When I think of relaxation, as far as coloring goes, I like at least somewhat recognizable designs, that have larger shapes for the most part. Being an artist and designer, I decided to design a coloring book that I would like.
I chose autumn as the theme; therefore, I could choose a variety of designs that could cover a variety of things that represented autumn. I could have autumn leaves, Halloween, apple pie, and more; all in the same book.
Yes, I do like the themed designs. I chose to make the coloring pages single sided, so each coloring page could come out cleaner. There would be little to no bleed through should the coloring artists choose markers.
Provided in the back of the book are pages to test out various coloring mediums. Below is an image of the different mediums that I checked out. I used mediums that I had on hand, to give you an idea of how well they and the paper performs.
Results of testing of mediums:
Bleed through:
There wasn't any bleed through from any of the colored pencils that I used.
There was bleed through from both types of markers that I used. The bleed through showed on the back of the page I colored on, but did not show up on the next consecutive page. Heavier pressure and or different brands could render different results.
There was some bleed through of the Prismacolor water-soluble colored pencils, once I added water to the color that I had already applied on the page.
There wasn't any bleed through from the watercolors that I premixed with water and paint on the brush, with very little water.
Pressure lines:
Pressure lines showed up through the back side of the page when I used the PaperMate Ink Joy Gel Pen. It was a size 0.7. The pressure lines also went through to the next page.
Pressure lines also showed up on the back side of the page when I used the Office Depot Gel Pen, but they weren't as noticeable as the pressure lines from the PaperMate gel pen.
On with the review:
Each design page has a dark gray border around the perimeter of the drawing, should anyone want to frame and or hang individual pages. The frame type border also provides a nice finished edge.
The paper has a good weight to it. It has a smoothness to it that is not overly smooth; it is not type writer paper. It has a bit of texture to it, as to grab and hold the color from colored pencils, etc.
My recommendations:
If you or you know someone who likes coloring larger images and or autumn themed coloring books, then I recommend this book.
If you prefer using gel pens in your coloring book, and you like this book, then I recommend placing a sheet of thin smooth cardboard under the page that you are coloring and or outlining with gel pens.
My preferred coloring medium for this project is the Koh-I-Noor Polycolor Coloured Pencils. I used the twelve pack, but would very much like to have the 24 pack, as they have a variety of landscape colors which would be great for coloring leaves and such.
This coloring book is ready for purchase on Amazon.
You can find more coloring books by Cheryl Paton on this blog: Coloring Books by Cheryl Paton.
Cheryl Paton
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