50 Fun and Jolly Christmas Designs – printed on one side of page
By: Hasby Mubarok
Rating: 5 of 5
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his is a book of really cute set of 50 Christmas designs. The designs are well done with lots of Christmas elements. Some are full page designs and others are smaller designs set on the larger page. The designs are all hand-drawn by Hasby Mubarok (a new designer for me.)
I found all sorts of elements which symbolize the holiday season for me. From Santa (a must have!) to Christmas trees to snowflakes (which can also be used through the winter) to to stockings and wreathes and reindeer, this book has much to offer.
The designs contain detailed elements (especially the full page scenes with full backgrounds); however, I don’t consider this book to have intricate or difficult to color images.
I really like the top spiral binding along with the perforated pages. It does away with coloring over the “hump” of the binding. I’ve been told that this is a major issue for left-handed colorists, so this is a great Christmas book for anyone troubled by this issue.
The one drawback I experienced was in regards to the very smooth texture of the paper of the admittedly heavyweight paper. While I got a nice amount of pigment from all of my coloring pencils, I had difficulty in trying to blend them. This was true with both wax and oil-based pencils.
For me, this is not a problem as I will be using markers in this book. So many of my Christmas books are printed on both sides or have paper which feathers with markers, it is a rare treat to be able to use markers on this higher quality paper. As I can use my markers well with this book, I did not decrease my star rating but wanted individuals who use coloring pencils exclusively to be aware that the paper is smooth.
50 Christmas Designs included in the book
The designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper white, heavyweight, smooth to the touch and has perforated pages at the top
Spiral top binding (with no binding “hump” to color around). The front and back covers are hardcover heavy posterboard.
The designs do not cross over the perforations. Some designs leave elements unfinished at the edges of the page.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page.
If you use alcohol-based markers, I suggest either removing pages from the book to color or using a blotter page under your working page. I like card stock as it keeps ink from seeping through and damaging the pages below. The publishers include a page for a blotter; however, I like to change out my blotter pages frequently so a single sheet does not work for me.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page
Because the paper is very smooth, I found that it had little “tooth”. I was able to get a nice color lay down with both wax and oil based pencils but blending did not work as well.
his is a book of really cute set of 50 Christmas designs. The designs are well done with lots of Christmas elements. Some are full page designs and others are smaller designs set on the larger page. The designs are all hand-drawn by Hasby Mubarok (a new designer for me.)