46 Fantastic Coloring Designs based on artwork by Charles Wysocki printed on one side of the perforated page

Mead Adult Coloring Book: Charles Wysocki Americana by Mead Academie (54014)

By: Charles Wysocki

Rating: 5 of 5

I have admired Charles Wysocki’s artwork for many years. I have collected some prints, bought a multitude of calendars and puzzles and have stitched various forms of needlework based on his designs. I have been hoping for a coloring book and just discovered this one (yes, discovered because it was hidden away in office supplies instead of being front and center in coloring books.)

The book is very well made with a good grade of paper. The cover shows partially finished coloring of a design that looks more like it was done digitally than in actuality. The designs are printed on one side of the page and the title of the artwork is on the back of the same page. That’s great as they will stay together if you remove pages from the book. I will list the designs included (in order of appearance) in the comments section below for anyone interested.

The designs are based on Mr. Wysocki’s scenic Americana artwork. I was very happy to find some of my favorites, including Peppercricket Farms, Four Aces Flying School and so much more. The designs are detailed for the most part and some have intricate and small elements. It’s a great book for anyone who enjoys Mr. Wysocki’s work or who likes American scenes for coloring.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my various coloring medium on the paper:

46 Detailed Americana scenes based on well-known artwork by Charles Wysocki

Designs are printed on one side of the page (with titles on the back)

Paper is medium weight, white, somewhat smooth, and perforated

Glue Binding

Designs do not merge past the perforations

All areas of the design are easy to reach for coloring even while the pages are still in the book.

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper quickly.

Water-based markers, except for brush end Tombows, leak through in small spots. Tombows brush ends did not leak through at all though the fine point tip did bleed through.

India ink pens bleed through to a larger degree than did the water-based markers.

Gel pens did not bleed through but brighter and darker colors left colorful shadows at the back of the page.

Colored pencils work very well with this paper. It has enough tooth to the page to grab pigment well and allow for layering of the same color to get a deep pigment. I was able to work with oil and wax based pencils and get good results. Layering multiple colors and blending using a pencil style blending stick worked equally well.

I am keeping my pages together for right now and, because of that, I am using a blotter page of card stock under my working page. That keeps seeping ink from marring the pages below.