62 Gnome inspired designs by Denyse Klette – printed one side of the page

Gnomes in the Neighborhood: An Artist’s Coloring Book

By: Denyse Klette

Rating: 4 of 5

I first came across Denyse Klette’s artwork in her funny and quirky quilt fabrics and panels. I enjoyed her artwork so much, I have purchased all three of her coloring books.

This is the first of the three that has a disappointing issue for me. Otherwise, the book is just as fun and wacky and cute as the two previous ones. The problem I have is the nose on the female gnomes. From the side, they are fine but full face-on, they resemble duck bills.

I’ve looked carefully and found that it is because their noses are portrayed quite large. Much larger than the males both in proportion to their faces and in actual size. The noses on the male gnomes are just fine.

I’m hoping that as I color, I can diminish the look of the duck face. Perhaps using the same color without any shading can lessen it. Too bad the artist didn’t give some consideration to this slight issue. I did notice that the cover image of the book only includes male gnomes so there was no way to see this before purchasing the book.

I still like the rest of the book and will enjoy coloring in it. It just won’t be one of my favorites and there will probably be pages I will pass on.

The designs are detailed and some are quite intricate with lots of tiny details to color. To color some of the tiny detail, I will need to use extra fine nib pens or extremely sharp pointed pencils. For most of the designs, my regular coloring medium will work well.

This is what I found in this coloring book

62 Gnome inspired Designs by Denyse Klette

Printed one side of the page

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

Glue Bound

Some designs merge into the binding area

I can get the book to lay fairly flat with some effort (it is a thick book); however, coloring into the binding area will take some maneuvering

Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly

Water-based markers and India ink pens leave shadows (some showing the color) on the back of the page

Gel pens do not bleed through but some larger nib pens required additional drying time. Be sure to check your specific gel pens so you don’t smear your work or close the book before it finishes drying.

Colored pencils did well with this paper. It has just enough tooth to grip pigment well. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils and they all performed well with multiple layers of the same color for deeper pigment, multiple layers of different colors, and blended easily with a blender stick.

I am using and suggest the use of a blotter page under your working page. I use card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper. This will keep seeping ink from getting to the pages below.

Here are some photos from the book: