the design.
Spiral Binding with hard covers that help the book lay flat and provide a good coloring table
Alcohol-based markers bled through this paper only slightly. I would still use a blotter of card stock to protect the designs below my working page when using these style of markers.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through or leave shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick.

Wells Street by Lang Embrace The Day Adult Coloring Book by Lisa Kaus, 7.375 x 9.25 inches (6093003)

By: Wells St. by LANG

Rating: 4 of 5

I picked this book up thinking that it would be different from the other Lang coloring book by Lisa Kaus, Dreaming In Color. Turns out the difference is the size of the designs, the paper used, and possibly some slight differences in cropping. While it is nice to have two sizes of books (this one, Embrace the Day, is the smaller of the two), I would not have bought it if I had known that it did not include different artwork.

The designs are of gardens and plants and have a very sketchbook like quality to them. It is almost as if these were the preliminary sketches to the artist’s final work. Because they are hand-drawn, there are inconsistencies and areas where lines are missing or don’t meet up, etc. The designs are detailed and in some cases intricate.
If I had to make a choice between the two books, I would certainly choose Dreaming In Color due to the size of the book, the spiral binding, the hard cover and the better grade of paper used. That doesn’t detract from my review of this book, just a statement of my preference.
I am very impressed with the way this book is published. The coloring book has 100 pages and is very well made. I wish most coloring books were made to this level, let alone having so many designs to choose from.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 hand-drawn garden designs by Lisa Kaus
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is fairly thin, white, slightly rough and perforated
The designs do cross over the perforations and disappear into the binding. However, if you remove pages from the book, you will probably not lose anything essential to the design.
Glue Bound
Book is approximately 9.75 x 7.25 x .5 inches. The unbound corners of the book are slightly rounded.
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring but you must heavily crease or break the spine to do so.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper readily.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. Heavy use of markers and ink pens can cause them to bleed through in spots.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I suggest using a blotter page, such as card stock, below your working page that or remove pages before coloring. This is keep seeping ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.

Color Me Your Way 5

By: Pamela Smart

Rating: 5 of 5

Color Me Your Way is the fifth book in a series of coloring books by PJC Smart. It is also noted as her fifth year anniversary book as well. The book is absolutely beautiful with a wide variety of animals included in the designs. There are 24 11 x 16 inch illustrations and a page with two card size designs.

The designs are quite detailed with lots of doodle elements within the various animals. This makes for a wonderful coloring experience with lots of opportunity to play with colors and shading. As the book is quite large, the details are clear and are easy to color with a wide variety of coloring elements.
I’m so pleased with the way the book is published the spiral binding makes it easy to lay the book flat and to get to all corners of the design (which have framing lines at the outer edges to finish off all of the elements for a clean look.) By using larger format, the artist can give us large designs without printing cross a binding. It simply makes coloring easier as well as tremendous fun.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
25 pages of detailed animal designs including 24 large format designs and 2 card size designs.
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, lightly smooth and perforated.
Spiral bound
Designs stop well before the perforations and spiral binding. Designs have framing lines at the outer edges
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. I use card stock or heavy weight paper below my working page if I use this type of medium. It keeps ink from seeping through to the next page. You can always remove pages from the book before coloring as well.
Water-based markers, India ink pens and some gel pens leave a very light shadow on the page.
Colored pencils work really well with this paper. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and could get good pigment on the page. I was able to layer the same and multiple colors easily. Blending with a pencil style blender worked well, too.

Wells Street by Lang Simply Grateful Adult Coloring Book by Debi Hron, 7.375 x 9.25 inches (6093004)

By: Wells St. by LANG

Rating: 5 of 5

I picked this book up thinking that it would be different from the other Lang coloring book by Debi Hron, Cheerful Journey. Turns out the difference is the size of the designs, the paper used, and possibly some slight differences in cropping. While it is nice to have two sizes of books (this one, Simply Grateful, is the smaller of the two), I probably would not have bought it if I had known that it did not include different artwork.

I’ve enjoyed Ms. Hron’s artwork over years and the designs in this book are indicative of those I have found in household goods, calendars, Christmas cards and more. There are birds, sunflowers, snowmen, scarecrows, and my favorites, her cute cats.
The designs span through a variety of seasons. Some of them have sayings and quotes and others are solely design focused. They designs appear to be hand-drawn with the wonderful look that one expects from such.
If I had to make a choice between the two books, I would certainly choose Cheerful Journey due to the size of the book, the spiral binding, the hard cover and the better grade of paper used. That doesn’t detract from my review of this book, just a statement of my preference. Judging this book on its own merits, I really like it.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 Design pages featuring hand-drawn artwork by Debi Hron featuring many of her design series
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is fairly thin, white, slightly rough and perforated
Most designs do cross over the perforations and disappear into the binding. However, if you remove pages from the book, you will probably not lose anything essential to the design.
Glue Bound
Book is approximately 9.75 x 7.25 x .5 inches. The unbound corners of the book are slightly rounded.
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring but you must heavily crease or break the spine to do so.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper readily.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. Heavy use of markers and ink pens can cause them to bleed through in spots.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I suggest using a blotter page, such as card stock, below your working page that or remove pages before coloring. This is keep seeping ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.