Book Of Little Art

Artist – Teri Sherman 

Pages – 210

 Features –

• Lined note pages
• Portable size

Cover

Book

The Book Of Little Art is a combination of colouring book and notebook.

The cover is a simple lineart image with a light green border, in a matte card. The spine is glue bound, and because of the thickness, it is difficult to make the book lie flat.

The book is a perfect portable size at 15.2cm x 15.2cm (6 in x 6 in) and chunky at 210 pages!

Images are single sided and do not enter the spine.

The paper is standard self publishing paper, bright white, textured and of moderate thickness.  Pencils, both wax and oil, layer well and blend with some effort.

Markers apply smoothly, although water based markers will start to tear the paper after a few layers. Alcohol markers will bleed through, so ensure you have some sheets of paper or card behind the image you are working on.

Coloured with Polychromos pencils

Images

Teri Sherman has a variety of image themes in her repertoire, and this book showcases many different themes and images.

The lineart in The Book Of Little Art has a large variety of themes, including flowers, fairies, animals, landscapes, portraits and more. Have a look at the flipthrough at the end of this review to see all the images in the book.

Lined note pages are featured every second page, with some including a smaller image in the corner to colour.

The line weight varies from thin to thick throughout, with a handful of hand drawn greyscale images in the book as well. The intricacy remains moderate within the images, with a good mix of open spaces and more detailed areas.

Health

The small images and variety of themes makes this a good book for people who struggle with concentration. I enjoy being able to complete a smaller image when my concentration is low.

The variety of themes is another factor that benefits those with health concerns. If you are bored of colouring flowers, you can turn the page and almost certainly find a different theme to colour, in the same handy size.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review! Make sure to subscribe to the blog and follow on Facebook for all updates,

Batgirl x

The Book Of Little Art is currently only available on Amazon US here. These are affiliate links – if you purchase through these links I make 4-5% of your book purchase to go towards the running of the site without changing your cost at all! Thankyou for your support x

Coloured with Prismacolor pencils

One of the note pages in the book

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Coloring Book

Publisher – Dark Horse Comics

Pages – 96

Artists – Pablo Churin, Newsha Ghasemi, Rebekah Isaacs, Georges Jeanty, Yishan Li, Fernando Melek, Karl Moline, Steve Morris, Facundo Percio

Cover

Book

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a series that has a dedicated following of all ages, and this colouring book is designed for this niche.

The book is a standard square size at 25.4cm x 25.4cm (10in x 10in) and 96 pages. The spine is glue bound, meaning it doesn’t lie flat immediately.  After a few uses, the book does lie flat however.

The cover is a soft matte, with an image from the interior that has sparse colouring in a deep red.

Images are single sided, and some images do enter the spine. The paper is heavyweight,  bright white and smooth. Pencils lay down nicely, but due to the lack of texture the paper will not handle more than a few layers.

Markers apply very smoothly on the paper. Waterbased markers will not bleed through unless you have a very heavy hand and many layers. Alcohol markers will bleed through, so please make sure you have something behind the artwork you are colouring.

Images

I have been looking forward to this colouring book since I started colouring – even before it was announced. Unfortunately, I am left a little disappointed at the execution of the images.

The work of eight artists in the book means that the book lacks cohesion, with the styles of each artist varying wildly, from thick black lines to detailed and small images. This might appeal, as you do get a range of styles within one theme.

Images have a lot of range, with images of Buffy and Angel, the Scooby gang in the library, Buffys portrait surrounded by weapons and a busy night at the Bronze, all in the first few pages.

The book does follow a rough chronological order from the series, starting with Sunnydale High and ended with the iconic schoolbus finale image.

There are quotes from the show on the reverse of each image, sometimes related to the facing image.

Linework varies from heavy black lines to very thin lines and intricacy varies just as much within the artwork.  I’ve included several images and and flipthrough so you can see all the images included.

Health

For fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, this could be a fantastic way to focus on something else if you are in pain, or need to quiet a loud mind.

The variety of styles and intricacy could be a benefit for some people, as you can choose which image to colour based on your ability at the time. Those with concentration issues may benefit from the change in detail as well.

Ultimately, everybody has their own preferences, and this book may be perfect for your needs. I would prefer more consistency within the artwork, but the book is a great overall look at the series that so many love.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review! Make sure to subscribe to the blog and follow on Facebook for all updates,

Batgirl x

Available on the Book Depository here or on Amazon US here. These are affiliate links – if you purchase through these links I make 4-5% of your book purchase to go towards the running of the site without changing your cost at all! Thankyou for your support x.

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Halloween Coloring Books

Halloween is a fantasy lovers dream! So many amazing artists producing gorgeous artwork and colouring books for us. The following books are my top three, complete with a summary and flipthrough of each –

Note – I haven’t seen every Halloween themed colouring book, in fact, I haven’t seen most. If I do see anymore amazing ones, I will add to this post 😉

Spellbinding Images Extended Edition Volume 1 

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Artist – Nikki Burnette
Pages – 110

Paper – Medium thickness, bright white, lightly textured.

Intricacy – Moderate
Line thickness – Thin-medium
Features –
•20 images from the original Spellbinding Images have been reimagined and drawn with new details and backgrounds.
• 20 ‘mini’ images – cropped areas from the full size images half size.
• 10 ‘grid’ drawing sections complete with instructions.

