Daily Archives: September 20, 2017

Mary Engelbreit’s Color ME Christmas Book of Postcards

By: Mary Engelbreit

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a cute set of Christmas post cards, gift tags and even ornaments to color based on the artwork of Mary Engelbreit. There are ten postcards, fifteen gift tags and ten cut-out ornaments. Some of the really cute Christmas designs I most appreciate are in this book.

The postcards are preset to be used as such (with mailing address lines, etc. on the back of the card) and the gift tags and ornaments are printed on both sides of the page so there isn’t a colored side and a blank side you can color both or fill in names, etc. You will have to cut these items out of the page but there is a heavy black outer line that will make this a fairy easy task.
A number of the designs are scaled down in size to fit the smaller postcard size format. Because of that there are a number which have intricate and small areas to color. I will be using fairly sharp pencils and ultra-fine or brush markers and small nib gel pens to color much of the designs. Because some of the designs are quite intricate, the set may prove challenging for those who have issues with vision and fine motor skills.
I was so happy that I could use markers without worry of bleed-through. I don’t use most of my postcards as such. Instead, I will mount them on folded blank note cards or frame them as gifts.
This is what I found while coloring in this set of cards and testing my coloring medium on the card stock.
Fun Christmas designs based on the artwork of Mary Engelbreit in postcard size format
Printed on one side of card stock
Card stock is white, heavyweight and slightly rough
Glue binding (in the sense of a notepad where pages can easily be removed in whole.
Back is printed for use as applicable for postcards, gift tags or ornaments.
Alcohol-based markers, water-based markers, gel pens, and India ink artist pens do not bleed through this card stock.
Colored pencils worked well. Both wax and oil based pencils provided good color, layered, and blended well using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils provide deep and crisp color.

Star Trek: The Original Series Adult Coloring Book – Where No Man Has Gone Before

By: CBS

Rating: 5 of 5

I am a long-time fan of the Star Trek franchise. My first experience, as with many others, was with the original television series. Though it didn’t last for very long, it has left an indelible mark on society. This coloring book really takes me back into the series with both the illustrations and the quotes.

There are 45 designs in the coloring book which are, this time, based on the second and third seasons of the show. The designs are done by a team of illustrators which is something that I have noticed is common in Dark Horse coloring books.
In this case, the illustration team is made up of: Juann Cabal, Will Conrad, Gabriel Guzman and Derlis Santacruz. Interestingly, only one of the artists from volume one (Gabriel Guzman) has illustrations in the book. As with volume one of this series, there are subtle differences in style between the various artists, but I think that the illustrations work well together.
The designs are detailed and a few have intricate and small spots to color. The designs are printed on one side of the page with the applicable quote on the opposite facing page.
This is what I found while coloring in this coloring book and testing the paper with my coloring mediums.
45 Designs based on episodes and scenes from Star Trek seasons two and three of the original series.
Designs printed on one side of page with quotes and Stardates (as applicable) printed on the back of the page
Paper is white, heavy weight, somewhat smooth, and non-perforated
Hybrid glue and sewn binding (lots of small stitches). These are near impossible to snip to remove pages. I suggest cutting pages out instead if you so choose.
Designs merge into the binding area. Cutting out pages will result in some loss of design.
I was able to get the book to open fairly flat with some effort by breaking/creasing 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 shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I could layer well for deeper pigment and blending easily using a blender stick. Hard lead pencils did not leave dents through the page.
I suggest the use of a blotter page with alcohol-based medium. I like card stock but a couple of pages of heavy weight paper will work as well.