Wizard of Oz Coloring Book (Creative Haven)
By: Marty Noble
Rating: 5 of 5
I always look forward to a lovely new coloring book by Marty Noble. I’m also a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz in coloring book as well. That made this book an easy one to pre-order. I knew, without even seeing the book, that it would be one that I would enjoy.
The designs are in Ms. Noble’s signature style with lots of flowing elements and mandala pages. The portions of the story I most like are well covered in the book. This coloring book is not a storybook at all. It is designs which are inspired by the story. I like both formats but find that I actually prefer the storybook style I have seen by other artists.
I’ve noticed that the paper quality over the last few months seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed. I’ve found that coloring medium, including pencils, work similarly with both slightly rough and slightly smooth paper from Creative Haven. In this case, my coloring book pages are slightly rough.
This is what I found in this coloring book and how my coloring medium works with Creative Haven books.
31 Wizard of Oz inspired designs included in the book
The designs are printed on 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 do not cross over the perforations. There are framing lines at the outer edges of each design.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
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 Creative Haven paper. I am able to get good pigment (color) lay down, layer the same color and multiple colors and to blend easily using a pencil style blender. Both oil and wax-based pencils have 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:
I always look forward to a lovely new coloring book by Marty Noble. I’m also a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz in coloring book as well. That made this book an easy one to pre-order. I knew, without even seeing the book, that it would be one that I would enjoy. 
