Daily Archives: July 16, 2017

Goldilocks: Grayscale Adult Coloring Book (Beautiful Fairy Tales) (Volume 3)

By: Ruth Sanderson

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a very cute and sweet coloring book of grayscale designs. The designs in the book are based on the illustrations in Ruth Sanderson’s storybook version of Goldilocks. This is the third coloring book in the series of grayscale coloring books by Ms. Sanderson and I hope there will be more in the future.

The designs are both cute and sweet. The story has been changed from the traditional one and allows for more interaction between Goldilocks and the bears.
There are 24 designs in this book and, as Ms. Sanderson has done in the past, there are 12 bonus pages that are duplicates of half of the original designs in the coloring book. These designs have darker grayscale than the first set which makes them a little easier to color for those who are new to the technique.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
24 Grayscale designs plus 12 bonus designs based on the fairy tale Goldilocks for a total of 36 coloring pages
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 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 areas 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. This doesn’t bother me as I generally do not use a blender on grayscale 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.

Adult Coloring Book: Whimsical Patterns: Tiny Trailers (Volume 4)

By: Francis Keene

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the fourth coloring book in the Francis Keene series of Whimsical Patterns. In this book, artist Natasha Faltinek has created 30 cute designs of tiny trailers. Some of the designs show the inside and some the outside of trailers. In most, there is only one trailer but some show a series of them. Trailer, in this book, means all manner of vehicles that are on wheels from a traditional trailer to vans to buses.

I found the designs to be both cute and detailed. A few of them have smaller and more intricate areas to color. The designs are hand-drawn and remind me of the current tiny home trend.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 line drawing designs of the inside or outside of tiny trailers, plus bonus pages of designs from other books in this series (but not the same artist.)
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding area. There is a framing line at the outer edge of each design.
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 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.