Magnificent Mosaics: Stained Glass Coloring Book

I'm going to stop pretending that eventually I'll stop reviewing coloring books. A while back, I think it was reasonable to assume that I could stop reviewing coloring books because I generally don't buy them! This, however, was a special circumstance!— it was on sale, and I'd never seen a stained glass coloring book before!

So what's so cool about it?
This book is all intricate mosaic patterns on transparent coloring paper that allows light to filter through it, mimicking stained glass. There are fifteen images included in Magnificent Mosaics: Stained Glass Coloring Book, and the pages are perforated so that you can stick your finished artwork on your windows and enjoy the pretty colors!

If you are as hopelessly addicted to coloring books as I am, you've likely noticed that most adult coloring books have faith that you will:

1. Finish coloring an entire image or five before you die.
2. Color it well enough to want to frame it.
3. Frame it.

I don't know about you guys, but for all the coloring books I now own— more than one, but fewer than all of them— I've yet to completely finish coloring even a single image. Furthermore, even if I did finish an image, I don't know that I would like my work well enough to consider framing it. So while I appreciate that books have that level of confidence in me, framing will probably never happen. Meanwhile, Magnificent Mosaics: Stained Glass Coloring Book says: "Stick this in your window! Enjoy the light show!" And I can completely get behind that! So I think I have a better chance at actually finishing some of these images, since all they require of me when I'm done is a window and some tape.

Find me on Amazon!

If there is one thing that I am not entirely pleased with in regards to this book, it is that there are only fifteen images. For a $7.99 coloring book, I would have liked to get more images. Of course, if this were a normal coloring book and not a stained glass coloring book, I probably would have. So keep that in mind: what you lose in images to color, you gain in a different kind of paper and a different coloring experience. If you're not a fan of stained glass, but you like mosaics, I encourage you to try Magnificent Mosaics instead! This older coloring book is less expensive than its newer, stained glass version and contains 30 images for you to zen out with. The stained glass coloring book actually consists of excerpts from this older Magnificent Mosaics, but on that transparent paper. Or get both of them! Either way, I recommend them: I liked the artwork, the transparent paper is fun, and if you never finish an image you will still have fun trying.

Celtic Spirit Coloring Book

You have to ask yourself just one question before you decide to get this book. Do you like intricate, Celtic knotwork? Well, do you? I know I don't! (Or at least, I don't care about it.) But I knew that going in, and I'm certainly not holding it against Celtic Spirit Coloring Book that knotwork just isn't my thing. That being said, if it's your thing, then congratulations: I found you a cool coloring book!

Maybe, like me, knotwork isn't really your thing either. That's okay. There are still some neat things for you in Celtic Spirit. There are 78 intricate images in this book, including some that are two-page spreads. Each image is a labyrinth for your colored pencils to get lost in. At times, I've found the images overwhelming! I have a tendency to try shading every little thing in the images I color. Almost nothing gets a flat color in my coloring books. But with this, I find it difficult to imagine coloring it any other way. How could I possibly keep up with my color scheme unless I pick my way from one end of the knot through its many loops, swirls, and tucks until I've completed it through to the other side? Again: not really my thing— but I can see how that could appeal to some people. If you're willing to get lost in that maze, I can see how this might be meditative for you. My favorite images have a nice balance between tiny, tight knots and the bigger, looser knots. These happen to include some excellent animal imagery, including dragons. (I know, what a shock: I like dragons! GASP!)

Finally, let me tell you about the paper itself: looks standard. The pages are thick enough that I think they may hold up to markers, but not to too many passes. Unfortunately, I can't test it, since this is a gift for someone. I'd stick to my colored pencils for it if this were my copy. The introduction also suggests that if you're particularly pleased with your work, you can frame and display it— or even gift it to someone! Of course, you could do this with any of the pages you color in any coloring books, but other books make it easy to do. This one does not. The pages are double-sided, and they are not perforated. Get ready for some book surgery if you decide to excise any of the images.

