iiiiReader Book Reviews

Tranquil Gardening

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 4 of 5

Tranquil Gardening is a coloring book with 24 various garden setting and/or flower designs. The designs are all licensed from Shutterstock. Many of the designs are ones that I have not seen before though I have several of them in other coloring books. A few of the designs seem to have been manipulated slightly in order to fit on the page as they seem longer or fatter than I would expect given the subject matter.

Otherwise, he printing is well done, the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page. If you like to color flowers and plants (with a few animals as well) and want a good inexpensive with a variety of artists work, this could be a good coloring book for you.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to do a a scene of a woman collecting flowers in her garden. For me, it had a real seventies vibe to it. I used a variety of Sharpies and Tombow markers to finish this design.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

24 garden/flower designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Tales of the Fantasy flight of the fairies (Adult Coloring Books) (Volume 2)

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a very pretty coloring book which includes 23 fairy designs (24 if you include the intro page.) There are a variety of styles, which makes sense as the designs are all licensed from Shutterstock. I’m very happy to see the attribution on the Look Inside on Amazon. It lets you know immediately that the designs are curated rather than drawn by the editor of the book.

For me, Mayo family has done a good job of curated these images as most are not familiar to me. The printing is well done, the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page. Most of the designs are detailed and some are quite intricately drawn.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to color a fairy playing tug-of-war with a bird. She is in a garden setting and they are tugging at a beautiful flower. I really enjoyed coloring this designs using a variety of Sharpies and Bic Mark-it alcohol-based markers.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

23 Fairy designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Percy Presents: Mystic Island: An Adult Colouring book with Original Hand Drawn Art by Narelle Craven

By: Ms Narelle Craven

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Narelle Craven. My understanding is that there are two others though at the time I write this review, only one of the two are available on Amazon.

The designs are all hand-drawn and feature the fantastic creatures that inhabit Mystic Island. Percy is a little penguin who finds his way onto each of the designs. He also appears on the backside of each of the pages.

The designs are well printed and are imaginative and inventive. I like that some of the girls and women in the coloring book are featured wearing glasses as many of us wear, too. The designs include fairies, dragons, unicorns, girls, animals and many types of flowers. I had a lot of fun coloring my first two designs with which I used a variety of markers.

Here is what I found in this coloring book:

38 Hand-drawn fantasy designs featuring Percy the penguin
Printed on one side of the page.
Paper is typical CreateSpace thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated.
Glue bound
Some designs merge into the binding area and parts of the design will be lost if you cut pages out.
Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I used a blotter page of card stock below my working page to keep ink from seeping through.
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work fairly well with this paper. Both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

The Fantasy Forest Adult Coloring book (Mayo Family Adult Coloring Books) (Volume 1)

By: Shawn Mayo

Rating: 4 of 5

The Fantasy Forest is an interesting set of licensed designs which feature fantasy forest animals and flowers and other plants.

The designs are all licensed from Shutterstock and the Mayo family has done a good job of curated these images as most are not familiar to me.

The printing is rather uneven in this coloring book. Most of the designs are well printed with black print; however, there a couple that are lighter shades of gray. What is nice is that the editors put a framing line around each of the designs for a natural stopping point, and the designs are generally well fit to the page.

For my first project in this coloring book, I chose to do a grouping mushrooms houses that make up a little city. There are several mushroom designs in the book but this one struck my fancy first. I used a variety of Bic Mark-it and Tombow markers to finish my design.

This is what I found in this coloring book:

23 fantasy Forest style designs designs (licensed from Shutterstock)
Page for checking colors, etc.
Designs printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated.
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page (I suggest you use a blotter page under your work.)
Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Coloring pencils work well good color, layer and blend well. Hard pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s Halloween Coloring Book Volume 4: Whimsical Witches, Ghosts, Pumpkins and Vampires (Lacy Sunshine’s Coloring Book)

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

Halloween is the fourth coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. This coloring book is different from the other three in that it includes a number of designs that are not big-eye girls. There is a ghost, a vampire, zoombies and even a mummy. There are still many of the other sweet characters from her three previous books, such as Eleanor and Pickles and Rory Sweet Urchin. They are all dressed up for a spooky Halloween.

I am always looking for fun Halloween designs and this book is certainly a great addition for me. I don’t have many of this style of book and certainly nothing for Halloween. I enjoy coloring these quick projects and look forward to coloring more in this book. I also hope to see more designs by this talented artist as well.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

30 Halloween designs from the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s “The Boo’s” Coloring Book Volume 3: Whimsical Big Eyed Girls and Fairies

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

The Boos is the third coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. In this book, there are 30 designs which of of a variety of different characters. Some are cute little fairies while others are sweet little girls (some even appear to be toddlers.) There are seasonal girls and even a Mary Had A Little Lamb girl.

What the characters all have in common is the sweet expressions and large eyes that are the signature of this artist. I really enjoy coloring this style of design it makes for a fun and quick project. I sometimes find that when I am working on something that takes days to finish, it makes sense to stop and do something fun that I can finalize in an hour or two.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

30 Big Eyed Girls and Fairies the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s Rory Sweet Urchin Coloring Book Volume 2: Fun Whimsical Big Eyed Art (Lacy Sunshine Rory Sweet Urchin)

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

Rory Sweet Urchin is the second coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. In this book, there are 30 designs which of Rory who is a little tomboy who loves to get into big mischief. She’s usually found wearing her patched coveralls and newsboy hat but she can dress up in costume and simply dress up from time to time.

