31 Highly Stylized Insect designs – printed one side of the page

Incredible Insect Designs Coloring Book

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

The designs of insects in this coloring book are highly stylized. I see influences of both Art Deco and Art Nouveau within the book. As I enjoy both of these art genres, a coloring book of insects (which is not normally my cup of tea) has become a favorite of mine.

There are many types of “bugs” to enjoy, so if you have a favorite, it might just be included. The book hasn’t changed my opinion of the real deal versions of some of them though there are a number I live with because they do so much good in the garden (not grasshoppers who eat all my veggies!)

The designs have a fairly high level of detail with full backgrounds. They are not intricate or hard to color but can take some time to finish. I’ve included an image of one of my first coloring projects from my original copy of this book (several years ago.) I used just Sharpies on the project and had a fun time of it.

I’ve noticed that the paper quality 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 smooth. I purchased this book some time ago so a book today may be slightly different

This is what I found in this coloring book and how my coloring medium works with Creative Haven books.

31 stylized Insect 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 smooth 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 and have framing lines at all sides of the outer edge.

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 designs from the book, including a page I colored several years ago and some pages which are color samples: