Daily Archives: June 27, 2017

Molly Hashimoto’s Birds: Coloring Book

By: Molly Hashimoto

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book of 22 bird designs based on the artwork of artist Molly Hashimoto. The drawings are uncolored block prints which have big, bold black lines. The designs are quite bold in concept with the birds as the main focus but with full backgrounds as well.

Included on the inside of the front and back covers are full color thumbnails of all of the original artwork. The title of each design is listed not only on its page but also on a contents page at the beginning of the book. The contents page also gives the size of the original artwork, the medium in which it was done and also the date it was finished.
The designs are easy to color but with a heavy use of black which is very prominent due to the nature of block prints. I prefer to use my markers with this style of design and accent it with colored pencils. I find that some shades of pencil are apt to be seen on top of the black as a grayish tone if I accidentally color over it.
This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
22 line drawing designs derived from the unpainted block print artwork of Molly Hashmimoto
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, 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 and have a distinct finished edge which acts as a frame and an ending point for coloring.
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 any style of marker, I also make sure to use a blotter under my working page. I like card stock but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works well, too.
Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page. Some gel pens require slightly more drying time than usual.
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 the same and multiple colors well and could blend easily using a pencil style blending stick. As I mentioned previously, some colors look gray if they are used on top the heavy use of black in the designs.

Jill Mayberg’s Animal Friends: Coloring Book

By: Jill Mayberg

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book of 22 animal designs by artist Jill Mayberg. One of my favorite styles of coloring designs is folk art. These designs have that vibe. From the blurb in the book, Ms. Mayberg appears to use mixed media in order to create her original artwork, including photographs, drawings, paintings and even cut-outs. The results are charming, both in the original artwork and in the coloring book designs.

Included on the inside of the front and back covers are full color thumbnails of all of the original artwork. The title of each design is listed not only on its page but also on a contents page at the beginning of the book. The contents page also gives the size of the original artwork, the date it was finished and that it was done in mixed media. No further detail is provided as to which media was used.
The designs are open and easy to color. While some designs contain small areas to color, I don’t consider the artwork to be intricate and difficult to color.
This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
22 folk art style animal designs derived from the artwork of Jill Mayberg
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, 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 and have a framing line at their outer edges.
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 any style of marker, I also make sure to use a blotter under my working page. I like card stock but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works well, too.
Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page. Some gel pens require slightly more drying time than usual.
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 the same and multiple colors well and could blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.