Daily Archives: February 9, 2017

Dominion of Giants Coloring Book: Behemoths of the Fantasy World

By: Eric Messinger

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a new fantasy coloring book by Eric Messinger. I wasn’t familiar with his work but took a chance with this book and I am really happy I did so. The designs are wonderfully hand-drawn and show a race of giants who rule over the earth.

Some of the designs have a bit more of a sketch type look to them with heavier black and gray for shading. The subjects of the designs range from elegant and beautiful to slightly macabre. It is a great look at a new (to me) artist’s take on fantasy.
The designs are quite detailed and most have intricate and small parts to color. I would not suggest this book for anyone with fine motor or vision issues because of the intricate areas to color.
The publisher has printed been 8 of the designs in less than full size. They have included a thumbnail color sample and some sample colors used in their design for inspiration. It takes up the bottom 1.5 inches of the page. This information could be printed on a separate page or on the actual color sample page rather than on the coloring page.
As this is something that they are doing with all of their books for about a year now, I know when I purchase one what to expect. While it has caused me to buy many less books by this publisher, I won’t detract a star from my rating as I know that the book will contain these smaller than desirable images.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
32 Fantasy designs based on the artwork of Eric Messinger 24 large and 8 medium size designs.
Printed one side of the page back of page has soft gray design, journal lines, small designs and interesting quotes
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Glue Binding
Designs stop well before the perforations and have framing lines at the outer edges
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers leave colorful shadows and bleed through in very noticeable spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on the back of the page and can spot through to the back of the page if applied heavily.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. Both oil and wax based pencils provide good color, layer, and blend well using a blender stick. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.
I use a blotter page of card stock or heavyweight paper (two sheets) to keep seeping ink and dents from marring the pages below. I recommend using a blotter or that you remove pages before coloring.

Faith, Hope, and Love Coloring Book (Creative Faith)

By: Robin Pickens

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second coloring book by Robin Pickens. The first was Christmas inspired and I really enjoyed it. When I saw that Ms. Pickens had come out with a Christian coloring book, I picked it up immediately.

The designs are both from Scripture (with verse cites) and Christian inspirations messages. The back of the design page has questions and suggestions for activities which will lead you in your Christian walk. There are also some smaller coloring elements and journal lines in a very light gray tone.
The designs put the message front and center. The hand-drawn coloring elements support the message either by emphasizing it or bringing the subject of the message to life in illustration. The drawings are detailed and some have intricate areas to color.
There are 32 pages of designs. Twenty one are of full size designs, three are of smaller elements (such as bookmarks, corner illustrations, and gift tags) and eight are of purposefully reduced designs.
The last is the only thing I don’t really like about the book. The publisher has been doing for about a year now. They are printing 8 of the designs in less than full size. They have included a thumbnail color sample, some sample colors used in their design for inspiration and a few words to talk about the colors. It takes up the bottom 2.5 inches of the page. This information could be printed on a separate page or on the actual color sample page rather than on the coloring page.
As this is something that they are doing with all of their books, I know when I purchase one what to expect. While it has caused me to buy many less books by this publisher, I won’t detract a star from my rating as I know that the book will contain these smaller than desirable images.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
32 pages of Christian based designs
Printed one side of the page back of page has soft gray design, journal lines and thought provoking questions or activities
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Glue Binding
Designs stop well before the perforations
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers leave colorful shadows and bleed through in very noticeable spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on the back of the page and can spot through to the back of the page if applied heavily.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. Both oil and wax based pencils provide good color, layer, and blend well using a blender stick. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.
I use a blotter page of card stock or heavyweight paper (two sheets) to keep seeping ink and dents from marring the pages below. I recommend using a blotter or that you remove pages before coloring.

Fantasy Adventure Coloring Book: Dragons, Dwarves, Elves, and Other Extraordinary Creatures

By: Eric Messinger

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a great fantasy coloring book by Eric Messinger. It includes Dragons, Dwarves, Elves and other creatures. The designs are hand-drawn and show the forgotten creatures that (in fantasy world) populated our lands and became the myths that we are familiar with today. The creatures have a fantastic magical quality to them that I find really appealing.

Some of the designs have a bit of gray linear and crosshatch shading but they are mostly line drawing style designs. There is a wide range of fantasy creatures so, for me, it is a really versatile and complete coloring book.
The designs are quite detailed and most have intricate and small parts to color. I would not suggest this book for anyone with fine motor or vision issues because of the intricate areas to color.
Once again, the publisher has printed 8 of the designs in less than full size. They have included a thumbnail color sample and some sample colors used in their design for inspiration. It takes up the bottom 1.5 inches of the page. This information could be printed on a separate page or on the actual color sample page rather than on the coloring page.
As this is something that they are doing with all of their books for about a year now, I know when I purchase one what to expect. While it has caused me to buy many less books by this publisher, I won’t detract a star from my rating as I know that the book will contain these smaller than desirable images.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
32 Fantasy designs in a wide variety of characters 24 large and 8 medium size designs.
Printed one side of the page back of page has soft gray design, journal lines, small designs and interesting quotes
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Glue Binding
Designs stop well before the perforations and have framing lines at the outer edges
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers leave colorful shadows and bleed through in very noticeable spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on the back of the page and can spot through to the back of the page if applied heavily.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. Both oil and wax based pencils provide good color, layer, and blend well using a blender stick. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.
I use a blotter page of card stock or heavyweight paper (two sheets) to keep seeping ink and dents from marring the pages below. I recommend using a blotter or that you remove pages before coloring.