by Chiaki Ida, Ida Chiaki
Style: double page printing, Paper: medium quality
Format: Card cover, Glue Binding
A beautiful collection of sketches from the artist from 2013-2016
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Monochrome Coloring Book Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video review of  Monochrome illustrated by Ida Chiaki
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Monochrome Coloring Book  Review
Monochrome is an art illustration book by well known Japanese artist, Ida Chiaki.  Most people would be familiar with the work of Ida Chiaki from the beautiful coloring books Dream Rooms, The Longing Shop, My Colorful Town and the Girl in the Forest Postcards.
This book is not marketed as a coloring book, but a sketchbook containing a collection of the artist’s drawings over a period of 3 years.   However, there is nothing stopping you from coloring these gorgeous works of art.
Cover & Layout
Monochrome is a compact sized book, ideal for your handbag.  Measuring in at 18cm x 18cm approximately.  The cover is cream matte with artwork on it. You could color this in if you were keen.
The inside front cover is decorated with cute teapots while the back has copyright information.
The cover may tend to get marked and scuffed easily as it is matte. If you were planning on using it regularly, you may want to cover it in plastic.
Ancillary Pages
A plain text title page commences the book. On the reverse, there is a two-page spread featuring cute little chairs to color. These are the only pages that would be suitable to test your mediums and see how they react with the paper and your coloring style.
Layout
The paper is off-white, medium quality and relatively smooth save for a faint texture.  The line art is a brown/black and a dull color and has a hand-drawn, sketchy feel to it.  Illustrations have been printed on both sides of the paper.
The pages have been discreetly numbered.  Presumably, the text in Korean would indicate the page number and year of the sketch but I am unable to locate that information.
Art Work
Each illustration is very detailed.  This type of detail is very useful for colorists to learn to shade.  The artwork features home scenes primarily with lots of interior shots.   There are some girls included on the pages but they have very little detail on their faces (due to the small size of the drawings). This is great news if you are not a fan of coloring skin or feel overwhelmed at full-sized portrait pictures.
Each illustration is filled with an abundance of small elements to color.  The artwork makes you feel that these rooms must exist in real life as there is so much information in them, hinting at the lives of the occupants.
Colorists with a minor visual impairment may struggle with the color of the line art, the amount of detail and the smaller sized book.
Detail Level
Where to buy Monochrome Coloring Book
| Etailer 1 (out of stock) | Etailer 2 |
Happy coloring x
Lea
This book is not a coloringbook.
It’s a book of monochrome paintings.
The author is not allowed to use coloring the book.