Popmanga Coloring Book by Camilla d’Errico

Coloring books are awesome, coloring book by a favorite artist- twice as great. I am a huge fan of Camilla d’Errico’s art and her Pop Painting book remains my favorite go-to source for anything related  to the artistic process. I love her whimsical paintings and the idea of merging art with pop culture. Imagine my excitement when I found out a Popmanga Coloring Book by her  is coming out.

The book is so fun (see a quick leaf through here) It features her trademark art in black and white, some drawings are portraits, some a scenery, but always a story in each one of them. I love the variety- there are larger drawings, and those that are intricate and full of detail. There are patterns too if you are in the mood for meditation. The “helper” character Ayako that appears on some of the pages and gives a reader some advice about coloring is absolutely adorable.  The paper is great. I colored with watercolors,  the buckling was minimal and paper held the paint extremely well.

This book is too fun to pass up, I am so glad it’s in my hands now. Looking forward to hours of entertainment and hoping to learn a lot about drawing in general by studying d’Errico’s sketches in this book. A must-have for a coloring enthusiast, whether a fan of pop manga or not.

I received this book via Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

BOOK REVIEW: Wonderland by Amily Shen

As long as I remember, I found myself drawn to anything that is related to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Movies, clothing items, you name it. Amily Shen’s new coloring book Wonderland is all about that crazy, whimsical world created by Lewis Carrol. Amily Shen is a Taiwanese artist, a custom shoe designer in the past and now illustrator and author of drawing books. Wonderland is her first coloring book and what a delight it is!

The coloring book is set up as a picture/chapter book, with themes separated and a little bit of accompanying text added to hold the story together. I find that I enjoy this kind of coloring book organization very much.  I enjoy the balance of large area drawings to quickly fill in with color and more intricate ones with tons of details to focus on. If I had to pick, The Teahouse in the Mushroom Forest and A Mad Tea Party would be my favorite chapters and those I am looking forward to coloring the most.

 

Overall Impression: A delightful coloring book with hours and hours of enjoyment stored on its pages. Lots of tiny details to look at and color. Cute characters. 5 stars

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

BOOK REVIEW: Cats in Paris by Won-Sun Jang

I  will never get tired of repeating how happy I am that coloring books are a trend now, the variety is amazing and everyone can find something to suit their needs. I am very excited to get yet another beautiful book to color- “Cats in Paris” by Won-Sun Jang. It’s cats! It’s Paris! Everything is awesome about this concept

Won-Sun Jang is a Korean artist who worked in fashion industry and did children books illustration. I am absolutely in love with her style. It’s very free, the book obviously has a theme (cats!) but it doesn’t seem to be restricting when it comes to coloring within the lines. The drawings themselves done in pen and ink look like casual sketches. There are also plenty of drawings with tiny details. There are opportunities to use different media. For larger spaces I am using light watercolor wash and it works very well with ink outer lines that vary in thickness.

Overall impression: I love this coloring book. The paper is sturdy enough to use watercolor. Presence of cats has calming effect on me and I enjoy dreaming of Paris as I color in this book. Plenty of patterns to practice coloring with pens and pencils, floral motifs, streets and buildings- there is surely something for everyone.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Time Chamber by Daria Song

Adult coloring books are all rage lately and stores offer a wide variety of choice- including mandalas, street scenes, patterns, flowers, you name it. Today I want to talk about a particular artist whose creations caught my attention as of late. Daria Song is a Korean artist creating a fairy tale like coloring books. I enjoyed her first work “The Time Garden” very much indeed. And now the second book “The Time Chamber” is in my hands.

“The Time Chamber” is not only a coloring book, it’s more like a picture book you can color. It’s is a very cute, magical story about a fairy that lives in a cookoo-clock and comes out to play when the night comes.  It is a sequel to “The Time Garden” where a little girl goes inside a clock to play with the fairy. This time fairy ventures outside from the clock. The book contains all types of pictures to color- sceneries, patterns to color when one is in meditative mood, little objects for a shorter coloring session. The story is being told throughout the book, which is very nice and adds extra interest for my kids who watch my progress as I color and occasionally participate.

Overall impression: Love it! The artwork is amazing and the detail promises hours of coloring delight. Among many coloring book available out there, Daria Song’s work stands out. 5 Stars.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange to a fair and unbiased review.