Overall, I would say Celtic Spirit is a decent coloring book, and you have better than even odds of liking it. Enjoy!

Johanna's Christmas: A Festive Coloring Book

You didn't think I was done with coloring books for the year, did you? Before the year is out— and while it is still somewhat relevant— I wanted to share Johanna Basford's newest coloring book with you: Johanna's Christmas. Unlike A Christmas Carol coloring book, this one is definitely more my speed. The focus in this one is more on festive imagery: wreaths, ornaments, candy canes and gingerbread houses, deer, wrapped gifts, and tons of other stuff. There are beautiful trees to color, wreaths made of ornaments and tiny deer, and even a sleigh full of presents!

If you've read my reviews on other Johanna Basford coloring books, you are probably not surprised that I'm a fan of this. The artwork is still fantastically fun to color. If you've liked any of her other books and you like Christmas, you will like this book. A couple of other things to keep in mind about Johanna's Christmas are: the pages are single-sided— sort of. Behind every major image there is a grayed-out wallpaper image. Could you color? Absolutely. Would I count it as an actual image? No. These include wallpapers of ornaments, vines of holly, and presents. That's about it. The pages themselves are also pretty thick, and so I would consider this a perfect opportunity to go crazy with your markers. And if you're one of those people who agonizes over what colors you'll use with a given image, fear not! There is even a blank page in back specifically designated as your "color palette test page."

Overall, if you got this in your stocking this year: Congratulations! If not, go order it. It's worth it!

A Christmas Carol (The Coloring Book)

Oh damn! Christmas is over, and now I show up with something holiday themed? I just can't seem to get my act together this year... Sorry guys!

Actually... HA!— joke's on you, because I'm Puerto Rican! And to us, Christmas lasts through the first week of January and then some! So prepare yourselves for: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Coloring Classic.

First things first: I realize I've reviewed many coloring books this past year. With so many available and being marketed to adults, my childhood passion for hoarding these was rekindled. As a kid, I had tons of coloring books, but I rarely colored. Instead, I copied the pages and used them as references. I was terrified of messing up the artwork. As an adult, I have so many hobbies that I rarely have time to actually color the artwork. Let's face it, there are plenty of other things that need to get done— like the laundry. Sometimes, I consider coloring and end up drawing and painting instead. But I still love these books, so my hoard continues to grow.

Most recently, I acquired A Christmas Carol: A Coloring Classic from a friend who is not a fan of it and wanted to re-gift it. I feel a little bad for this book because it seems to me that it would have a pretty small, potential fan-base. Really, who thought this was a good idea? In order to enjoy this book to the fullest, I imagine you have to be a fan of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, coloring books, and coloring in people. I have a preference for coloring animals, patterns, and anime characters, so this doesn't totally suit my tastes.

However, the illustrations are done well and detailed. The pages are double-sided, but fairly thick. You can probably get away with using markers, assuming you don't color over the same spot repeatedly. I think colored pencils would be a better option, though, to be safe. Surprisingly, what this book contains the most of are pictures of people— generally in the form of scenes from the story with accompanying quotes— and images of food. Prepare to be hungry after coloring this in. Also, while it does contain some abstract-ish images (food floating in space, for example), there are no repetitious "wallpaper" pattern images. Overall, I think it's a good variety of images to keep your interest. Assuming, of course, that you're interested in coloring A Christmas Carol.

I think what might draw people to this book initially is the beautiful cover: a profusion of flowers, holly, bells, and candles on a red foil background— and Scrooge on the top left corner. Honestly, the cover has caught my attention on more than one occasion in stores. But then I see A Christmas Carol and move on with nary more than a "meh" towards it. Ultimately, not my kind of coloring book. But if you're really into A Christmas Carol, coloring, and great artwork, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

Art of Coloring Disney Villains

How do you like your Disney villains? Do you like them devious? Cunning? How about hipster-y, self-centered, and covered in patterns? Then have I got a treat for you!

