Adult Coloring Books: Special Paris Edition – Featuring Popular Monuments From The Paris You Know And Love (Beautiful Adult Coloring Books) (Volume 1)
By: Zigzag Coloring
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a coloring book of fairly intricate mandalas. There are 42 designs in the book. The book not only celebrates the beautiful City of Lights but also serves as a remembrance for the city after the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015. The designs have medium to very small areas in which you can color. I suggest that this is a book for those who have a steady hand and good eyesight. I found that my Uni-ball Signo 0.38 and 0.28 worked well for the the tiniest of the areas of design and that my smaller markers (Staedler and Stabilo) worked well for the rest.
In some cases, the Parisian landmark is set in the middle of the mandala while in others, it is more interwoven into the form of the mandala as one of the repeating elements. I found that I like coloring both styles. There is a title at the bottom of each page that explains the subject of the design.
All of the designs stop well before the binding. The designs are printed on one side of thin white non-perforated paper that is typical for books published by CreateSpace. The binding is glued but there is plenty of room for you to cut a page out if you choose to do so.
All of my markers bleed through and my gel pens either bleed through or leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page. My coloring pencils work well with the paper. I will use a piece of chipboard or heavy paper behind the page I am working on so I don’t ruin the following page with leaking ink.
Cats: A Journey Through Time, Coloring for the Curious (Coloring Book)
By: Samantha Cole
Rating: 5 of 5
This is my third coloring book by artist and author, Samantha Cole. I’ve found her books to be fun to color as well as information to read this is an unusual combination in coloring books! It is a coloring book that has many different breeds of cats represented both large and small and wild and domesticated (look to the bottom of this review for a full listing.) The cats are beautiful line drawings that will give me a great opportunity to use my blending skills to give them my preferred color of fur. There are also representations of fictional cat groups (such as Cats of the Sky, Familiar Spirits, etc.)
Each design show the cat in a great setting that makes coloring each page more fun for me. The back of each design has information about the breed of cat represented and their history as well as a bit about their temperament. I like that the artist took advantage of the blank space on the back to give information I don’t mind if my inks leak through into this area as I will still be able to read it if I choose to do so.
The designs are printed on one side of a medium weight perforated paper. The back is printed with the breed/information mentioned above. The binding is glued rather than sewn, but not a problem as you can remove the page at the perforation. Most of the designs stop before the perforations. There are a couple that extend further but you won’t lose any essential design elements if you choose to remove those pages from the book.
All of my markers bleed through this paper to some degree. My gel pens leave a shadow of color on the backside of the page but don’t need any extra drying time. My coloring pencils do well on this paper and behave as expected for the type of lead (soft or hard.) As back of the page is blank, I will simply use chipboard (my favorite as I can reuse it many times), heavyweight paper or even a manilla folder under the page I am working on to keep ink from seeping through and ruining the rest of the book. You can also simply remove the page from the book to color but I still recommend using a blotter sheet below to keep the surface of your table clean.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
Here are the breeds represented in the book (from the Cat-alog):
Egyptian Mau, Ship Cats, Cats of the Sky, Turkish Van, Lion, Manx, Jaguar, Siamese, Cat Sith, Japanese Bobtail, Lynx, Abyssinian, Tiger, Norwegian Forest Cat, Panther, Persian, Snow Leopard, Chartreux, Familiar Spirits, Maine Coon, Cheshire Cat, Sphynx, Bombay, Scottish Fold, Merlion, Bengal, Snowshoe, Savannah, Singapura, and Cats of Rome.
I received a free copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.
This is a coloring book with various excerpts from the Psalms intertwined with lovely graphics that include butterflies and flowers. I am not sure which translations are used as the book does not explicitly state this information. The scriptures are printed in black with cites noted, too. The words are what you focus on when you are coloring, so the time spent coloring gives you time to meditate on the Word you have chosen that day. Some of the designs have intricate and small areas which may require small points on your coloring medium. I used Uni-ball Signo 0.38 gel pens and Prismacolor Verithins at a sharp point to color these areas.
