Beautiful relaxation Volume 2: Coloring book for everyone
By: Danny Dimm
Rating: 5 of 5
This my second coloring book by artist Danny Dimm. In this book, he has increased the number of designs to 40, all of which are hand-drawn and which have a wide range of appeal, including animals, landscapes, flowers and much more. I loved the first book in this series and I think this one may be even better yet. The artist puts so many opportunities within the elements of the design for me to be able to experiment with colors that it is a real joy to start coloring.
The artist has put a double border around the designs. I really appreciate that extra touch as it allows me to finish elements that are only partially in the picture. That is important with this book as there are many lines throughout that end up stopping at the border and I like to save color and time by not having to color in the entire background page of a design.
The Miser’s Dream (An Eli Marks Mystery) (Volume 3)
By: John Gaspard
Rating: 5 of 5
In this book, Eli Marks is a magician who assists his uncle with the running of his magic store. He also lives in the apartment above the store which happens to be situated in a way that Eli can see into the projectionist’s booth at the movie theater next door and does so regularly to try to see what movie is being played. One evening, Eli is surprised to see what looks like a body and the story takes off from there.
Art of Coloring Star Wars: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation (Art Therapy)
By: Catherine Saunier-Talec
Rating: 5 of 5
Attached to this review will be a silent flip-through of the entire coloring book so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it will work for you.
Rather than discuss how this is like or different from the various movies other than to note that images have been used from all six episodes thus far, I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book.
The book is filled with portrait studies of various character and a lot of kaleidoscope style mandalas. The mandalas generally have a single repeating element from movies (robots, ships, weapons, etc.) What I found missing and would have liked would have been some stand-alone studies of the Death Star and the Millennium Falcon and other ships and vehicles. While I missed those, it doesn’t detract from the overall large selection of Star Wars designs to choose from. My favorite characters were all well represented and as I enjoy coloring mandalas, I will have a lot of fun with those, too. The designs range from simple and open (especially many of the mandalas) to complex with intricate design elements (character portraits, especially.) This presents a nice range for me to color depending on the mood I am in that day.
The book has a nice heavyweight cardboard cover (front and back) which makes for a great solid surface to color on. The designs are printed on both sides of the page and the paper is not perforated. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing it takes only a few snips with a small scissor on a few pages.
There are only four designs which span across two pages. The rest of the designs are all single page with lots of room around the edges so that nothing is lost in the binding. The four two page designs are wallpaper style of repeating patterns and each is dedicated to a single subject: Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO, Boba Fett, and finally, various ships in the midst of a battle. I think these are really cool designs though they don’t line up very well in my particular book. When there are too many of these two-page designs with too much loss of image, I detract a point from my rating. That is not the case with this book there are so few that it is really insignificant.
All of my markers bleed-through on this paper thought my Staedler triplus fineliners fared the best with more of a shadow image on the back of the page. I could still identify the color, so it merely bled less than the others. My gel pens worked fine and my coloring pencils worked fantastic very smooth and creamy on this paper.
Art of Coloring Disney Frozen: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation (Art Therapy)
By: Catherine Saunier-Talec
Rating: 5 of 5
Attached to this review will be a silent flip-through of the entire coloring book so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it will work for you.
Rather than discuss how this is like or different from the movie, I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book.
This is a really lovely book of the Frozen characters. Most prominent are Elsa and Anna of the characters portrayed, though Olaf makes his appearance pretty often, too. There are also lots of snowflakes which makes it perfect for me as we head into the winter season. The book contains a number of silhouette designs. I’ve had a weakness for those since the iconic Barbie silhouette of the past, so I will really enjoy coloring those. There are just so many designs in this book, I can have fun playing with color on the repeating patterns and then be a little more serious in coloring the character studies.
The book has a nice heavyweight cardboard cover (front and back) which makes for a great solid surface to color on. The designs are printed on both sides of the page and the paper is not perforated. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing it takes only a few snips with a small scissor on a few pages.
There are 25 designs which span across 2 pages. All but 2 of these are wallpaper designs of repeating images or mirror imagine mandala-type designs. The other 2 (mirror imagine silhouette Elsa and a picture of Else and Anna with snowflakes around)do not line up well in my book and have some design lost in the binding but they are easily treated as four single-sided designs, so that is how I will color them. There are an additional 73 designs which are 1 page designs. Of those, 39 are repeating wallpaper pattern designs. There are a number of designs which are pretty but I cannot figure out how they relate to the Frozen characters. Many of the wallpaper style designs have elements that are easy to relate, so it should be a lot of fun to color them.