I see you found a Disney coloring book more suited to your tastes.
Yes, though I only had a chance to flip through it. Art of Coloring Disney Villains is a little thank-you gift I bought for one of my friends. It's weird at times, but thankfully still entertaining. Unlike in the Disney Princess coloring book, the characters in Disney Villains are allowed to express a wide range of emotions while reenacting scenes from their movies or otherwise posing with new, "updated" material. Probably one of the funniest examples of this are the several images of Gaston from Beauty & the Beast as he takes an endless stream of selfies on a smart phone. Yeah. Wrap your head around that one. You'll see it makes complete sense— if he had a smart phone. One of the repeating "wallpaper" images is multiple villain faces wearing hipster glasses. Weird? Yes. Entertaining? YES.

The book is split into several different sections: animal kingdom, strictly human, and witches/creatures. As an unexpected bonus, most of the villains in the book also have a small, card-size portrait with information regarding: their movie, when it was released, and who voiced them. As with Art of Coloring Disney Princesses, this book is also that strange kind of hard cover (where it's a soft cover book with cardboard on the front and back). I still don't get it, but since the images were so much more fun for the villains, I really didn't mind so much. My favorite thing about this book, though, is that each of the villains has at least one image that include the movie's heroes as well. In each of these, the villain looks (appropriately) menacing— or looms over— the heroes/heroines; especially Izma from Emperor's New Groove. So what if they drew her with a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth? She's still a badass!

If you're interested in purely classic villains doing only what they do in their movies, I recommend you move along now. As previously mentioned, they took some liberties with these characters. However, since they are still "in character" for the most part, I forgave the artists and would be happy to have this book for my very own. I recommend you get one for yourself as well!

Art of Coloring Disney Princess: 100 Images to Lull You into a Catatonic State

This book was not made for me. When I see the title Art of Coloring Disney Princesses, certain expectations and standards come to mind. I expect a certain amount of froufrou nonsense and hoity-toityness featuring a pack of damsels in distress. Then I remind myself that "Disney Princess" refers to more than the classic damsels like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. My hopes rise, knowing that bad-asses like Mulan and Merida might be present. Let's not forget that Jasmine, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Belle are also intelligent, quirky, and brave. So I bought this Disney Princess coloring book with the expectation of seeing a variety of "princesses" doing and being more than decorative damsels in distress. Further, I expected the artwork would meet the high Disney Standards: interesting, dynamic, and beautiful. What I got amounts to little more than a Barbie-like coloring book with some characters standing or sitting around, looking pretty, with vacuous smiles plastered on their faces.

How do you know they're vacuous?
Because their eyes are glazed and unfocused, and they're staring at nothing in particular! The whole book is generic, discount, knock-off Disney at best! I find it insulting— to me as much as to these princesses— that they should take some genuinely interesting characters and have them only stand or sit, and smile at the camera. These ladies have better things to do! Tiana has work to do. Mulan has villains to outwit! For fucks' sake, Belle has a giant library to read, and Aurora could be taking a nap, and these artists interrupt their busy ass schedule to have them stand against a backdrop and smile?! Or they got a Disney Princess stunt double to sit/stand against a backdrop with infrequent wig and wardrobe changes.

You got a problem with looking pretty and having a rich husband?
Not at all! If you're pretty, have a rich husband, and that makes you happy? Good on you! I simply find it dull. My high school yearbooks were more interesting than that! Which leads me to my biggest problem with this book: It is mundane, uninspired, and mediocre. You're more likely to be lulled into a catatonic state while coloring these pages than be creatively inspired. But prepare yourself. There's a kicker. ... Are you prepared?

You're the Diet Coke of Disney. Just one calorie: not Disney enough.

I think so...
Of the approximately 120 pages to color, 98 are dedicated to generic, repeating wallpapers. I know. I counted. For the purposes of this math, I want you to understand that if the image was a mandala with a princess silhouette or a repeating pattern, I counted it as "wallpaper." Therefore, not really a princess. Just patterns. There were only 23 images of princesses (with vapid smile facial details), and even some of those pages were more patterns than princess.

