While this is being sold as a 3D book (and includes inexpensive cardboard glasses), it is really a coloring book that relies on the way you color the designs to give a 3D impression. I actually have no-depth perception in my vision, which means I cannot see 3D, so I will be treating this as a regular coloring book. There are several pages of directions on the methods by which you can achieve the best 3D feel to your coloring.
This is a large format book at approximately 9.7 x 13.5 inches. The pictures are quite large compared to most coloring books that I own. I enjoy Hannah Davies art style (from other coloring books I have) and really like these too. There are many animals in the book, from land to sea to sky. Each animals has great patterns drawn into them so it will be a great coloring experience. For me, the artwork more than makes up for the issues that I will discuss below.
The book is printed on both sides of the page which is a bit misleading as the reverse side of every design page is a graph paper doodle page. I will not be using it for doodling and will consider it the waste side of the design which is fine for my purposes. Many of the designs span two pages with the design merging into the binding. Some people may be unhappy about the drawing pages but many artists simply put a blank page behind designs. I figure the graph paper gives the colorist a choice as to what they will do with that side of the paper.
The binding is sewn and can be removed easily by clipping it in several spots every few pages. You will still mostly end up having to cut pages in two to merge the parts of the design together. That makes it almost impossible to frame properly. Not a problem for me as I don’t frame most of my work but it is important to some people. By bending the binding hard enough to break it with a large crease, I was able to get the book to lie flat.
All of my markers leaked through readily to the back of the page. That includes ultra-fine Stabilo 88 and larger. However, none of my gel pens came through. They did, however, need a little longer drying time as they seemed to sit on the surface for a while. The instructions for 3D suggest that markers and water colored pencils be used for the best effect.