All of my markers bleed-through on this paper thought my Staedler triplus fineliners fared the best with more of a shadow image on the back of the page. I could still identify the color, so it merely bled less than the others. My gel pens worked fine and my coloring pencils worked fantastic very smooth and creamy on this paper.
Art of Coloring Disney Princess: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation (Art Therapy)
By: Catherine Saunier-Talec
Rating: 5 of 5
Rather than discuss how this is like or different from the various movie, I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book.
This is the perfect book for Disney fans who love the princesses. I grew up with the movies on the big screen and have watched them on television with both my children and grandchildren. It is wonderful to have the experience of an adult coloring book filled with iconic images that are so familiar. While the book has a few issues (which I will detail below), I am still very pleased with it overall and look forward to more from Disney in the future. There are many heroines in the book and I was able to find my favorites in a number off designs.
The book has a nice heavyweight cardboard cover (front and back) which makes for a great solid surface to color on. The designs are printed on both sides of the page and the paper is not perforated. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing it takes only a few snips with a small scissor on a few pages.
Zendoodle Coloring Presents Keep Merry and Color On
By: Meredith Mennitt
Rating: 4 of 5
This is a large collection of designs which have been curated by St. Martin’s Griffin (Meredith Mennitt.) It looks to be a variety of designs which have been licensed for use in this book and have a number of contributing artists some of which may have hand drawn their designs while others used computer programs to generate the designs. I am guessing this to be the case as there is not an artist or illustrator attribution on the book and the author listed on Amazon is an associate editor at St. Martin’s Griffin. If I am wrong, I wish that the artist attribution had been made in the book.
The designs are, for the most part, quite simple but still a good coloring experience for most adult colorists. There are some very simple designs that might be more appropriate for children but as it is a large book of 75 designs, sharing with the kids might work out great.
The designs are printed on one side of white medium weight perforated paper. The binding is glued rather than sewn and the designs stop well short of the perforated edge.
To some degree, all of my markers bled through or left shadows on the back of the pages (the best were the Staedler triplus fineliners.) My gel pens left a shadow on the back of the page, too. My coloring pencils went on easily and creamy. As the book is printed on one side only, it is simple to put a heavy weight piece of paper under the page you are working on to keep ink from getting through and damaging the page underneath. Or you can simply and easily remove the page as it is perforated.
I like the book for someone who wants fun and fast holiday coloring projects. It is a large book, so it should last through the season.
This is a beautiful and well made coloring book of 22 designs by Alphonse Mucha as interpreted by Susan Koop. This is my fourth coloring book from Pomegranate and their quality is very good. I have been enjoying coloring in the other books and I am sure to enjoy this one, too. I really appreciate that Pomegranate includes a color snapshot of the original art piece with all of their coloring books I have bought so far.
The designs are well printed with clear lines. The lines differ in intensity and size depending on the placement in the design. It gives them a feeling of almost three dimensions and should make coloring quite fun.
I purchased this book and the one by Creative Haven at the same time. While they share some of the basic designs, the rendering is quite different. Also, this book has 22 designs on a higher quality paper (though non-perforated) while Creative Haven has 31. I like each for different reasons and will be really happy to be able to color the designs of one of my favorite artists.
The pages are a good quality paper, however, they are not perforated but the binding is a couple of staples which are easily removed if you choose to do so. The designs are printed on only one side of the paper with the back left blank. All of my markers leaked through to some degree. None of my gel pens leaked through. If I decide to use markers, I will put a piece of paper under the page I am working on to preserve the rest of the book. I will only take it apart if I choose to frame some of the artwork.
Alponse Mucha is one of my favorite artists. I have been cross stitching a few of these designs over the years but my recent purchase of these coloring books will be the first time I have an opportunity to spend time coloring the designs. I am really looking forward to it!
Creative Haven Art Nouveau Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)
By: Alphonse Marie Mucha Jr.
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a book of gorgeous designs by Alphonse Mucha which have been rendered into coloring book form by Ed Sibbett, Jr. The book includes many of my most favorite Mucha designs and it will be a real joy to color them.
