126 Hymn and Praise Designs by Deborah Muller printed on both sides of page

This is the third Posh coloring book I have purchased which features the artwork of Deborah Muller. I first found her work in some spiral bound books and a Christian-based coloring calendar. As soon as I saw this coloring book, I pre-ordered it based on how much I enjoyed those items.

The book is fantastic for anyone who loves old and modern hymns. It is not the whole hymn represented, instead it is the phrase which brings it to mind. So many of my favorite hymns are included: I’ll Fly Away, Because He Lives! – this one means so much to me from the time I first became a Christian, Amazing Grace, Rock of Ages and so many more I cannot begin to list them here. The designs are what I would consider detailed and some are intricate with small spots to color.

I am always looking for good quality Christian coloring books that have great coloring opportunities. I find Ms. Muller’s work to be so much fun to color and, at the same time, I can meditate on what I am coloring. It’s at times like these, when my spirit is at rest and my thoughts are far away from the problems of the world, that I feel I can almost hear God speaking softly to me.

I will provide a detailed explanation of what I found in the book below, but here is a quick overview:

126 Christian Hymn Designs
Designs are printed on both sides of non-perforated white paper
Designs do not merge into binding
Binding is glued
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers are mixed with Tombows working the best
Gel pens work well and do not bleed through
Coloring pencils work well with this paper

The designs are printed on both sides of a medium weight non-perforated paper. All of the designs are limited to one page and they do not merge into the binding. As the binding is glued rather than sewn and as there is space between the design and the binding, you can cut the pages out without losing any of the design. I suggest that you do so carefully as you need to be sure not to damage the design on the back of the page. I was able to break the spine enough to get the book to lay fairly flat.

Most of the designs have finished elements on the sides and/or have a framing line that defines where the colorist can stop. I really appreciate this as it gives my project a good finished look when I am done. There are a few that are open-ended but the majority are well finished.

I test my coloring books for how they work with a variety of coloring medium (I will list those in the comments section below). Here is what I found in testing this coloring book:

All of my alcohol-based markers bled through the paper immediately. The water-based were rather mixed. My Tombow’s did not leak through when I used the brush end but did with the fine point side. My other water-based markers did not bleed through completely but did leave color shadows on the back of the page. None of my gel pens leaked through and they did not require additional drying time. My coloring pencils worked great and behaved according to their lead type (hard/soft lead).

If you want to color with any medium other than coloring pencils or gel pens, there is a good chance you will destroy the design on the back of the page you are working on (and be sure to put a heavy weight piece of paper or card stock under your work so it won’t leak through further.)

For my first project, I used Tombows brush end and really enjoyed the result with no leak through of ink. I will probably stick to those, gel pens (especially my small point Uni-ball Signo pens), and a wide variety of coloring pencils.