Overall, I found this book terribly disappointing and misleading. It is monotonous at best, and I don't recommend it at all. In addition to all the problems with content, the book itself is odd in that it is a hardcover coloring book—

That's kinda cool!
—but the covers are actually just cardboard pieces stuck on the outside of a soft-cover book. It makes little sense, and it looks weird. It doesn't really bother me. I'm just annoyed at the book in general. But that does bring me back to my first point: This book wasn't made for me. I gave it to my friend, and he loved it. Know your audience, I guess. I bet my audience loves narwhals.

A is for Adventure: Part Coloring Book, Monster Manual, Campaign Guide. ALL Fun

The other day, I went on a little shopping spree for my friends. I am not allowing myself to spend much on myself lately, but I wanted to get a few little thank you gifts for my D&D group so... I bought coloring books. Of the three that I bought, my absolute favorite is A is for Adventure, by Scott Aleric. I want this book for myself and I want it now.

So the artwork is good?

Yes, but that's not all. This book is fantastic! I appreciate Aleric's style and the attention to detail. All the monsters are displayed in dynamic poses— typically in the process of mauling some foolish adventurer. The illustrations are worked in ink with full backgrounds and— Okay, you may find this a little bit strange, but...

I've read your other reviews. How could this be any stranger?

—what really does it for me is the hatch and cross-hatch shading. I love the texture it creates on the page. It's something that I just don't see all that much anymore, especially as more artists do digital art. And I haven't even told you about my absolute favorite part!

There's more?!

Yes! Included with each letter/monster is a mini campaign scenario featuring the monster, a small map, and even some plot twists to kick things up a notch. What I particularly love about these adventures is that they act almost as adventure-Legos: you could play with them on their own, put them together, or drop it in to your bigger campaign set. Tweak the scenarios to taste! Overall, I highly recommend this book! You'll like it too if you're into: 

1. Coloring! The pages are thin, but single-sided. No worries about markers bleeding through to the next page.
2. Role-playing! Mini campaigns need little customization if you're a lazy dungeon master or you just want to sample playing with friends.
3. Monster art! Most of the illustrations look like the monsters are winning. That's typically a plus in my book!

Have fun!

Pop Manga Coloring Book: Made of Manga & WIN

Holy crapsicles, Batman! Another coloring book!

You guys, I'm so excited! My copy of Pop Manga Coloring Book arrived and I'm thrilled beyond belief! At first I wanted it because it was another coloring book, but now that I've had a chance to experience the artwork— I'm in love. Not bad for having picked this up for free from Blogging For Books (in exchange for an honest and fair review, of course). This is officially my new favorite coloring book! Camilla d'Errico perfectly summarizes the book in her title caption: "A surreal journey through a cute, curious, bizarre, and beautiful world."

So half of this review is done for you!
Not necessarily— I do have other things to say about it! Pop Manga Coloring Book includes a mix of clean-line, inked images and other sketchier, "fancy pencil drawings" images. d'Errico also supplies a little color buddy/blob throughout the book named Ayako to provide commentary and moral support. Mostly it says fun, silly reminders about how you're allowed to color outside of the lines if you want, and that you can use any coloring implement you'd like to color in this book. I think Camilla d'Errico understands that sometimes, when an image is beautiful, people might get anxious about coloring it in and "messing it up." She even goes so far as to say that you're allowed to photocopy the pages and practice beforehand if that's you're kind of thing. I know people who do that, but this is the first time I've seen an artist actually suggest it. All the pages are double-sided, and thick enough that markers might not bleed through to the other side; I haven't been able to test that out yet, though.

