by Takumi
on 12 August 2016
Style: color inspiration images, double page printing
Pages: 96
Format: Dust Jacket
Takumi Coloring Book Video Review
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Takumi Coloring Book Review
The Takumi colouring book is named after Takumi the artist who created this work. From the cover you can see that the art work is going to be slightly different from most Japanese colouring books that I review. Cherubs in gas marks, framing a gun toting scantily clad woman may not be what you expect from me. There are more surprises to come when you open the colouring book. Takumi has cleverly selected a cover image for shock value, but don’t let that deter you, because inside you will find some gorgeous illustrations that incorporate fairy tales among other things, and a few scantily clad young ladies as well.
Cover & Layout
A gorgeous black glossy dust jacket protects the colouring book with an illustration that is inside the colouring book as line art for you to color. The back cover features a small coloured image from within the book as well.
The black card cover of the actual colouring book features a decorative white border both front and back.
Takumi Colouring book measures 29.9 cm x 21.5 cm (11.8 in x 8.3 in approximately)
Ancillary Pages
The title page printed on black pager with gold printing creates an elegant introduction to the Takumi Colouring Book. This is followed by coloured inspirational pages for the line art contained within the book. Having colour printing in a colouring book always adds to the cost of the book, as it is an expensive process that also involves printed on different paper from the line art in the colouring book.
The coloured images are breathtakingly stunning and the artistry just amazes me. My only wish was that these illustrations were printed on single sided paper.
At the end of the coloured inspirational pages section, the paper changes to a white medium quality paper. At the rear of the book there is a detailed index featuring small thumbnails of each image, a name of the illustration if applicable and a page number where the coloured illustration can be found in the book. The index, or the page introducing the index, would be a great spot to test out your mediums and see how they react with the paper and your colouring style.
Layout
The illustrations in Takumi Colouring Book have been printed on both sides, of the white, medium quality paper. There are 24 pages that comprise double page spreads, where the line art does run to the spine of the book. The binding is quite stiff on this book and colouring in this area may be tricky. This is a book that I would consider taking to the local office supplies store and having the binding removed, if it does not loosen up with use. All of the images have been orientated portrait style.
Takumi Coloring Book Review Images and Illustrations
Takumi has an amazing talent for producing line art that can be coloured in a painterly style. Delicately drawn and beautifully detailed illustrations from Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella help us sink into a fairy world next to dragons, junkies and gun toting, scantily clad bikie girls and an odd zombie creature. Out of all my colouring books, I cannot recall an artist that was brave enough to combine so many conflicting themes of humanity, into the one colouring book.
The line art in this colouring book varies from fine, gray lines to black, heavier lines at top. This variation of line weight and color generally is used to ensure definition in certain parts of the picture and ensure that the bolded pieces pop, when coloured.
Some of the line art is such a faint light grey that colorists that have minor visual impairment would struggle to see these lines.
The art work tends to fill the whole of the page and the pages generally have small details on them that may not be suitable for colorists with visual impairment or health obstacles like arthritis, that make colouring these small areas of detail challenging.
My only niggles with this colouring book are the images are printed on both sides of the paper. I hope that the artist releases a single sided Artist’s edition at some point, because these drawings are just poster quality, stunning. My other quibble, and maybe it is me and I am going mad, is that some of the colored inspirational art has not been included as line art. I am really missing the double page spread of Halloween and the tattooed warriors.
Please click on an image to view more detail
[foogallery id=”7925″]Detail Level
Many of the illustrations in this book have large open spaces and not a lot of small details. However, in order to achieve the look that the artist has, on the colored inspirational images, you would need a lot of experience and skills with blending and shading and layering of colors. Of course, you do not have to color the book like the artist has.
Where to buy Takumi Coloring Book
| Amazon Japan | Yes Asia |
Happy coloring x
Lea
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