Fantastic Ocean
By: Julia Rivers/Storytroll
Rating: 4 of 5
This coloring book was originally published by Okami Coloring and is now published (with the same title) by Storybook Troll under their Julia Rivers imprint. If you have the Okami book, it is the same one, including the cover.
The designs in the coloring book are ocean theme with lots of swirling lines. Most of the designs involve fish but there are also other sea life and even an occasional mermaid.
The designs are detailed but do not contain small and intricate areas to color. Having said that, I still found it somewhat difficult to color at times as there are so many swirling lines that I had problems, from time-to-time, figuring out which swirly line was part of what element. While it is not my favorite ocean theme coloring book, I still found it fun to color.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 ocean related designs with an emphasis on fish
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality by CreateSpace printing: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding. While the designs do not have a framing line at the outer edges of the designs, they do have finished elements at the edges for ease of coloring.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.
Here are some sample photos from the book:
This coloring book was originally published by Okami Coloring and is now published (with the same title) by Storybook Troll under their Julia Rivers imprint. If you have the Okami book, it is the same one, including the cover.