The designs are printed on one side of the bright white paper. The book is glue bound, so cutting pictures out will be the way to go if you wish to remove them from the book. All of the designs stop well before the binding, so you should not have any loss of design if you do cut them out. That being said, almost all of the designs stop in the middle of coloring elements leaving them looking unfinished and making it difficult to color. I wish the publisher would put a thin framing line around the outer edge of the image as that would take care of this issue fairly easily.
All of my markers and gel pens bled through to the back of the page. My coloring pencils went on the paper well. I will put a page of chipboard or heavy weight paper below the page I am working on in order to protect the rest of the book from leaking ink.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
I was provided a free sample of this coloring book for test and review purposes.
This is a coloring book with designs of animals and plants (including many flowers.) Unlike Posh books from earlier years, this book focuses on a single artist, Zoe Ingram, instead of a single subject matter with multiple artists. The designs in the book are beautiful and will be a joy to color. There are all sorts of flowers and a few of the animals include: deer, rabbits, peacocks, an owl, and a swan. There are also some lovely mandalas included. The designs in this book are detailed and beautiful. While they will take some time to color, I don’t think that they will require anything special by way of coloring medium.
The pages are a heavyweight of bright white paper that is micro perforated. The designs are printed on one side of the page only and while most stop prior to the perforations, a few extend beyond it. The designs do not merge into the binding area; however, a number of design elements are cut off on the edges of the designs which leaves open-ended parts to the design.
The paper in this book is also acid-free which means that it will not turn colors with age and all the work you put into coloring the designs should be safe. The binding is glued rather than sewn. If you are willing to break the spine a bit, it can be pushed into lying flat to give you access to make coloring in this book if you prefer that over taking pages out.
My alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper. My water-based markers do not. My gel pens work fine and do not leave a shadow on the backside of the page. Coloring pencils work well and as expected according to their type (soft or hard core.) If you are using alcohol based markers or just for general safety, you can put an extra page of card stock or chipboard under the page you are working on to keep ink from leaking through.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
Gratitude Journal: Adult Coloring Book- Life is Beautiful: Find Happiness with Inspirational Quotes & Journal Prompts (Creative Therapy) (Volume 1)
By: Creative Therapy Adult Coloring Books
Rating: 5 of 5
Life is Beautiful stops just short of being a traditional coloring book. It is a hybrid of a coloring book and a journal. Because of that, it has only 20 pages of coloring designs and a good number of those are encouraging sayings without much coloring opportunity on them. For anyone who has this artist’s first book Magical Forest, this book is quite a departure and shows a different side of the artist’s skill.
I absolutely love a lot of the actual coloring designs. There is a lion’s face, a peacock, and an outstretched hand that I have already started. I usually only test my coloring medium on one designs but I was really drawn to these three and decided to test each one separately. The artist has even included a more literal drawing of a brain and a heart in two designs which is really different and unique for me to find in a coloring book.
All of the designs stop well before the binding. The designs are printed on one side of thin white non-perforated paper that is typical for books published by CreateSpace. The binding is glued but there is plenty of room for you to cut a page out if you choose to do so.
All of my markers bleed through and my gel pens either bleed through or leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page. My coloring pencils work well with the paper. I will use a piece of chipboard or heavy paper behind the page I am working on so I don’t ruin the following page with leaking ink.
While I could wish for thicker, perforated paper, it appears that this is the quality that comes from CreateSpace (which is an Amazon company.) What I really like about the CreateSpace is it is a way that independent artists can get their work self-published. That way, I get a huge choice of design styles albeit with not the best paper.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
I received a free copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.
This is the third and last book in the “Bogler” series by Catherine Jinks. I enjoyed both the first and second books just as well as this one and I recommend reading them in order to get the most out of the series. The book picks up shortly after the events of the second book in the series. The series concludes in a really interesting and satisfying manner and one that I was not expecting.
