by Josephine Wall
on September 2017
Style: single page illustrations
Pages: 96
Format: Dust Jacket
Goodreads
Delve into the intricate detail of Josephine Wall's exquisite paintings and connect with the magical worlds depicted in her art. Long-time fans of Wall's work will relish this opportunity to re-interpret her best-known pieces while coloring addicts will delight in the endless potential of this artwork. Each of the 45 coloring patterns features a short commentary by the artist offering insights into the stories behind the original paintings.
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Enchanted Fairies Coloring Book Video Review
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Enchanted Fairies Coloring Book  Review
English artist, Josephine Wall is well known for her beautiful fantasy art paintings that depict light and color in a dreamy way.  Her first coloring book, Enchanted Fairies is based on that art work.
Although, the title indicates that it is a book full of fairies there are also mermaids and angels in there as well.
Cover & Layout
The cover layout may look familiar to regular readers as it is the same format used on Jasmine Becket-Griffith’s coloring books as Josephine has the same publisher.
A dark blue textured dust jacket protects the book which depicts on the front a full colored image of a fairy among flowers.  Most colorists will be immediately struck by the light source that gives the fairy a flow and another dimension, as well as the complex blending of colors, particularly on the hair.  I could look at the picture for hours and still find other things to look at within it, it’s one of those pieces of art that is truly captivating.
On the back cover there are 6 partially colored images from the book.  You can see, by the thumbnail selection that there are fairies, angels and mermaids inside this book.
A plain brown kraft cover protects the coloring book proper.
Enchanted Fairies colouring book measures 27.5 cm x 21.5cm approximately.
Ancillary Pages
A plain text title page starts the book with copyright information on reverse.  An introduction by Jo follows.  The last page of the book contains ads for other books by the publisher.  Any of the preceding pages would be great to test out your markers and mediums before diving into fairy world.
Layout
Illustrations have been printed on one side of the ivory paper.  The paper is a medium weight and according to the publishers is 150 gsm.  If you own any of Jasmine Becket-Griffith’s coloring books, you will be familiar with this paper stock.
On the reverse of each image is a little vignette about the illustration and the name of the painting that it was based on.
Each illustration has been framed in a lovely medium line border.  All of the art work is positioned and centered well on the page, avoiding the spine and producing a balanced image.
Coloring Book Images and Illustrations
[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”178664150X” locale=”US” src=”http://coloringqueen.net/my_content/uploads/2017/10/51g2Bx2BqRBL.jpg” tag=”mygamingweb-20″ width=”380″]Josephine Wall has a number of products including calendars, posters, jigsaw puzzles and the journal shown above.  Colorists may find it helpful to research some of her work to get inspiration for coloring this book.
The cover art image has been reproduced in the coloring book for colorists to color.  As well as dreamy fairies in the book you will also find mermaids and angels.   Other elements are also added to each scene that fills the whole of the page including nature, animals and background effects.
The line art has been created in a different way from most coloring books that colorists will be familiar with.  The lines are fine and a dull black.  Due to the fine line and the amount of detail on each page, it may be difficult to see.  The highly detailed fine lined pages remind me of the way that Tomoko Tashiro generally illustrates her coloring books.    Colorists will also notice that although there is a lot of art work on the page, individual elements are outlined more than detailed.   This and the combination of the fine, light lines,  I believe has been done in order to ensure that colorists can create a “painterly effect” with the final product.   If the lines were darker the colored work would not merge with the background as it odes in Josephine’s paintings.  I could be entirely wrong of course 🙂
Colorists that have a minor visual impairment may find this coloring book one to look at and admire but may be too challenging to color.   Colorists that have skills like blending, shading and using mixed media in their coloring books will really be able to make these pages come to life.
Please click on an image to view more detail
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Detail Level
Where to buy Enchanted Fairies Coloring Book
| [easyazon_link identifier=”0738757527″ locale=”US” nw=”y” tag=”mygamingweb-20″]Amazon[/easyazon_link] | Book Depository |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Lovely fantasy pages…….Josephine certainly must have great insight into the world of fairies as her real art depicts such subtle and yet bright deep rich colours. Like magic is in my eyes. Then she has her studio at Wysteria Cottage……..that is so much fun. She must be surrounded by fairie folk. This is a book to take a brush marker and flow with colour onto the page like a wisp of fragrant flora. She looks happy and contented in her picture of her studio. How wonderful the light glows within. Stunning review as always filled with wise and wonderful stories of your guest. Thank You Mandyx
I’m totally obsessed with her art. It is just beautiful …I’d love to have an inch of her talent! I’m sure she has an ideal world for creating in her studio at Wisteria Cottage. Happy coloring x
If I buy this book using your site how do I ensure you have a bonus from it ? What do I do ? Mandy
If you click the link for Amazon in the US, UK or Canada or Book Depository and then buy the book at that time, I will get a commission of roughly 20c. Enchanted Fairies is in stock at BD at the moment but not out yet at Amazon. Happy coloring x