Monthly Archives: May 2017

Prayers to Color & Brighten Your Day

By: Felicity French

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book of 47 prayer inspired designs. The prayers are mostly Christian in nature but there are also some included from other religions. The designs are very pretty but do not generally reflect the words of the prayer. The words themselves are part of the design and are meant to be colored. In some cases, the words are, in fact, the design.

The designs are quite detailed and in some spots, intricate and small to color. Some of the prayers are attributed to their original source.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
47 Designs based on a variety of prayers mostly Christian but others included as well
Designs printed on one side of the page with the prayer attribution, if included, printed on the design page.
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth and non-perforated
Sewn Binding you can remove several pages in whole at a time by snipping the threads/
Some designs merge past the perforations into the binding area. Nothing essential to the design will be lost if you remove a page from the book.
Opens fairly flat for ease of coloring.
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.
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. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and found that I was able to apply 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.

Charles Santore: Illustrations from Classic Tales Coloring Book

By: Charles Santore

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a Charles Santore coloring book published by Pomegranate. It is a mix of various fairy tales and story books, including some designs which are included in his coloring books on a specific title, such as Snow White and Aesop’s Fables. Some of the pictures have darker shading than others and most have elements of grayscale coloring rather than simple line drawings. I treat them as if I were working on a full grayscale design by laying down a foundation of color using alcohol-based markers. Once that I am done with that layer, the gray shading became the shading in my colors. I then add colored pencil details and highlights.

The designs are really elegantly drawn with fine details from the original artwork. Thumbnails of the original watercolors of each design are printed in glossy prints on the inside of the front and back covers. I appreciate this touch as at times I need to look at the pictures to determine which part of the design I was coloring. You can follow the colors in the picture or, as I do, use my own color palette.
This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
22 Fairy Tale and Story book designs based on the original artwork by Charles Santore with lots of gray shading
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, slightly off-white, slightly rough to the touch and non-perforated
The designs are bound by two heavyweight staples which can be removed to release all of the page from the book without any loss of design.
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Pages can be cut out if you wish without losing any design elements.
Book easily opens to a flat position for coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper easily.
Water-based markers leave shadows and slight spots of color bleed through on the back of the page
If I use markers while coloring in this book, I use a blotter of card stock or heavy weight paper below my working page. It keeps seeping ink from marring the design on the page below.
Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. It has a slight roughness to it that allows good pigment coverage from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to layer and blend easily with both as well.

Color Your Own Victorian Fairy Paintings (Dover Art Coloring Book)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely coloring book of Victorian fairies. The designs are based on famous artwork and have been adapted into line drawings by Marty Noble. The designs are all quite elegant and have full backgrounds. They are detailed and some have intricate and small areas to color.

While I wish that the book was printed on only one side of each page, I really like that the original artwork is attributed (though it might have been nice if that was done on a single page rather than at the bottom of each page.) I also like that there are full color thumbnails of each of the original artworks. Those are situated at the inside of the front and back cover.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing it with my coloring medium.
30 Victorian Fairy designs derived by Marty Noble from famous artwork designs
Printed on both sides of the page
Paper is medium weight, slightly rough, white and non-perforated
Staple bound with three heavy duty staples
Designs stop well before the binding area and can be removed in whole from the book by removing the three staples at the binding. Each of the designs has a framing line at the outer edges.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers spot through and/or leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through in spots if you apply heavily or use multiple coats.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. Both oil and wax-based pencils provided good pigment, layered well with the same or multiple colors and blended well using a blending stick. Hard lead pencils did not dent through the page.
If you choose to use any medium other than colored pencils on the pages of this book, you will probably find bleed through or colorful shadows on the design at the back of your working page.

Coloring Dragons Coloring Book

By: Amy Brown

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a couple of coloring books by Amy Brown which feature faeries. In this coloring book, the focus is on dragons. While this is one of her newer books (published 2015) I was really pleased to see that others of her older and out of print books are being re-printed once again.

The dragon designs have a bit of detail to them but on the whole, I find them open and easy to color. As with all of her books, there is a sense of movement, elegance and grace to her creations. The dragons are not menacing in this book and some of them are in cute poses (such as reading a book or having a tiny faery atop their nose.)
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
20 Hand-drawn Dragon Designs by Amy Brown
Designs are printed on one side of thin, slightly rough non-perforated paper typical of CreateSpace.
Glue Binding
Easy to open to flat position for coloring
Designs do not merge into the binding and there is plenty of room to cut pages out if you choose to do so
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page to some degree. Water-based bleed through in spots while alcohol-based bleed through freely
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of page. India ink can bleed through if you use multiple layers or apply heavily.
Colored pencils work well with this paper. Both oil and wax based provide good color when I use multiple layers of the same color. I am easily able to blend (using a pencil style blender stick) and layer multiple colors as well. Hard lead pencils leave dents through the back of the page.
Because of the bleed through and dents, I suggest (and use) a blotter page below my working page no matter what medium I use. I prefer card stock but several sheets of heavyweight paper work as well.

Angels Coloring Book (Dover Coloring Books)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

This is an older Dover coloring book, Angels by Marty Noble. As with other Dover published coloring books (as opposed to the Creative Haven line by Dover), these designs are printed on both sides of the page.

The angels designs in this coloring book are both graceful and elegant. They are all female I would have loved to see a few male angels, such as Gabriel and Michael portrayed by Ms. Noble. Some of the designs are reminiscent of famous works of art and may have been inspired by them. However, there is no attribution stating so.
The designs are all of angels in a variety of detailed backgrounds. They are well centered on the page with a framing line at the outer edges. The designs are detailed and, while a few of them include some intricate elements, the designs are not what I consider intricate with masses of small and difficult elements to color.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing it with my coloring medium.
30 Elegant and graceful angel designs
Printed on both sides of the page
Paper is medium weight, slightly rough, white and non-perforated
Staple bound with three heavy duty staples
Designs stop well before the binding area and can be removed in whole from the book by removing the three staples at the binding.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers spot through and/or leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through in spots if you apply heavily or use multiple coats.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. Both oil and wax-based pencils provided good pigment, layered well with the same or multiple colors and blended well using a blending stick. Hard lead pencils did not dent through the page.
If you choose to use any medium other than colored pencils on the pages of this book, you will probably find bleed through or colorful shadows on the design at the back of your working page.

Mythologica: Beasts to Color

By: Richard Merritt

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a beautifully drawn book of 31 mythological creatures. The publishing of the book is also well done. The range of creatures included is fairly extensive and, at the end of this review, I will provide a full list of the mythological creatures included. The creatures represent myths and stories from a wide variety of cultures.

The initial line drawings are realistically portrayed but then the inside of the mythological creatures are many doodle style intricate elements. The designs are detailed and highly intricate with many small and hard to color details. It may not be the best book for those who have vision or fine motor skill issues.
The attached cover is beautifully illustrated with coloring and light touches of purple and blue metallic foil on the front artwork. The paper that is used for this book is a very good quality and would work well if you wish to frame your finished work.
Slight elements of the background design are already colored. While my personal preference would have been to have left these blank, I am okay with the small amount they have colored in this instance. The designs do merge into the binding and you will lose portions of some of the designs if you remove a page at the perforations but nothing essential to the integrity of the design.
This is what I found in coloring and testing in this book:
31 Mythological inspired designs which are very detailed and intricate to color
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is white, heavy weight slightly rough, has background elements slightly pre-colored and is perforated.
Sewn Binding
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring
Most designs merge past the perforations and into the binding area; however, these portions are not integral to the overall design.
Alcohol and Water based markers bleed through this paper to some extent (Tombow brush ends did best with only light spotting to the back of the page.)
India ink left shadows on the back of the page.
Gel pens did not bleed through and did not require extra drying time.
Coloring pencils worked well. Both oil and wax based pencils worked well for providing good pigment. I was able to layer the same color for deeper tones, layer multiple colors and to blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.
If you use a wet medium with this book, I suggest using a blotter page of card stock or several sheets of paper to keep ink from seeping through the ruining the pages below. You can also simply remove a page from the book before coloring as well.
Designs in this book include: Minotaur, European Dragon, Jackalope, Basilisk, Gorgon, Cockatrice, Yeti, Pegasus, Ogre, Kraken, Gnome, Hydra, Harpy, Qilin, Kitsune, Unicorn, White Stag, Sphinx, Goblin, Griffon, Faun, Phoenix, Chinese Dragon, Mermaid, Troll, Werewolf, Fairy, Manticore, Centaur, Sea Serpent and Cerberus.

Dinomon – Invasion of the Dinosaur Doodles: Adult Coloring Book – Color and Relax in the World of the Dinomon

By: Okami Books

Rating: 5 of 5

I really enjoy coloring doodle creature designs. I have some that are elegant and some that are a tad bizarre but up until now, I’ve never seen so many designs that are simply so fun and cute.

The designs in this coloring book feature dinosaurs in a myriad of unlikely situations. They range from dinosaurs who walk the earth, fly in the sky or swim in the deep. The designs feature both small and large dinosaurs along with lots of other doodle elements and creatures.
The designs are detailed but not what I consider intricate and difficult to color. What I like about these styles of designs is the freedom to use whatever colors you wish to emphasize (or the reverse) the elements that speak to you.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
40 Dinosaur inspired 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. Some of the designs designs have a dark black 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; however, some of the darker and thicker lines of the designs had a tendency to smear using this type of blender. I found that liquid forms (Gamsol or mineral spirits) did a better job with these particular designs. 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.