Dreamlings: A magical coloring book
By: Edwina Mc Namee
Rating: 5 of 5
I own one or two other coloring books by Edwina McNamee. Her designs are generally cute and have an overarching theme, though she does have some coloring books which are in the “sweary” theme. As a matter of personal preference, I don’t buy or color that style. In this case of this book, she has created a land of cute little animals and creatures called Dreamlings.
You will find both “real” style animals as well as mythical ones. They seems to live in this wonderful forest which has trees and plants and flowers and lots and lots of mushrooms. I am much taken with a design of fairies which have mushroom caps on their heads! I was so taken with this book, I have now bought the second in the series as well.
The designs are detailed but not overly so. They will make for a nice time spent coloring. The designs are not intricate nor difficult to color and do not need speciality pens, pencils in order to do so.
The designs are printed twice – once with black lines on white paper and the second time as white designs printed on black paper. The change in the paper tone gives each design a very different look which I personally appreciate.
This is what I found in this coloring book:
28 unique fantasy style Designs with two copies of each design, one on white paper and the other on black paper.
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality by CreateSpace printing: white or black depending on which design page, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding. On the white pages, each of the designs has framing lines. On the black pages, the motifs are all finished within the black background.
Glue Binding
Create Space Paper/Media Quality
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 fairly well with this publisher’s paper provided you don’t press extremely hard while coloring. I find that I can layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and blended easily with a pencil style blending stick. This is true of both oil and wax based pencils. I have also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in this type of 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 samples from the coloring book:
I own one or two other coloring books by Edwina McNamee. Her designs are generally cute and have an overarching theme, though she does have some coloring books which are in the “sweary” theme. As a matter of personal preference, I don’t buy or color that style. In this case of this book, she has created a land of cute little animals and creatures called Dreamlings. 