Amazon -http://goo.gl/VP9chs

Book Depository http://goo.gl/68ZV3T

Flipthrough

 

Whimsical Halloween 

Artist – Molly Harrison
Pages – 66
Paper – Medium thickness, bright white, lightly textured.
Intricacy – Moderate
Line thickness – Thin
Features –
• 32 Halloween fairies, witches, cats, owls
• Images do not enter spine
• Cute illustration style is suitable for all ages
Book Depository – http://goo.gl/9waUrT
Amazon – http://goo.gl/o5KMft

Flipthrough –

 

Enchanted Halloween

Artist – Hannah Lynn
Pages – 126
Paper – Medium thickness, bright white, lightly textured.
Intricacy – Moderate
Line thickness – Medium – thick
Features –
• 30 new colouring images from
• Each image is repeated twice for a total of 60 images
• Variety of vampires, werewolves, witches, pumpkins, animals and so much more
Book Depository – http://goo.gl/hdEUws
Amazon – http://goo.gl/KSKZkp

Flipthrough –

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this list and happy colouring!
Batgirl xx

Wild Savannah Postcards

Artist– Millie Marotta

Pages/Postcards– 50

Publisher– Batsford

Postcard Box – front and side

Book

Millie Marottas postcard editions come in two version, a 30 postcard ‘book’ style and this 50 postcard box of postcards. 

The box is a thick cardboard. The sides are green, with the title embossed in gold foiling. The cover is black and white lineart from the interior, with spots of colour and gold foiling. The cover lifts up and lays flat to reveal 50 postcards nestled in the box, as you would find in a gift box. The postcards aren’t attached to anything, but fit well into the box. There is a gold ribbon to mark a spot in the postcards, or assist you to lift them out.

The postcards are a thick card, bright white and smooth. Despite the smooth texture, I found pencils layered and blended quite easily. Waterbased markers did not bleed or shadow, but be careful with a heavy hand and alcohol markers. Ensure you either remove the card or have a page behind to protect the next one. 

Coloured with Prismacolor Premier pencils

Images

There is a flipthrough of every included postcard at the end of this review. 

All fifty images are taken from Millie Marottas Wild Savannah book. Some of these are the full images scaled down, some are sections of images, and others are the main feature of an image centred in the postcard. 

The reverse of the postcards are completely blank save for a small lower copyright notice in the lower corner. 

Some of the images include hippoes, ostriches, birds, plantlife, sections of patterns and mores

The intricacy varies widely in this postcard edition. Some of the scaled down images are incredibly intricate, only the finest of pens and sharpest pencils will be able to colour these. Images that have been taken and sectioned are less intricate, with larger spaces and less detail. Line thickness remains consistently thin throughout. 

Health

The nature themes of Millie Marottas artwork are fantastic for mental health or pain issues, as the subject and colour palette are innately soothing. These are perfect for those who would benefit from this, but may not have the concentration to focus on the full version.

The variety of intricacy is well suited to those with fluctuating mental health or pain issues, as you can find a detailed postcard to distract yourself, or a less detailed one if you cannot focus properly. 

The postcards (with the exception of a handful of very intricate images) will most likely be suitable for those with vision or fine motor skills impairments, but as always, please check the images beforehand. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review

Batgirl x

Available from Amazon US here or the Book Depository here.

Stress Relieving Cats – Celebration Edition

Artist– Katy Lipscomb

Pages– 80

Publisher– Blue Star Premier

Cover

Book

Finally, a publisher has been listening to what colourists want in a books structure. This book is part of Blue Star Publishings ‘Celebration Editions’ Collection’- a series of high quality colouring books for adults.

‘Stress Relieving Cats’ is eyecatching with a black cover and a multicoloured image from the book coloured in a variety of colours. 

At 25.5 x 21.6cm (10.9 x 8.5 inches) and 80 pages, it is a reasonably standard size for home or travel. The spine is both glue and string bound – it is very firm and takes quite a lot to get it to lay flat. None of the images enter the spine however!

The paper is closer to card than paper. It is bright white, lightly textured and quite thick. Waterbased markers do not bleed, and I was able to achieve quite a lot of layers with pencils. I coloured the image below with watercolour pencils and experienced very little shadowing, no warping and no bleeding! 

Images are single sided, so no need to worry about the reverse. Pages are perforated for easy removal.

High Paw! Coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils

Images

There is a silent video flipthrough of all images at the end of this review.

The artwork in this book, as you may have guessed, is vey cat-focussed. Katy Lipscomb has a very unique style, with her lineart representing her watercolour art very well. This leads to the images in this book being made up various shapes and lines, but in a very clean way. 

Some of the images you will find in this book include cats dressed up for Halloween, a cat stuck in some horizontal blinds, a hissing booth, mother cats and kittens and scenes of cats causing havoc in a kitchen and a garden. 

Most of the images don’t feature a background, instead the cat/s are centred in the page. The images that do contain a background are scenes of cats in different areas. 

The book also contains a page of three bookmarks to colour and remove, and three pages of two postcard size images. These all feature one or more kitties, with the postcards having portraits of six different cats. 

Intricacy varies from low to moderate throughout, with plenty of larger spaces to block colour or shade and blend. Line thickness remains moderate throughout and print is clear and clean.

Removable Bookmarks to Colour

Postcard size images

Health

For those who are cat mad, this book will definitely be a mood booster! Even for those who aren’t amongst us crazy cat people, the humorous images are a great way to enjoy some lighthearted colouring with no pressure. 

Those with fluctuating concentration levels will find this book very suitable, as the range of images is very adaptable. You can choose to colour a small area of a cat, or an entire image. The postcards and bookmarks are also very well suited to times of low concentration.

The line thickness and intricacy means that this book will be perfect for those with fine motor or vision inpairments, but as always, please do check the images beforehand.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review, and happy colouring!

Batgirl xx

Stress Relieving Cats is available on the Book Depository here and Amazon US here.