Daily Archives: April 13, 2017

The Wizard of Oz Coloring Book

By: Charles Santore

Rating: 4 of 5

I will include a full and silent flip-through of the coloring book so you can determine if it will work for you. I’ll also upload a couple of sample photos.

This is another entry in the Classic Coloring books featuring the artwork of Charles Santore. The story is by L. Frank Baum and the illustrations are by Charles Santore. Along with the story and the designs, there are thumbnail color pictures from the storybook on the inside front and back covers. I really appreciate that as I can decide to follow the original colors or go my own way.
The book is a larger than standard format. The designs are mostly done in grayscale with a small amount of line drawings in most of the designs. That means that there is a heavy use of gray in the designs. It is meant to be colored over with lighter shades and provides shading which shows through the coloring medium.
It is set up in storybook style, with the text on the left hand side (back of preceding page) and the illustration to the right. Some mediums will bleed through the page or leave shadows of color (see below), which will interfere with the text.
This is what I found while coloring in the book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
24 Wizard of Oz inspired designs by Charles Santore
Designs printed on one side of the page with storybook text on the back.
Paper is white, every so slightly rough to touch, medium weight and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Designs stop short of the binding and almost all have a framing line at the outer edges
Book opens easily to flat position for ease of coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers and India ink markers leave a slight colorful shadow on the back of the page.
Gel pens do not bleed through an left an indistinct shadow on the back of the page.
Colored pencils did well with this paper. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I was easily able to get good pigment with multiple layers of the same color. I also was able to layer multiple colors and blend well using a blender stick.

Color the Words of Jesus: An Adult Coloring Book for Your Soul (Color the Bible)

By: Marie Michaels

Rating: 5 of 5

I have been looking for a coloring book which highlights the words of Jesus. I was very happy to find this book after a long search. While I appreciate all of my Christian coloring books, rather like seeking a red letter Bible, it is wonderful to pick up a coloring book and know that I am reading words from Christ himself. The artist, Marie Michael, is actually a group of three artists: Nicole Wallace, Chris Dugan and Terry Dugan. I own another coloring book by this group and have enjoyed it tremendously (Color the Names of God.)

The words are front and center on the designs while the designs support them. Coloring in the book adds to both my prayer and worship time as I focus on the verse that I am currently coloring. Some designs are obviously inspired by the verse while others are lovely but serve more as a frame. The designs are detailed and a few have intricate and small areas to color. The designs are elegant and flowing rather than cute or filled with doodle elements.
The translations used in this coloring book are: Holy Bible New International Version (NIV), New King James Version, and the New American Standard Bible.
This is what I found when coloring in this book and testing the paper with my various coloring medium:
37 Designs with Scripture Verses of the words of Jesus
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, lightly rough and perforated
Glue Binding
Designs do not cross over the perforations, so you can remove them without loss of content.
Most designs have a framing line at the outer edges.
Book opens fairly flat for coloring if you crease or break the spine.
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the paper to some degree (water-based is mostly in spots while alcohol flows through rapidly.)
Gel pens and India ink do not bleed through but can leave shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. I get good pigment lay down, layer, and blend easily with a pencil style blending stick with both oil and wax based pencils. Hard lead pencils can leave dents on the back of the page.
I use and recommend the use of a blotter page to keep ink and dents from marring the pages below. I use a piece of card stock or several sheets of heavy weight paper.

Barn Quilts Coloring Book: Miss Mustard Seed (Majestic Expressions)

By: Marian Parsons

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely book of hand-drawn designs which emphasize both quilt patterns and scenes of barns with quilts hanging on them. While the majority of patterns are patchwork, some have the look of applique. On each of the designs, there is a Scripture quote and cite. The words are in a fairly small print and are not the emphasis of the design but rather there to be appreciated and thought about while coloring. It would be very difficult to read the words from any distance. The verses are from a wide variety Bibles translations.

I have been looking for a coloring book of quilts and was really pleased to find this one as it has many quilt patterns and also the beautiful country scenes. The quilt pattern designs are fairly open and easy to color. The country scenes are highly detailed and contain intricate and small areas to color. It’s a really nice mix of designs and color challenges in a single book.
This is what I found when coloring in this book and testing the paper with my various coloring medium:
55 Designs with Quilts, Barns, and Scripture quotes by artist Marian Parsons
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, lightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Binding
Designs do not merge into the binding area and have a framing line at the outer edges. There is plenty of room to cut pages out if you choose to do so.
Book opens fairly flat for coloring if you crease or break the spine.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper.
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens do not bleed through but do leave a colorful shadow on the back of the page.
Colored pencils work well with this lightly rough paper. I get good pigment lay down, can layer same and multiple colors, and blend easily with a pencil style blending stick with both oil and wax based pencils. Hard lead pencils can leave dents on the back of the page.
I use and recommend the use of a blotter page to keep ink and dents from marring the pages below. I use a piece of card stock or several sheets of heavy weight paper.