The surrealism also varies widely, ranging from an image that looks like a melting blob of would-be colors with a face to illustrations from potential comics, stories, or fairy tales. I say "potential stories" because I don't think they are pulled from any coherent manga, but my imagination certainly supplied a few story ideas for the illustrations. Speaking of "manga," it should be fairly obvious that if you're not into the Japanese comic book illustration style, this book is probably not for you. With a name like "Pop Manga," I hope that didn't come as a surprise.

Overall, this is a beautiful book. If you're into the manga style of art and you like coloring, I highly recommend it! I love it so much, I would happily pay money for it!

Scattered like litter on the floor: Cats in Paris

Cats in Paris: A Coloring Book of the Felines of Paris by Won-Sun Jang

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


"I have a great concept for a coloring book!" said the artist.
"Oh? And what is that?" queried the publisher.
"Cats!"
"That's nice, but cats have been done. Can you throw anything else in there?"
"...Paris?"
"That sounds great!"
"But, I don't have a lot of drawings of Paris, so how about we just do whatever with cats and say it's in Paris?"
"Sure, that'll work too."
And that, I think, sums up what went into this book. There are cats all over it, so that wasn't a lie. But there's very little of Paris in it. The art style also changes wildly throughout the book. There were actually three distinct art-styles throughout. The first portion of it we'll call "sketch jazz ugly."

During the sketch jazz ugly portion, the illustrations are sketchy with some bits of dialogue included where a supposedly Parisian cat shows you his favorite sketched-out Paris haunts. It's as weird as I just described it. This portion of the book lasts for about the first 16 pages before it moves on to the next style, "Sketch jazz real." The illustrations from here forward are much nicer than the initial ugly jazz stage, but continue to be "sketchy." I think there may be two clean lines in this entire book. In any case, during the middle portion there are more varied cats, and it looks as though the illustrations are speed drawn from live cats. To be fair, if you like cats, this part might make you happy. It certainly made me laugh, because there's an illustration of a cat lying on its back, presenting its butt-hole to the viewer. No, I'm not kidding. It made me laugh because that's true to cats, but now you've been warned that there is illustrated cat a-hole in this book.

Shortly after the cat a-hole image, the artist's caffeine-and-sugar-fueled high subsides long enough to provide us with some nice, albeit boring compared to cat-butt, images of cat stamps. Yes, stamps. Like the kind you put on your mail. Totally useless to actually send mail, but nice. However, the trip into staid sanity is short-lived, and we return to madness (of the “what the hell is that cat doing?” variety) for a few more pages before the book simply ends.

This book is scattered. The cats in Paris portion is awfully short to have the whole book named after it, and the art style isn't consistently good. It isn't the worst coloring book in the world, but I know I'll enjoy my other coloring books far more. You might like this book if:
1. You like cats
2. You like weird stuff
3. You would like to color cat-related sketches.
If you're looking for Paris, look elsewhere. There isn't enough of it here to qualify.

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.



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Not even Christmas Haul!

Equal parts creativity machine and actual reading.

Hey guys! I thought I'd try something a little different this week and share with you some of the things I've been playing with, reading, and generally squee-ing over this past week!

I had an opportunity to get together with some of my friends this past weekend, including Stephanie from Reading with Cupcakes, so of course Coloring happened. A lot of coloring.

I'm gonna clue you guys in on a little (not so) secret of mine: I don't half-ass my hobbies. It's full ass or no ass! So when I started getting coloring books, I needed to also get colored pencils. Simple crayolas would not do to start, so I picked up some Prismas. I couldn't wait for my copy of Lost Ocean to arrive, so I got Time Chamber and Time Garden for free from Blogging for Books to tide me over. Then, when I had those three books (with plenty of pages to keep me occupied for quite some time), I realized that I had only really complex coloring books. Realizing my mistake in focusing only on the fancy, I went out and got myself a copy of Owls as well. Creative Cats was a gift for a friend, but I realized I really liked that one also and ended up getting myself a copy. A different friend gifted me Secret Garden. Now I have six coloring books. Is that enough? It might be. For now...

