Colouring Fantasy – Colouring Book by Scot Howden
By: Scot Howden
Rating: 5 of 5
I find his work, both original and in the coloring book, to be beautiful and ethereal. His line work is very light which keeps it from showing through too boldly and allowing the colors to speak for themselves.
For the two designs I started with, I found myself heading towards lighter colors. I know that for other designs, I will go bold and bright. It just shows how varied and inspiring his work is. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite fantasy coloring books along with those by Jason Hamilton and Bennett Klein.
The designs are a wide range of subject with some having more emphasis on fantasy than others. All of the designs of women have titles in the lower right hand corner. There are designs that have a Steampunk vibe, some of young women showing their artistic tattoos, a wildly doodled mummy, the cover art with a nod to Art Nouveau and Alphonse Mucha, dragons, a genie, fairies, a beautiful pirate, and more. There are 22 pages of full designs with two pages of enlarged elements to color. You can also color the title page which is a duplicate of another design in the book but on a different scale.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my various coloring mediums on the paper:
22 full page titled Fantasy designs plus two pages of enlarged untitled elements for a total of 24 designs.
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough (with good tooth), and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding and there is enough room to easily cut pages out if you choose to do so
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper. Water-based markers spot through enough to mar pages below.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink can leak through if you use multiple coats.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. It has good tooth being slightly rough. I can use both oil and wax based pencils with it and get good results in coloring, layering and blending. Hard lead pencils dent through to the back of the page.
I use and suggest the use of heavyweight paper or card stock as a blotter page under the page you are working on. It keeps seeping ink and dents from ruining the pages below.