Monthly Archives: March 2017

Helter Skelter Doodles

By: Phoenix Amulet

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a book of doodle creature designs. The creatures make up part of a larger image (such as flowing in a woman’s hair) or are gathered around and/or in something such as smoke from a chimney or campfire or flowing out of a shell. This style of design is a lot of fun to color as the little creatures and other elements allow you to play with color within a larger image.

The designs are detailed and contain small and intricate areas to color. I’m a fan of the doodle creature genre and this is a fun book to add to my coloring time. While the title may evoke some darker images, I think that it is meant in the sense of the British amusement park ride a rollicking and fun time of coloring.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 Interesting and Unusual Doodle Creature Designs
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality used by CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not extend into the binding area.
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 (like Verithins) 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.

Pirates and Mermaids Adult Coloring Book

By: Jon Silvergreen

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a wonderful book of 25 different designs depicting pirates and mermaids. There are 2 copies of each design provided for a total of 50 coloring pages. There is also a short story written on the backs of the pages really just quick blurbs which explain the coloring design on the facing page to the words.

The designs are extremely well done and are quite detailed. This is my first coloring book of Jon Silvergreen’s designs and I hope that it will not be the last. The designs are elegantly drawn and provide a great opportunity for coloring. There are some small and intricate areas to color but nothing too extreme.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
25 x 2 each (total of 50 pages) Pirate and Mermaid designs
Designs are printed one side of the page with a short story blurb written on the back of the first 25 design pages.
Paper white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not extend into the binding area. Some of the designs have a framing line at the outer edges
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 (like Verithins) 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.

The Little Mermaid: A Coloring Book (Classic Coloring Book)

By: Hans Christian Andersen

Rating: 5 of 5

I really like the designs in this book. I think that the illustrations are really beautiful and imaginative. However, this is the second coloring book by this publisher that seems to give credit to a famous artist (in this case, Edmund Dulac) but is actually illustrated by a team of artists: Sophia O’Connor, Lorna Scobie, Ian Cunliffe and Shutterstock.) The quotes in the book are from the original story by Hans Christian Andersen but the artwork is not the original.

The book even gives bio information to Mr. Dulac (both on the back page and the inside flap of the back cover) which is also very misleading. While I believe it is completely incorrect to imply that Mr. Dulac’s work is included, the designs in the book are quite beautiful. The publisher should correct the misinformation on the product page. I’m not including this issue in my star rating but I wish that they would cease this practice.
The 96 pages of designs are detailed and many contain intricate and small areas to color. You will need small nib pens/markers and sharp pencils for those areas.
Many of the designs spread across two pages with integral portions of some of the designs being lost into the binding area. In my copy of the book, the pages line up very well.
There are 26 pages (13 designs) which are wall-paper, repeating designs. What’s interesting is that most of these designs are so well done, it is hard to see them as wall-paper. For instance, there is a town scene that is beautiful but repeats itself over the two pages. I still love the design so I won’t have any issues coloring it. This is true of the majority of the repeating designs. The few that have more obvious repeats are still great, though much simpler designs.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
96 pages of detailed and intricate designs based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.
Printed both sides of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth and non-perforated
Designs merge into the binding
There are many designs which spread across two pages
Sewn Binding. You can remove several pages in whole at one time by snipping several threads. I won’t do that as it will disturb the continuity of the design. The book opens easily to a flat position for coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens do not bleed through or leave shadows on the back of the page. Some gel pens require additional drying time.
Colored pencils work okay with this paper. It is slightly smooth which made blending with a blending stick a little more difficult (slightly smeary.) I was able to get good pigment and to layer colors well. I tested both wax and oil based pencils with similar results.

Fantasia Adult Coloring Book – Second US Edition

By: Nicholas F. Chandrawienata

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchased both the first and second edition of the US printing of Fantasia. While I wish the second edition had been printed with designs on one side of the page, in all other ways, the second edition is vastly superior to the first.

The paper quality is superior (heavyweight with good tooth), the spiral binding is wonderful for ease of coloring, the size is increased and there are micro-perforations for easy removal of pages from the book. As I love using markers along with pencils, I will be buying a second copy of this book as markers definitely bleed through to the back of the page (see below for my coloring medium tests.)
The designs are beautiful with outstanding printing on the better quality paper. The black is true and deep and has a slightly glossy look to it.
The artist has a wonderful imagination and superior skill in illustrations. The earlier version was one of my favorites but this book is now at the top of my list of must-color designs. The designs are detailed and intricate with many small areas to color. The artist still allowed plenty of room for blending and shading.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
61 beautiful fantasy designs by Nicholas F. Chandrawienata
Designs printed on both sides of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Spiral Binding for easy open to flat position for coloring.
Designs stop short of the perforations.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page and will disfigure the designs on the back of the page.
Most water-based markers bleed through in spots to the back of the page. Tombow’s brush end dual markers did not bleed through. The spots that bled through would mar the design on the back of the page.
India ink pens and gel pens did not bleed through. Some gel pens require additional drying time.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has 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.