Weirdo...
I am a weirdo, but hopefully you're still reading this because you find my weirdness mildly entertaining and perhaps even charming. You're welcome!

Gift-giving Frenzy is in a couple of days, and I look forward to giving and receiving my fair share. Amazon was having a book sale (I think it was 25% off one book of your choice), and I agonized over whether I should get Edward's Menagerie, The Big Book of Amigurumi, or Edward's Menagerie - Birds. Ultimately, I decided on Edward's Menagerie and I've been happily staring at it (while keeping it safe as a gift for someone else) as well as trying to figure out some of the descriptions. As you can clearly see in the picture above, I also received The Big Book of Amigurumi, and I know I'll be getting the Birds book as well. Expect a review about these in 2016, because I have several things to say about them!

That's it. She's reviewing only craft books from here on out!
Well, no. Not quite. I do read other books, but it takes me longer to mull those over. There are even a few of them that I feel the need to reread, in order to give it the most accurate review possible. So there are a few of those coming, but in the meantime, expect a barrage of crafting books! Yaaaay!

One more thing I'd like to mention:
Since Christmas is (by my timezone, anyway) in about 24 hours and 2 minutes, I will probably be taking a little break on reviews for the next couple of weeks. So I'll try to schedule a couple of reviews for while I'm gone, but if you notice a lack of updates, that's why. Just saying.

So the official list of reviews coming up next month (in no particular order):
Edward's Menagerie
Edward's Menagerie - Birds
Big Book of Little Amigurumi
Outsider in the White House (oooh, topical)
Stardust

And that's it for this evening! Enjoy your holidays, my friends! Whatever those holidays might be!

P.S.
Funny extra story-time.

I thought you were done?
Almost, I swear. I sent my husband out to the mailbox (before midnight, I promise), and he found a copy of Edward's Menagerie in there waiting for me courtesy of one of my best friends. I am winning this holiday season. There will be stuffed animals everywhere!

Quick and Dirty: Owls

Owls as far as the eye
can see...

Pssst... Hey, guys! Look what I found! Another coloring book! I'm gonna review it!

Stephanie from Reading with Cupcakes recommended this to me a while back and, like a bad friend, I initially dismissed it. You see, while Owls appeared to be a cute book, it didn't have the level of minute detail that Lost Ocean or The Time Garden did. At least that's what I wrongly assumed... It doesn't have a cute little story to follow through the book, or myriads of hidden treasures to find and keep track of. It does, however, feature a myriad of owls with chaotic-creative backgrounds that beg to be colored in experimental and offbeat ways.

Story time!

Last weekend, I had a few friends over for tea. Since it was the first weekend of December, I figured we were close enough to Christmas to just go ahead and give them their gifts which happened to be coloring books (both from Creative Haven) and colored pencils (Crayola, of course). Our tea party thus included coloring, and I busted out Lost Ocean and my own colored pencils. Maybe two hours into this, one friend has colored three pages (she had markers, so could lay down color faster), my other friend had made excellent progress on her own page, and I was bogged down in all the tiny details of one part of my beautiful page. The rest of my page remained fairly white. Several days later, I'm still working on that single page. The moral of the story is, sometimes when you want to finish something, simplicity is key. So I went out and got myself Owls. And it's not that it's simple, really, so much as the details you're coloring are somewhat bigger and therefore you can lay color down a bit faster. Macro-coloring, as opposed to micro-coloring.

 

Another nice aspect to these books is that you can use markers with impunity! Remember how I mentioned my friend who blasted through three different pages in two hours? (The pages looked great, by the way!) She used markers, and made me super jealous. The markers bled through the backs of the page, but not on to the following page. Since all the pages in the book are one sided, it worked out! Did I mention that all the pages are tear-aways as well? So if you really like how you brought out that one thing's personality with your amazing coloring skills, you can take the page out, frame it, and show it off.

Overall, I like this book. I would recommend it to everyone. I'm using it to practice my coloring and blending, but if you just need something to chill with this is a great book to do it with. Enjoy, and happy coloring!

