by Lucie Ernestova
Pages: 16
Format: Pad, Spiral Bound
Rarely do you find a book that is well made and crafted filled with beautiful illustrations, delicately drawn. This is one of those rare occasions -for lovers of whimsy.
Vymalovánky – Cesta k sobě Coloring Book Video Review
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Vymalovánky – Cesta k sobě Coloring Book Review
This gorgeous Czech coloring book stole my heart when I started to see pictures colored from it on Instagram. So much beautiful and elegant whimsy on a page.
I had no idea what to expect from the illustrations until this book and the second volume Vymalovánky II Cesta životem Coloring Book – arrived at my door.
I knew immediately that this was a coloring book I would love. After I checked out the artist’s website, it was love at first sight. Her range of products that she sells, colored to highlight the sweetness and elegance of her work, cast a spell on me.
I’m starting to feel that they put something in the water in Czech as so many of my favorite artists come from this country and surrounding regions.
According to Google Translate the title means “Painters – Path to you”.
Cover & Layout
It is not often that a coloring book presents us with options but both coloring books produced by Lucie Ernestova do. You can purchase these in either glue bound or spiral bound.
Usually, I do not like spiral binding (as it tears at the covers of my other books on a shelf) but for some reason I felt drawn to the spiral bound version of this book. At the time of writing, both book formats are the same price. Even though they will need to be stored separately because of the binding, I am quite pleased that I purchased this format.
The thin, glossy cover features an illustration from the book that is partially colored of a little girl in a field of flowers. You can see from the drawing that the art work is whimsical and sweet. Looking closely, you may be able to detect the hint of grey shadowing and effect on the uncolored line art. The cover picture also accurately describes how the illustrations are presented within the book. The art is framed inside a border and not filling the whole of the page.
On the inside cover there are 16 colored inspirational image thumbnails from the book. If you are keen on these colored images, check out the artist’s website and the seller’s store, as many of these are available for purchase on bags, notebooks and the like.
The back cover features thick, sturdy card which serves to stabilise the book if you are coloring on your lap and protects the book during the shipping process.
Vymalovánky – Cesta k sobě is A4 sized.
Ancillary Pages
Other than the page of inspirational colored images there are no ancillary pages. You can, of course, test out your mediums discreetly at the foot of each illustration in the area where the text has been printed.
Layout
There are 16 illustrations within the book and they have been printed on one side only of the beautiful watercolor paper. According to the seller’s site, the paper is 250 gsm.
Each illustration has a border surround, which has a three dimension effect with the use of shadows.
At the foot of each drawing there is text in Czech. According to the lovely Morena, who is knowledgeable on these things, this text contains “uplifting messages and teachings“. Knowing that, I am now wishing that there was an English text as well!
Vymalovánky – Cesta k sobě Coloring Book Images and Illustrations
The illustrations in this coloring book follow a whimsical travel and adventure theme for the most part. You will find beautifully drawn buildings that look like elegant ant hills and remind of Goreme in Turkey and the Polish coloring book, Wyspy.
Goreme – Turkey image via Pixaba
There’s a quirky feel to the individual pages as well that has a lot to do with the proportions that the artist uses. A sailor is just a tiny part in a large ocean, an imp is small in comparison to the flowers he waters and a dragon towers over a man. In each image you feel that there is a story attached or a message to be derived from the art work.
In addition to the beautifully drawn whimsical pieces of art there are other illustrations that although they reflect the same artistic style have a more mature feel to them. The mother and child interwined, the lone wolf and the small child walking alone into the woods.
The lines have been created in varying shades of gray with some lines so faint those with a visual impairment may wish to avoid. The artist tends to use the line color to show foreground and background with the darker lines at the front of the piece and more detailed elements.
All of the line art appears to have the sketchiness of hand drawn art work that has been shaded in pencil noting all the details and shadows. I do not know enough about the artist to know if my assumption is correct or not. The coloring pages have the effect of greyscale that so many colorists adore but with a lighter hand than most books I have seen.
Colorists that have a minor visual impairment may love to look at the pictures in this book but may find the lightness of some lines, and the amount of small details on the page too challenging to color.
Please click on an image to view more detail
[foogallery id=”10054″]Detail Level
Where to buy Vymalovánky – Cesta k sobě Coloring Book
| Czech Website |
International Customers – Buying Instructions
The website is not set up for International customers but they do deliver internationally. There is a little bit of a process to go through though.
Make sure you are using Chrome as per my article here or go to the top right of the site and choose the English language and currency.
Choose which format book you would like – glue or spiral (the pictures will guide you if you are unable to translate the site) and add them to your cart.
Check the option for delivery within Czech at the checkout
The owner will then email you and tell you the amount plus shipping which you can pay by Pay Pal or Bank Transfer.
Once you have made the payment and your order has shipped out, the owner will email you and advise the date of dispatch and a track and trace link. As a guide it took 10 days for the books to reach me in Sydney, Australia.
If you have any difficulties, please contact the shop to assist you using their contact form located at the bottom of their site or their Facebook page.
Shipping & Packaging
If you wish to see how the book was packaged see my Mini Czech Coloring Book Haul video below (which is an edited version of a Facebook Live video)
Happy coloring x
Lea
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