Magic Scope: Coloring Book
By: Irina Vinnik
Rating: 5 of 5
I was first introduced to Irina Vinnik’s coloring book designs in Manic Botanic. I so enjoyed that coloring book, that I purchased Magic Scope without seeing a preview of what was inside. While the artwork is unmistakably Ms. Vinnik’s, it is different enough that it warrants a closer look when making a purchase decision. While I appreciate the abstract and rather organic look to the designs, the subject matter is quite different. Where Manic Botanic concentrated on animal and plant life, Magic Scope seems to be more about the flow of lines and other elements one into the other.
I find it to be a quite detailed book of designs, often with elements that are intricate and small to color. In one design that I colored, I chased a tiny thin line around the design as it wove in and out amongst all the others. I also saw this in her previous book as well and it is this type of detail work that I appreciate and enjoy. The designs in this book have more detailing and in some cases, remind me almost of grayscale coloring.
The paper used in the coloring book is standard CreateSpace paper. It is thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforated. It is not the best of papers to work with. If you have an especially juicy marker, you may find it feathering outside of the lines fairly easily. I’ve gotten used to this type of paper as a trade-off for getting to experience so many different independent artists. I’m still not thrilled with it but I have accepted it for these books and I know what I will be getting when I place my order (though hope still springs eternal that Amazon (who owns CreateSpace) will improve the paper quality.) I also find that it works better for colored pencils than for markers so a lot of my work in CreateSpace books involves pencils.
Here is what I found in coloring in this book:
56 Large Abstract and Organic designs printed on the right hand side of the page. On the left-hand side of the page is a small design element from the larger one. This is an additional 56 small designs if you use colored pencils for your work.
Thin, white, slightly rough non-perforated paper.
Glue bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area. A framing line is put around the outside edge of all designs. I especially appreciate this touch to give my finished project a better look and save me time and ink.
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper both oil and wax based pencils lay down good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils leave dents the back of the page.
I suggest using a blotter page under your working page to keep ink and dents from marring the page below.