Unrelated to coloring note:

The last couple of weeks I shared with you some of my favorite crochet books along with examples of some things I've made. This week, I would like to briefly point out that some of those things are available for sale on my new Storenvy shop! Woohoo! So if you're curious about what else I may have made or you'd like a quirky toy or hat of your very own, please check out DapperFuzz on Storenvy. Thanks again and see you next week!

Dream of Colors and Clockwork

The Time Garden by Daria Song

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Time Garden by Daria Song is another example of a great coloring book. The artwork is detailed and complex, allowing for hours of coloring entertainment and stress relief. The pages are double-sided, which again makes me hesitant to use markers on it. Colored pencils remain my preferred medium for these books. By the way, take a moment to look at the cover. Did you get a good look? It's also mostly blank for you to fill in, and as luck would have it, is also double-sided! The interior shows an expanded view of one of the pages inside the book.

Similar to The Time Chamber, this coloring book also includes a short story. This time, we follow a little girl who is magically transported into, and explores a cuckoo clock in her home thanks to the fairy that lives inside of it. Somehow the clock also allows her to travel to other places in the world, including the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory in San Francisco. Yes, I know that is a random thing to share. It felt like a random moment when I saw it. Motifs of stars, clockwork gears, and flowers add up to a dream coloring experience.

I know that this book is marketed primarily to adults, but with the inclusion of the story I would actually put it at a much younger age. That isn't to say that adults can't or won't enjoy coloring this, but that is how I felt about the story. Another way to look at it is that The Time Garden is something you can unwind with, make your own, then share with your kids.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants something beautiful to color, to anyone who is experiencing a creative block, and anyone who just needs something undemanding to focus on for a while. So basically, this book is great for everyone. I look forward to making my mark on it!

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.



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Lost Ocean: A Visual Orgasm

Lost Ocean by Johanna Basford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is a visual orgasm. I can't help but compare it to The Time Chamber by Daria Song, since that is the only other "adult" coloring book I own. If this were a competition between the two, Lost Ocean would win.

Lost Ocean is what I originally had in mind when I set out to get a coloring book for myself. There is no story per se. Instead, Johanna Basford presents us with a series of related images: tropical fish, octopuses, sea horses, mermaids, and more! The reason I like it better than Time Chamber is that besides the discreet images, other illustrations include repeating patterns that help you zen out. It also contains multiple mandalas, a couple of two-page spreads, and even a two-sided pull-out image. All of the illustrations are beautifully done; I would highly recommend this book for the artwork alone.

I'm not sure where I saw a coloring book that had tear-out pages in case you were so impressed with your skills that you wanted to frame the finished product or put it up on your refrigerator. This book does not do that. The pages are firmly stuck in there. The quality of the paper is good, smooth, and perfect for colored pencils. I would be hesitant to try markers on this.

Overall, I am thrilled with my purchase! If you're looking for a good way to relax and be creative with a limited amount of guidance, this is a fantastic way to do it. The image is there; you just need to bring out the colors.



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Who Doesn't Love Coloring Books? The Time Chamber

The Time Chamber: A Magical Story and Coloring Book by Daria Song

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had been looking forward to The Time Chamber: A Magical Story and Coloring Book for weeks. Now that I have it, I can say that I am not disappointed; I'm delighted. The artwork is beautiful and intricate, with plenty of details to color to your heart's content. Daria Song has also included a simple story about a tiny fairy who becomes curious about what lies outside her cuckoo-clock home. The story is, of course, told primarily through the artwork with few words.

The pages are double-sided on thick, smooth, high quality paper. Other coloring books may provide perforated pages, enabling the colorist to remove and frame the artwork. Time Chamber's pages are not perforated, and you will have a difficult time removing them without losing details or the back side of whichever page you wish to display.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to adults looking for a creative way to relax, as well as to anyone over the age of 7 who can hold a pencil steady and wants to color pretty pictures.

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.



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