Creative Haven Deluxe Edition Elegant Art Nouveau Coloring Book
By: Ted Menten
Rating: 5 of 5
This is my third coloring book by Ted Menten and is the first one that shows his interpretation of the Art Nouveau movement. The 63 designs in this coloring book are primarily of stylized flowers and plants as well as the occasional bird and other insects and animals.
I was a bit surprised that the book did not include a wider variety of subject matter given that there are 63 designs and the title doesn’t reflect that it is a book of nature designs. At the time I pre-ordered the book, the product description was not available. It now is and does focus on nature but it would have been nice if the title reflected it as well. Apart from that small nit, I really like the designs in the book and am pleased with it.
I am hoping that Mr. Menten will do an Art Nouveau coloring book that includes fashion and other design elements. I really liked the nostalgic look of his recent Christmas coloring book with its elegant designs and hope for something along those lines.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
63 Nature Art Nouveau inspired designs
The designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white, medium weight, slightly rough and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.
The designs stop well before the perforations and each of the designs has a framing line (with rounded corners) at the outer edge for a defined stopping point for coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers bleed through in spots and show colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through when I apply more than one layer of ink.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color lay down, layer the same color and multiple colors and to blend easily using a pencil style blender. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with similar results. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.
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.
Here are some sample photos from the book:
This is my third coloring book by Ted Menten and is the first one that shows his interpretation of the Art Nouveau movement. The 63 designs in this coloring book are primarily of stylized flowers and plants as well as the occasional bird and other insects and animals.
