Monthly Archives: December 2018

This is the third coloring book I have by artist Chinthaka Herath. Once again, the focus is on the female form. This time, however, there is a glimpse of dragons which are the companions of the “dames” of fire and water.

The story of the book is the epic battle between these two elements… though water puts out fire and fire only turns water to steam. Steam evaporates and comes back down in the form of rain, i.e., water. Fire is out and doesn’t come back again until a new fire is started. So, I place my bets on the outcome (in reality), on water.

But this isn’t reality, this is fantasy. So the outcome is what is in the imagination of the artist.

The artist’s strong female forms are emerging even stronger in this book. The crusading spirit that I saw in the last book isn’t what I see here. As I mentioned, this fantasy revolves around the fantasy of two of the four elements and that is what I see when I look at this book.

The designs have a nice level of detail. Most have background of a sort included. While there are more intricate areas to color in this book, I still don’t consider the book to be a difficult one or one which will tax the eyes or force you to use tiny coloring medium.

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This is a 48 page book which is by children’s book author and artist, Alison Lester. While the book blurb says that it is for 5 years old and older, the coloring is definitely for a much older child or an adult.

The author gives a background of how she started drawing and gives encouragement to artists who wish to draw as well. Then the book takes a right turn and becomes a coloring book rather than a book about drawing.

The designs start fairly simple and then become more and more detailed. It makes for an interesting journey to see how an artist might advance in their skills. As someone who colors, it also gives you an opportunity to progress with your skills as you go along.

At the end, the designs are quite detailed and intricate. They might be considered difficult to color. You can either skip those or do as the author suggests and not try for perfection. Just enjoy yourself as you color and don’t worry about the end result. The joy is in the journey, isn’t it?

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Here is a coloring book filled with images of the bad guy. Darth is at his evil best. He is creating mayhem all while dressed with a big whole helmet on his head.

The designs range from simple to intricate, with some having detailed backgrounds. If you like the Vader, you will probably like this book though keep in mind some things that may be considered drawbacks…

The designs are detailed and, in many cases, have intricate and very small areas to color. There is a heavy use of black as part of the designs. That has been true of the prior books in the Color Your Own series, so it was not a surprise for me in this book. I’ve learned to embrace the black as part of my overall design if I want to color in this series.

When there is so much black on the page, I’ve also learned to be really careful if I am using colored pencils. Lighter colors over the black show up. If I use markers, that problem doesn’t happen as the color seeps through instead of sitting on the surface. As I can no longer use most markers, I will have to be careful when coloring in this book. My guess is my husband will quickly assimilate this book into his collection!

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This is a lovely coloring book inspired by The Nutcracker Ballet. The images tell the story of the ballet, with words on each page to provide context to the images.

The coloring book is dated 2005. According to the copyright page, that was the first date this book was published. It’s hard to tell sometimes with Dover as they are inclined to publish things multiple times with slightly different titles or images.

The designs are lovely and elegant and should be a lot of fun to color. However, since the book is printed on both sides of the page, coloring medium is more limited if you wish to color the entire book.

The designs are open and have some detail and even intricate areas. Unlike most Creative Haven books by this publisher, there are no framing lines. However, the designs are finished with the page. There are no two-page spreads.

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This is a new coloring book by Marty Noble. Her more recent books have shown an increasing tendency towards smaller and much more intricate illustrations. It’s gotten to the point where most of the books I buy of hers are too difficult for me to color because of the tiny, tiny elements. I have given those books away in frustration because I love her style but can’t deal with the issues involved with trying to color itsy bitsy pieces.

This book is different. While it is still more detailed and has smaller areas to color than her earlier works, this is very do-able for me to color. The smaller areas are fewer and less intricate. The designs are still quite full of elements.

The designs are of 31 different fairy tales. Each tale has a page. I recognize many of the tales but not all of them. That will make it fun to investigate. For me, this book is definitely a keeper.

Depending on when and where it was printed, Creative Haven paper is either slightly rough or slightly smooth. My copy of this book has slightly smooth paper.

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