Mythologica: Beasts to Color
By: Richard Merritt
Rating: 5 of 5
The initial line drawings are realistically portrayed but then the inside of the mythological creatures are many doodle style intricate elements. The designs are detailed and highly intricate with many small and hard to color details. It may not be the best book for those who have vision or fine motor skill issues.
The attached cover is beautifully illustrated with coloring and light touches of purple and blue metallic foil on the front artwork. The paper that is used for this book is a very good quality and would work well if you wish to frame your finished work.
Slight elements of the background design are already colored. While my personal preference would have been to have left these blank, I am okay with the small amount they have colored in this instance. The designs do merge into the binding and you will lose portions of some of the designs if you remove a page at the perforations but nothing essential to the integrity of the design.
This is what I found in coloring and testing in this book:
31 Mythological inspired designs which are very detailed and intricate to color
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is white, heavy weight slightly rough, has background elements slightly pre-colored and is perforated.
Sewn Binding
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring
Most designs merge past the perforations and into the binding area; however, these portions are not integral to the overall design.
Alcohol and Water based markers bleed through this paper to some extent (Tombow brush ends did best with only light spotting to the back of the page.)
India ink left shadows on the back of the page.
Gel pens did not bleed through and did not require extra drying time.
Coloring pencils worked well. Both oil and wax based pencils worked well for providing good pigment. I was able to layer the same color for deeper tones, layer multiple colors and to blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.
If you use a wet medium with this book, I suggest using a blotter page of card stock or several sheets of paper to keep ink from seeping through the ruining the pages below. You can also simply remove a page from the book before coloring as well.
Designs in this book include: Minotaur, European Dragon, Jackalope, Basilisk, Gorgon, Cockatrice, Yeti, Pegasus, Ogre, Kraken, Gnome, Hydra, Harpy, Qilin, Kitsune, Unicorn, White Stag, Sphinx, Goblin, Griffon, Faun, Phoenix, Chinese Dragon, Mermaid, Troll, Werewolf, Fairy, Manticore, Centaur, Sea Serpent and Cerberus.