Winter Village
By: Julia Rivers
Rating: 4.5 of 5
This is the fourth book in the Serene Village series. I’ve reviewed three so far, including this one. I skipped ahead as this one is Christmas related (though you might not think so from the title.)
Many of the designs have winter fun in mind but there a good number that also focus on Christmas. I like Christmas books but wish it were more clear that that was what you could expect in this book. For some people, it makes a big difference.
I like the books in this series but, unlike other such series, this one is done by different artists. While in theory, I don’t have an issue with this, in practice it feels more like the publisher is trying to cash in a bit by releasing lots of books quickly.
This particular book does not have an artist attribution, which is more unusual for the Julia Rivers imprint than for other publishers. The style is very different from the last book I reviewed but it is cute and should be fun to color.
There are some areas with smaller than average elements to color but not what I would consider too difficult or hard to color.
This is what I found in this coloring book:
32 winter and Christmas inspired designs
Printed one side of the page
Paper is white (with black printed pages on the back), thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
The designs do not merge into the binding and have a framing line at their 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.
Even though the pages are black on the back, medium still bleeds through. I recommend the use of a blotter card when working on this 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 design pages from the book:
This is the fourth book in the Serene Village series. I’ve reviewed three so far, including this one. I skipped ahead as this one is Christmas related (though you might not think so from the title.)