Follow Your Dreams Adult Coloring Book (31 stress-relieving designs) (Artists’ Coloring Books) (Studio: Artist’s Coloring Books)
By: Peter Pauper Press
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a coloring book with designs of animals and plants (including many flowers.) They are beautifully hand-drawn and will be a joy to color. There are all sorts of flowers and a few of the animals include: deer, rabbits, peacocks, an owl, and a swan. There are also some lovely mandalas included. The designs in this book are detailed and beautiful. While they will take some time to color, I don’t think that they will require anything special by way of coloring medium.
Some of the earlier Peter Pauper coloring books were by a variety of artists but this book focuses on only Flora Waycott’s work a change in focus that I am really enjoying. I have now purchased several coloring books from this publisher that focus on a single artist and have seen that there will be a few more in the coming year.
The pages are a heavyweight of bright white paper that is micro perforated. The designs are printed on one side of the page only and while most stop prior to the perforations, a few extend beyond it. The designs do not merge into the binding area; however, a number of design elements are cut off on the edges of the designs which leaves open-ended parts to the design. The paper is also acid-free which means that it will not turn colors with age and all the work you put into coloring the designs should be safe. Additionally, the glued binding can be pushed into lying flat to give you access to make coloring in this book if you prefer that over taking pages out.
The only markers that bleed through on this paper are my alcohol-based markers. None of my gel pens or water-based brush, fine, or ultra-fine markers bleed through. Coloring pencils work well and according to their type (hard or soft lead.) If you are using alcohol based markers or just for general safety, you can put an extra page of heavyweight paper under the page you are working on just in case some color leaches through. Be sure to check your particular markers/pens to see if there is any leaking for that brand.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
Zen Garden Adult Coloring Book (31 stress-relieving designs) (Artists’ Coloring Books)
By: Peter Pauper Press
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a really lovely book of hand-drawn garden designs with a definite Asian flair. There are swans, koi fish, flowers, bonsai, fish paper lanterns and much more. I really enjoy Asian style designs and this book is filled with pages that I will want to color. I love the hand-drawn look over a realistic look. It gives me leeway to color the way I would like things to look versus trying to make the images look realistic. The designs in this book are detailed and some are quite intricate. I don’t think that coloring will require extra tiny tips (like my Uni-ball Signo gel pens) but you will find that an ultra-fine tip might work best for some of the elements. I like to mix a variety of medium while I am coloring, so for me, this book will provide an opportunity to use most of my coloring tools.
Some of the earlier Peter Pauper coloring books were by a variety of artists but this book focuses on only Trina Dalziel’s work a change in focus that I am really enjoying. I have now purchased several coloring books from this publisher that focus on a single artist and have seen that there will be a few more in the coming year.
The pages are a heavyweight of bright white paper that is micro perforated. The designs are printed on one side of the page only and while most stop prior to the perforations, a few extend beyond it. The designs do not merge into the binding area; however, a number of design elements are cut off on the edges of the designs which leaves open-ended parts to the design. The paper is also acid-free which means that it will not turn colors with age and all the work you put into coloring the designs should be safe. Additionally, the glued binding can be pushed into lying flat to give you access to make coloring in this book if you prefer that over taking pages out.
The only markers that bleed through on this paper are my alcohol-based markers. None of my gel pens or water-based brush, fine, or ultra-fine markers bleed through. Coloring pencils work well and according to their type (hard or soft lead.) If you are using alcohol based markers or just for general safety, you can put an extra page of heavyweight paper under the page you are working on just in case some color leaches through. Be sure to check your particular markers/pens to see if there is any leaking for that brand.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
Posh Adult Coloring Book: Paisley Designs for Fun & Relaxation
By: Teresa Roberts Logan
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a very intricate and detailed coloring book of mostly Paisley style designs. Some of the designs do not include paisley elements but are very much in line with the rest of the artist’s style (Teresa Roberts Logan.) There are a few designs in the book that will require very small points on your coloring medium. I was able to work with these ares by using Prismacolor Verithins (hard core) with a very pointed tip and with my Uni-ball Signo 0.28 gel pens. Otherwise, the designs, while still intricate can be colored with other medium. I really suggest this book for someone with good eyesight and steady hands. It is perfect for someone who wants a real challenge and loves to work with small spaces. I enjoy all kinds of coloring projects, so this is a good one to round out my collection.
