30 Lovely designs in a slightly smaller than usual format for this artist – printed one side of the page

Fantasy Kingdom

By: Juliana Emerson

Rating: 5 of 5

I own several coloring books by Juliana Emerson and several more by other artists who publish under the imprint Happy Coloring.

I have always appreciated Ms. Emerson’s work and regard even more highly after buying this book. My other books are animals and holidays while this one focuses on fantasy. There are lovely female figures and fantasy animals as well as realistic animals depicted in full scenes.

The designs are detailed and, because of the smaller format (8.5 x 8.5 inches), are a little more intricate than usual.

Some of the lines around the faces and necks of the figures are a little more stark than I usually appreciated but I can tone those down as I color in the book. Apart from that nit, I really like this book.

I want to note that the Amazon owned company, CreateSpace is now being folded into KDF (Kindle Direct Publishing.) These independent artist books will move along into the new group shortly if they have not already done so by now. According to what I’ve read, the same warehouses and printing presses will be used. No mention is made of paper but one assumes that it will be the same as well.

I don’t know if the copy I received was printed by CreateSpace or by KDP, but I can say that it is the same paper I am used to receiving (for years now) from CreateSpace. That is: thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated. I will continue to check books as I receive them and will note, in new reviews, if the quality changes.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

30 Fantasy figure and animal designs in the book

Printed one side of the page

Paper is white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.

The designs do not merge into the binding. The designs have framing lines at the outer edges.

Glue Binding

KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing – formerly CreateSpace) 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 sample photos from the coloring book: