Daily Archives: May 24, 2017

Mermaids: A Mermaid Coloring Book with Mythical Ocean Goddesses, Enchanting Sea Life, and Lost Fantasy Realms (Coloring Books for Adults)

By: Jade Summer

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a new Mermaids coloring book by Jade Summer (note that this coloring book is not a duplicate of their first coloring book of the same title which is no longer available because of potential copyright issues.)

These designs are inspired by the sultry and sensuous sirens of the sea. These are creatures who certainly can be considered enthralling with their come hither poses and inviting eyes. The designs show them above and below the waves and even with pirates and treasure.
The designs are detailed but not what I consider intricate with small areas to color. I am able to use a wide variety of coloring medium on these designs.
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:
30 x 2 each Sensuous Mermaid Designs (total of 60 design pages)
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. There is a slight shadowing effect to the framing line which gives the image an almost 3D effect.
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.

Colour My Sketchbook STEAM: Mech & Cybrids; Greyscale Colouring Book

By: Bennett Klein

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the a wonderful Steampunk style grayscale coloring book in the grayscale series by Bennett Klein. I own many of Mr. Klein’s fantasy coloring books and I enjoy Steampunk as a genre as well, so this is a great combination of two of my favorites. Mr. Klein’s signature style is evident with a great addition of gears and other mechanical elements.

With this book, the artist provides a table of contents with the title of each of his pieces of art. The designs are detailed and intricate in nature. The designs are very detailed and intricate and, except for one, are black and grayscale on white background paper.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
25 Hand-drawn Steampunk inspired fantasy designs in grayscale based on the artwork of Bennett Klein
Designs are printed on one side of white, 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.
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. I generally prefer wet blenders for grayscale designs as I have found that some designs with smear with a blender pencil. Hard lead pencils leave dents through the back of the page.
Because of the bleed through and dents, I use a blotter page below my working page. I prefer card stock but several sheets of heavyweight paper work as well.

Garden Fairies Grayscale Coloring Book: Featuring the Early Works of Molly Harrison

By: Molly Harrison

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a number of coloring books by Molly Harrison both in grayscale and in line drawings. I always enjoy her signature style. This coloring book is different as it is based on her earlier artworks. I can see where Ms. Harrison’s style evolved from but the designs are quite different and are beautiful as well. My previous books showed either adult or young children in fantasy. The fairies in this book seem to be more of a young teenager to young adult. As such, they bridge the gap between the subjects of my other books.

The designs are detailed and contain some intricate areas to color. The grayscale is done in lighter tones so I have more control over shading than I do with books done with darker tones.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
30 Garden Fairies inspired fantasy designs in grayscale based on the earlier artwork of Molly Harrison
Designs are printed on one side of white, 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. There is a double framing line at the outer edge of each design.
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.
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. I generally prefer wet blenders for grayscale designs as I have found that some designs with smear with a blender pencil. Hard lead pencils leave dents through the back of the page.
Because of the bleed through and dents, I use a blotter page below my working page. I prefer card stock but several sheets of heavyweight paper work as well.

Super Cute Animals Coloring Book: Adorable Kittens, Bunnies, Mice, Owls, Hedgehogs, and More (Adult Coloring Books)

By: Alisa Calder

Rating: 5 of 5

I like to color both animals and different styles of fantasy. The designs of the animals in this book are generally of them dressed as humans. A few have doodle style designs but most are simply animals doing things that people who ordinary do. They are very cute and should be lots of fun to color.

The designs are detailed and a few contain intricate and small areas to color. The line work from design to design is somewhat different, sometimes light and delicate and sometimes darker and thicker.
I have seen some of these designs in other coloring books. I’m not sure if the designs in this book are license (no license attribution is present) or if the artist has licensed some of her works previously. In any case, most are new to me and I will enjoy coloring all of them.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 Cute Animals designs most dressed as humans.
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. The 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. 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.