Folk Art style hand-drawn country and garden scenes in both full page and smaller format printed on one side of page

Folk art and hand-drawn easily describes two of the things I look for most in coloring books. I love the whimsical and endearing style of folk art and any design which is hand-drawn gives me an assurance that the work is original and that I will (hopefully) see the vision that the artist set out to present. This coloring book has both of these criteria and is a book that I will really enjoy coloring.

The designs are in two sizes. There are 22 which are full page designs and then there are 20 which have been sized down to note/greeting card size. The artist gives permission to allow you to make as many copies of the smaller size as you wish. That way you can put the design on heavier card stock and create actual cards.

I will provide details about what I found in the physical book below. Here is a quick overview:

42 Designs 22 full size and 20 smaller copies
Designs are printed on one side of page
Waste sheet is included behind each design for seeping ink
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding
Alcohol and water based markers leak through this paper
Gel pens and India ink pens make distinct shadows of color on the back of the page-by-page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper

The designs are printed on one side of typical CreateSpace paper. That is to say, thin, white and non-perforated. It is an okay paper for most coloring but not a quality grade. It’s something that I have come to accept with CreateSpace published books as it is the vehicle by which artists can self-publish their designs.

The binding is glued so you will have to cut pages out if you want to remove them. The designs do not merge into the binding, so you will not lose portions of the designs if you remove them from the book. The artist has included a waste page behind each of the design pages so you won’t have ink seeping through. If you use alcohol-based markers, I still suggest heavier weight paper as I have had these types of marks bleed through two pages of regular weight paper. You can get the book to lay flat by breaking the spine somewhat.

I test my books with various coloring medium and methods of tests. I’ll include the types of medium I used in testing in the comments section below. Here are the results of my tests:

All markers, both alcohol and water based bleed through this paper. India ink and gel pens leave distinct shadows of color on the backside of the page. Coloring pencils work well with the soft lead blending nicely. The hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I will use and I highly recommend that you use a heavier weight blotter page. I like the idea of the extra page but as it is the same thin CreateSpace paper, it can only go so far. You should test your choice of medium to see if it is sufficient for your needs.

I was provided a free copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.