70 Cartoon style designs pertaining to Sherlock Holmes printed on one side of the page

Sherlock Holmes: Color in Classics

By: Simon Balley

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a coloring book of 70 Sherlock Holmes and related story designs. The designs are definitely a little cartoonish in style. There are seven sections of ten designs each. The sections follow the same line-up of designs: chase scene, murder scene, character study, items from the case file, Sherlock in his study, collage design, Sherlock Holmes in disguise, random full page illustration, pipe and smoke, and train carriage scene. My favorites of these are the chase or pursuit scenes and the pipe and smoke designs. Most of the others are a little too much of a cartoon for my taste but may be perfect for others.

I will provide more details below on what I found about the coloring book but here is a quick overview:

70 designs printed on one side of non-perforated paper
Some designs merge into the binding
Binding is sewn
Alcohol-based markers bleed through
Water-based markers and India ink pens leave slight shadow on back of page
Gel pens do not leak through but take longer to dry
Coloring pencils work really well with the paper

The book is printed on one side of white heavyweight paper which is not perforated. Some of the designs merge into the binding. The binding is sewn rather than glued so you can remove several pages at a time by snipping a few threads. I could get the book to lay flat by slightly breaking the spine.

The back of each page has a suggested drawing activity. As I am not interested in doing that, I consider it to be the waste side of my design. If you like drawing, it would be a good place to do so.

I test coloring books with a variety of mediums (which I will list in the comments section below.) Here is what my tests on this book showed:

Alcohol-based markers of all types and nibs bleed through quickly. Water-based markers and India ink pens leave the faintest of shadows on the back of the page (can’t really determine colors.) My various gel pens did not leak through but did require considerably more drying time. My coloring pencils all worked very well and as expected for the brand and type (soft/hard lead). The soft lead pencils blended well and the hard lead did not leave a dent on the back of the page.

I recommend a blotter page if you are using alcohol-based markers; otherwise, it should not be necessary.

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