Rory is always out playing something from riding her skateboard to playing baseball to going fishing. She likes the outdoors and being competitive. She is still a sweet little girl with enormous eyes as well.

I’m having fun with this style of design. I find them easy to color and finish in a very short time. I like to use my various markers with this style of design and then add pencils for shading depending on the design itself.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

30 Rory Sweet Urchin Tombow designs from the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound
Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

Lacy Sunshine’s Eleanor and Pickles Coloring Book: Whimsical Big Eyed Art Froggy Fun (Lacy Sunshine’s Coloring Books) (Volume 1)

By: Heather Valentin

Rating: 5 of 5

Eleanor and Pickles is the first coloring book by Heather Valentin for her Lacy Sunshine characters. In this book, there are 35 designs which show Eleanor a cute little girl with Huge glasses and her little pet frog, Pickles. The two of them get into all kinds of mischief which makes it so much fun to color the designs.

I’m partial to little girl design with great big eyes and Eleanor fits the bill exactly. That she is also wearing glasses appeals to me as I have worn glasses for most of my life.

The designs include all sorts of activities from getting ready for the holiday season to painting to even riding a dinosaur. In my world, Missie Eleanor can have any number of hair colors though I do believe she is a natural blonde.

This is what I found while testing and coloring this book:

35 Fun and Easy Designs of Eleanor and Pickles characters in the Lacy Sunshine line.

Printed on one side of page.

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

Glue Bound

Designs stop before the binding area

Alcohol and water-based bleed through the page. I suggest the use of a blotter page below your working page

Gel pens and India ink leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.

Coloring pencils work well both wax and oil based pencils put down good color, layer and blend well. Hard lead pencils dent the back of the page.

The Aviary: Bird Portraits to Color

By: Richard Merritt

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the second book by Claire Scully and Richard Merritt. The Aviary follows in the footsteps of The Menagerie. The new books is filled with designs of various birds. The initial line drawings are realistically portrayed but then the inside of the birds have elaborate details added for coloring. The blue jay on the cover is included in the book; however, the cover photo is a reversed image close up of the actual coloring design (which includes the body of the bird as well.)

As with The Menagerie, this coloring book that is designs for tremendous amounts of shadowing and blending as the details of the book are too small for much of that kind of work. It may also not be the best book for those who have vision or fine motor skill issues. For those who like intricate work, it is one of the two best coloring books I have come across as yet. I will include a full list of the birds in this coloring book in the comments section of the review.

The designs are printed on one side of a good weight, smooth, white perforated paper. The paper is a good enough quality for framing. The attached cover is beautifully illustrated with coloring and light touches of matte silver and royal blue metallic foil on the front artwork.

Slight elements of the background design are already colored. While I would have preferred they left that 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 the design if you remove a page at the perforations. Some of parts of a few birds could be lost You can remove the entire page by snipping threads but you will have the perforation line.

This is what I found in coloring and testing in this book:

Alcohol and Water based markers bleed through this paper to some extent (with Tombow brush ends faring the best with slight spots on the back side of the page.)
India ink pens 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. Good color and layering for both oil based and wax based pencils (hard and soft lead.) Hard lead did not dent through the page.
Blending was something I think worked not as well for oil-based pencils. This was not an issue for me as I am not planning on doing blending with these tiny elements.

Spellbinding Images: A Grayscale Fantasy Coloring Book: Beginner’s Edition (Volume 1)

By: Nikki Burnette

Rating: 5 of 5

When I recently experienced some difficulties in coloring grayscale in a coloring book that was printed quite dark, I was advised by many individuals to check out this book, Spellbinding Images Volume 1 for beginners to learn how to color with dark prints. While I still have issues with the other book, I am absolutely blown away by the designs in this book as well as the how-to tips provided by Artist Nikki Burnette.

Before getting this book, I was only using colored pencils in my grayscale. With Ms. Burnette’s suggestions, I have now been able to successfully use both alcohol and water-based markers in my grayscale projects. I’ve yet to try gel pens but that will be next. I not only used these hints with this book but also with several other grayscale coloring books I have purchased and I have been extremely pleased with my results. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning grayscale as the tutorial is so well-written.

Then there is the book itself. What a great set of designs and how well thought out this book was put together. In addition to the 20 designs being printed on one side of the page, Ms. Burnette has included thumbnail color samples of each design along with two additional thumbnails in which you can test your own colors and mediums. I used these thumbnails to become comfortable with markers and then with pencils over markers as well.

The artist also has a tutorial on her website which has proved invaluable as well. If all of this wasn’t enough, she has graciously provided permission to copy her designs onto other forms of paper if your coloring medium doesn’t work well on the paper in this book. The paper is a medium weight that has what she calls a satin sheen and to me, a glossy feel to it.

As I mentioned, the designs are printed on one side of the page. The page is non-perforated but can open flat very easily for coloring. The designs all stop well before the binding, so you won’t have to twist and tweak the page and book to color in it.
I’m so impressed by this book, I will certainly be purchasing the advanced version of this book (lighter scale coloring with more opportunities for blending, etc.) and will be looking forward to more grayscale books by this artist in the future.