Monthly Archives: April 2018

This is my third coloring book by Ted Menten and is the first one that shows his interpretation of the Art Nouveau movement. The 63 designs in this coloring book are primarily of stylized flowers and plants as well as the occasional bird and other insects and animals.

I was a bit surprised that the book did not include a wider variety of subject matter given that there are 63 designs and the title doesn’t reflect that it is a book of nature designs. At the time I pre-ordered the book, the product description was not available. It now is and does focus on nature but it would have been nice if the title reflected it as well. Apart from that small nit, I really like the designs in the book and am pleased with it.

I am hoping that Mr. Menten will do an Art Nouveau coloring book that includes fashion and other design elements. I really liked the nostalgic look of his recent Christmas coloring book with its elegant designs and hope for something along those lines.

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This is the second dragon coloring book I have purchased by Nathaniel Wake. The dragons are all great; however, this time the author did not include backgrounds. While that makes the design easier to color, it is less detailed and a trifle less fun for me to color (hence, the 4.5 rating.) I still enjoy the coloring book but the first volume is definitely my favorite.

The designs have areas which are a little detailed in scope. However, the designs are by no means difficult to color nor do they require. There is plenty of room to create your own background if you are so inclined and skilled.

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In this latest coloring book by Marvel in their “Color Your Own” series, Spider-Man is the character whose comic series is highlighted. The coloring book contains the associated characters from the series that I would hope to see. There are also mock-up pages from the front of comic books and even pages which include dialog boxes.

The designs are highly detailed with small and intricate areas to color. The designs are done by a large group of individuals. Interestingly, though there are many different styles represented, the book is still a great cohesive presentation of the series. There is a heavy use of black in the designs which doesn’t bother me but may be an issue for others.

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This is my first coloring book by Grazia Salvo. I’m very impressed by how beautifully she draws, both the figures and the accents. The women in her drawings have expressive eyes that hint at what they might be thinking. Most of the designs are three-quarter frames with some being mainly headshots.

The designs are detailed but not what I would consider intricate. They are an unusual mix of line drawing and almost a light form of grayscale. While I like the book, I could almost have wished for two – one with straight line drawings and another which was full grayscale.

My only one small nit about the designs are that because there is a blend of both line drawing and grayscale, some of the lines, especially around the mouth appear to be overdrawn with a heavier line. I find this a bit distracting and will have to find a way to minimize it when coloring in the book.

As my husband is already eyeing my copy of this book, I will have to hide it until he gives up and gets his own.

Phoenix Amulet (the publisher) has developed one of the best styles of publishing coloring books that I have found to date. Not only is the paper a good medium/heavy weight, it also has great tooth, is printed one-sided, has excellent perforations and, best of all, has a covered spiral binding that makes opening and laying this book flat and keeping it flat, simple to do.

I wish more designers turned to this publisher instead of CreateSpace. I would gladly pay more for this quality of coloring book.

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I am really pleased with this Pomegranate coloring book. I’ve purchased some that seemed more geared towards children but “The Fairy Tale Art of Walter Crane” is definitely for the adult or older child.

The artwork of Walter Crane is interpreted in line drawings. The individual(s) responsible for the conversion did, in my opinion, an excellent job. The designs are detailed and most have intricate and small areas to color.

The book is based on storybooks but is not, itself, a storybook. It has quotes from the story that apply to the design (and has a list of the included designs at the front of the book.) There are also full color thumbnails of the original artwork on the inside of the front and back cover pages.

I hope that Pomegranate continues with this style of coloring book. I’ve purchased a few of their grayscale interpretations of famous artists and, with a few noted exceptions (Intricate Ink), I have not been as happy with that style. While line drawings take more time and trouble to adapt to, the end result is much more colorist friendly.

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This is a really cute coloring book of Kawaii girl designs by Jade Summer. There are 30 different designs (with 2 copies of each design for a total of 60 coloring pages.) The designs are quite detailed and some contain small areas to color. The designs; however, are not what I consider intricate and difficult to color.

The word Kawaii is Japanese for cute. The girls in this book are definitely cute and have a kind of manga style about them. They are more mature than the girls in Jade Summer’s “Chibi Girls” coloring books but still have large eyes and lots of fun personality. There are so many girls in different scenarios, including: princess, witch, mermaid, scientist, Native American, school girl, angel and much more.

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.

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