Mass Effect Adult Coloring Book

By: Bioware

Rating: 5 of 5

Attached to this review, I will post a silent, full book flip-through video. I will also attach a few sample photos as well.

Once again, Bioware has teamed up with Dark Horse to release an outstanding coloring book. This time, the book is based on Mass Effect (the previous one was Dragon Age.) The designs are detailed and fun to color. Some of them contain small and intricate areas to color.
The designs include the characters I hoped to see from the game. The illustrations are by a group of artists (Juann Cabal, Ron Chan, Gabriel Guzman, Andres Ponce and Martin Tunica.) While I can see style differences in the designs, I think the illustrations work well together and the coloring book flows well in the story line. Many of the designs are beautiful and are elegantly drawn. The designs are on the right side of the page with the applicable quote on left side of the page.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
45 great illustrations derived from Mass Effect trilogy and Mass Effect Andromeda.
Designs printed on one side of the page with a quote on the back of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Binding
Designs merge into the binding area
I could get the book to lay fairly flat for coloring by breaking/creasing the spine.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. If you use this medium, I suggest using a blotter page to keep ink from seeping through. I use card stock but a couple of pages of paper should work as well. It will bleed through to the quote on the back of the page, which doesn’t bother me, but I want to note it if it is an issue for you.
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens do not bleed through the page. Some do leave light, colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has 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.

Victorian Fashion: An Adult Coloring Book with Beautiful Vintage Dresses, Historical Fashion Designs, and Relaxing Floral Patterns

By: Jade Summer

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a fun fashion book based on styles from the Victorian period. The elegant clothes of the period were stylized and had many swirls and layers of fabric. The hats were quite elaborate and contained bows and flowers and other embellishments. The designs in the book give you the opportunity to play with color and dress the ladies of the period as you would prefer.

The designs in the book are detailed with lots of background patterns. The details are not intricate and small but they will keep you busy while you color.
While you can have access to .PDFs when you purchase this book, my review is based on the book as it is received from Amazon. That way you will know what the pages look like and how they accept color. I like that the publisher provides the digital version as well so you can choose the paper you wish to use and/or to color the pictures as many times as you choose.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
25 x 2 each fashion designs based on the Victorian Period for a total of 50 coloring pages
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated. The back of the page is printed black.
The designs do not merge into the binding. There is a heavy framing line at the outer edges of the design to give the project a more finished look, especially for framing.
Glue Binding (there is room to cut the pages out if you choose to do so.)
Though you cannot see the bleed-through easily due to the back of the page being printed in black, I recommend the use of a blotter page when working in this 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.
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.

Legend Nouveau Coloring Book

By: Herb Leonhard

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the latest coloring book in Herb Leonhard’s Nouveau series. In this book, the designs are based on legends and myths of enchanted beings from English, Celtic and European folklore. There is a nice range of designs and they are drawn with Mr. Leonhard’s eye for wonderful detail and design.

The designs in the book are detailed and in some cases have small and intricate areas to color. The designs are printed on both sides of the page and the book has a fold-out which has two designs printed on both sides of the page.
As it is printed on both sides of the page, using certain coloring medium will bled through to the design on the back of the page. As I like all of the designs in the book and it is a good value, I decided to purchase a second copy of the book so I can use whatever type of medium I want and still be able to color all of the pages.
This is what I experienced when coloring and testing my coloring medium with this book:
23 Fantasy Myth/Legend Designs in Art Nouveau Style (plus title page that can be colored.)
Printed on both sides of the page.
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated.
All designs stop well before the binding area and none of them extend across two pages
Staple bound with only two staples so that it is really easy to take the book apart if you choose to do so.
Opens easily to flat position for coloring
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page
India ink pens leave spots through the page
Gel pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Colored pencils work really well with this paper. I was easily able to get good color from wax and oil based pencils. I could layer the same and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender stick.

Creative Haven Magnificent Tiffany Windows Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Louis Comfort Tiffany

Rating: 5 of 5

This is, with the exception of one new design (the last one), a re-print of another Dover Coloring book Color Your Own Tiffany Windows from 2008. While that book is still available, I prefer this one as the designs are printed on one side (versus both sides) and the pages are perforated (versus being staple bound.) By having the designs on one side of the page, I am free to use whatever medium I prefer. As these are windows, I am sure to want to use alcohol-based markers with pencil shading and detail something that would not work well with the older book.

The designs are lovely and give the impression of stained glass windows. There is a high level of detail but not really intricate and hard to color.
I’ve done stained glass both copper-foil and leaded for many years. It’s lovely to have a coloring book that allows me to enjoy both hobbies at the same time. While my stained glass projects come nowhere near to those of Mr. Tiffany, I can still have fun with his designs while I color.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
31 designs by Marty Noble based on stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany
The designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white, medium weight, slightly rough and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.
The designs stop well before the perforations and have a framing line at the outer edges.
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 and even better than many of the more recent Creative Haven coloring books I have bought. I was able to get good pigment (color) lay down, layer the same color and multiple colors and to 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.