While this is the first time Creative Haven has published this work in their colorist friendly format, Dover has previously published this book as Art Nouveau Figurative Designs which is now out of print. That book contained six additional designs which are not include in this book. As the standard format for Creative Haven is 31 designs, that may be why there are less.
I purchased this book and the one by Pomegranate at the same time. While they share some of the basic designs, the rendering is quite different. Also, Creative Haven has 31 designs while Pomegranate has 22. I like each for different reasons and will be really happy to be able to color the designs of one of my favorite artists.
All of my gel pens and markers bleed through on Creative Haven books to varying degrees. I use chip board, cardstock, or even freezer paper in between the sheets (if I am keeping it in the book) or under the page if I remove it from the book.
There are 31 designs in this coloring book which are printed on bright white perforated paper that is a fairly heavy stock. The designs are printed on one side of the page only and the binding is glued rather than sewn. I usually like to remove my projects from the books to work on and I love that Creative Haven always makes it easy for me to do so.
Happy Coloring : Lovely Cats – Coloring Book for Adults
By: Happy Coloring
Rating: 5 of 5
I am a real fan of cat coloring books. This is an excellent assortment of cute and lovely cat designs with a really great level of detail both on the cats and on their surroundings. The cats are portrayed realistically by artist Amanda Neel rather than in comic style. The designs are all very cute but I am drawn immediately to the cat with the coloring pencils (I wonder why?) The artist has put a frame around each design, which I really appreciate. It gives me a proper stopping point while I am coloring.
The designs are printed on thin white non-perforated paper which is typical of CreateSpace publications. The paper is medium weight and all markers and gel pens bleed through. Not a problem I am now using a piece of chipboard under my work to keep ink from leaking through to ruin the design below. You can use heavyweight paper or card stock but be sure to check to see how many layers you need to keep it from leaking through. The binding of this book is glued rather than sewn or stapled. There is plenty of room to cut the page out if you wish.
I’m not sure if my book is unusual or not but it seems that the title page has been put at the end of the book rather than at the beginning. I think it may have been an error in printing but it doesn’t detract from my ability to color the pages.
Attached to this review will be a silent flip-through of the entire coloring book so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it will work for you.
Rather than discuss how this is like or different from the books and/or movie series except to note that the iconic images seem to be taken primarily from the movie, I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book.
The book is illustrated by a variety of artists and it shows. Some of the designs are simply drawn and some are complex, a few with small intricate details that may be difficult to color. I am really glad that they did not over draw the faces with too much detail as I will be able to add my own blending (this was a problem with the recent Sherlock coloring book.) Some of the designs are quite heavy on black spaces something I would have preferred to put in myself. Otherwise, the designs are well done artistically. They have included glossy pages at the end of the book perhaps so we can know what colors are to be used or simply as a fun addition to the book.
The book is printed on both sides of off-white heavyweight and non-perforated paper. A good number of the designs are printed across two pages and merge into the bind (which is glued rather than sewn.) I did a count and this is what I came up with: 40 one page designs, 4 of which are wallpaper repeating patterns; 19 designs spread across two pages 5 of which are wallpaper style designs. Unfortunately, a good many of the iconic scenes were in the ones that were spread across two sheets. I was able to bend the binding enough to get the book to lay flat and found that the pages lines up very well and I didn’t lose any of the picture into the binding itself.
What was weird for me is the smell of the book. I can only think that it is the ink and/or the paper but I had several individuals smell it and we all said it was reminiscent of mildew. I’ve bought inexpensive paperback books in the past with the same odor and I have never been able to figure out what it is. It is not mildew but it kind of smells like it. The smell is present inside and also on the cover. If you are sensitive to scent, you may want to take this into consideration.
I tested my coloring tools: all markers bleed through though Staedler triplus fineliners merely left a shadow of color rather than full ink but you could tell what the color was from the back of the page. Gel pens did not leak through but again, there was a very light shadow. The paper did well with various coloring pencils.
In the end, the fact that ink could leak through and the pages were printed doubled sided was enough for me to take away a point. It forces me into coloring pencils of losing part of the book. I wish the book had perforated paper but I don’t detract for that. The odor well, that may be only a few books, so again, I won’t take away for that but do check to see if yours has a similar smell.
