Chalk-Style Garden Coloring Book: Color With All Types of Markers, Gel Pens & Colored Pencils
By: Deb Strain
Rating: 5 of 5
I’ve recently started coloring more of these black background chalk style designs. With these, the pages are white and the back background the and designs are printed in a matte black. The designs are detailed but are not too intricate. This is nice as you can use all of your standard markers, colored pencils, and gel pens with these designs.
The subject is the garden and there are lots of flowers, plants, flower pots, and more. I love to garden and I enjoy coloring flowers with different colors, including some that simply don’t appear in nature. My garden is blooming right now and it’s a perfect time for me to bring the outside in. I also like to color flowers and gardens during the winter months when there is so little color in my yard. It helps make the drab days a little less dreary.
There are 32 designs in this coloring book. I’m really impressed by it as it is my first coloring book by Deb Strain though it will certainly not be the last one. The designs are printed on the right side of the page. On the back of the page are quotes about gardens, growing, etc. by a variety of sources. There are also journaling lines. I am used to these elements in a book published by Design Originals but what is fun and different for me is that there are some very pretty colored design elements surrounding the quotes. One of the quotes, by Alice Sebold, sums up how I feel when I am gardening or coloring: I like gardening its a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
32 Floral and Plant Designs with designs in white on black background
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, slightly rough, black printed on white paper and is perforated for easy removal
Designs stop well before the perforations
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page
Gel pens and India ink pens can spot through to the back of the page
Colored pencils work well with the paper. Both oil and wax based pencils provide good color, layer, and blend well. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.
I use and recommend the use of a blotter page under the page you are working on. Either that, or removal the page from the book. Both methods will keep ink and dents from marring the pages below.