I own a couple of other books by Posh Coloring and it looks like they are (wisely, in my opinion) venturing into books based solely on a particular artist’s work rather than a subject matter. I love to get a great book with a variety of a single artist’s designs that way I know which book to grab when I am in the right mood.
The designs are printed on both sides of a medium weight non-perforated paper. The designs do not merge into the binding but they do spread across two pages. In these instances, there is a white space between the two pages at the binding. You can treat the two pages as single designs but the white space is a tad disrupting visually. On the other hand, you can reach all portions of the design as it stops short of the binding. The binding is glued rather than sewn. Cutting pages out can be problematic with the two-page spreads and takes some care otherwise as it is printed on both sides. I was able to break the spine enough to get the book to lay fairly flat.
All of my alcohol-based markers bled through the paper immediately. The water-based were rather mixed. My Tombow’s did not leak through when I used the brush end. My other water-based markers did not bleed through completely but you could definitely see a shadow of the color on the backside of the page. None of my gel pens leaked through and they did not require additional drying time. My coloring pencils worked great and behaved according to their lead type (hard/soft core). If I decide to use markers other than my Tombow’s, I will be giving up the design on the back of the page I am working on. I will probably buy a second copy of this book as I really want to color all of the designs. Given how much is included at the price, I really don’t mind the cost of a second book. Otherwise, I would stick to my coloring pencils and be fine with coloring on both sides of the page.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
"The Word in Color": Hardcover Biblical Inspiration Adult Coloring Book
By: Christian Art Publishers
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a really wonderful coloring book filled with many Christian-based designs. I also want to mention immediately that it is one of the better made coloring books that I have purchased but more about that later. The coloring book has 50 pages of designs and additional bookmarks, tags, and cards that you can color and cut out for your use.
What I love about the book is that almost every one of the designs is Christian-based. Many Christian coloring books only devote one third or so of the design pages to providing a Christian message. In this book, page after page is devoted to Bible quotes. The words are incorporated into the design and are part of what you will color. That will make it easy to meditate on the words while I am coloring. The verses are also cited so it is easy to look up and see the words in context.
The book is very well made. The cover is extremely strong hardboard. It is printed on one side only of heavyweight perforated paper. The binding is at the top and is spiral bound. The print quality is excellent and dark. I really appreciate this binding as you can flip to any page and have access to the entire design. The cover then becomes a portable desk which allows you to color easily when on-the-go. While I am not a lefty, spiral bound works fantastic for them as they don’t have to color over the hump of the binding. A few of the designs extend beyond the perforations, which is a little frustrating. I won’t remove these from the book as I will lose a bit of the design if I do. This could be easily solved in future additions to this series by sizing the design to fit below the perforations.
This is printed on great paper. All of my alcohol-based markers bled through but none of my water-based ones did. Gel pens worked fantastic as well and did not bleed through or leave shadows at the back. Coloring pencils worked nicely as well and behaved according to their type of lead (soft/hard core.) This publisher also published a book geared at a younger starting age (but I like it, too!) which has a grade of paper I wish they had used for their other books. That book (Inspirational Coloring Book for Girls) does not even allow for alcohol-based markers to bleed through. In any case, put a piece of card stock or chipboard or even heavyweight paper below the page you are working on and you will prevent ink from seeping through.
These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:
Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers
Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter
Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos
