Mermaid Fantasy: Adult Coloring Book

The media could not be loaded. I really enjoy coloring Jason Hamilton's designs. From his first coloring book (“Cats and Quilts”) to this, “Mermaid Fantasy”, I've found his artwork to be beautiful and fun to color.I came across Mr. Hamilton's mermaid designs in his recent contribution to “Adult Coloring Book Treasury 2” and was in high hopes that he would soon release a mermaid book. Just a week or so later, here it is. Along with a video and other sample photos from this book, I will include the mermaid that I colored for Treasury 2.In this book, the focus of the designs is on mermaids. There is a merman and even a human but, for the most part, there are mermaids. There are even a few mermaids with their children.The designs have a nice level of detail. There is plenty of room for shading or adding your own details, if you wish. The elements on the full size pages are a good size and are not difficult to color with any type of coloring medium that I use. The smaller (4 x 6 inch) versions may require ultra-fine nibs or sharp pencil tips but that is to be expected with a design that has been sized down.This is what I experienced when I was coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. In the comments section below, I will list the coloring medium I used for testing this book and which I usually use for coloring my projects.24 Large Mermaid designs with 24 4 x 6 inch duplicate copiesPrinted one side of the pagePaper is thin, white, slightly rough and non-perforatedGlue BindingDesigns do not merge into the binding area. They have a framing line around the outer edgeColoring book opens to flat position fairly easilyAlcohol-based markers bleed through this paperWater-based markers spot through this paperGel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. India ink can bleed through if it is applied heavily or in multiple layers.Colored Pencils work well with this slightly rough paper. Both oil and wax pencils provide good pigment with multiple layers, layer multiple colors well and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can dent through to the back of the page.I use a blotter of card stock under my working page. Several sheets of heavier weight paper work well, too. This keeps seeping ink and dents from messing up the pages below.

Review by Debbie RucinskiDimensions: 8.5 x 11” inchesPaper weight: 60#, pure whiteGlue bound on the leftSingle-sidedNon-perforated24 full page hand drawn illustrations. 24 bonus illustrations in 4 x 6 “ inches. No clip art or stock images.For those that love Jason Hamilton's books, you will not be disappointed with this one. He has succeeded again in turning out a fabulous book. His illustrations are of Mermaids, Mermen and Mer families. The Mer family pictures are sweet as can be and my favorites. They are all beautiful designs of the Mer people in the water or on a beach.He starts out with a copyright and title page. Then comes a colorist “belong to” page, which you may color as well. He includes a small information page, with the link to where you can find more of Jason's work. He has 24 full page images, with 24 more bonus images in 4 x 6 inch size.The illustrations are full page. Each surrounded by a thin, black border. There is ½ “ inch white space border surrounding the illustrations, which make it easy for photocopying or removal for framing without losing part of the image. The image quality is great. There are no pixelated, fuzzy or broken lines.The designs are detailed, without being overly intricate. There is plenty of open spaces. There are a few illustrations with smaller areas, mainly being the scaled tails on most, but often those are colored as one, so this should not cause any great difficulty for those with vision or dexterity issues.Paper quality is 60# weight, which is about standard for adult coloring books. You can use most art mediums in this book, but if using watercolors, I would advise to copy to 110# weight card stock, mixed media paper or watercolor paper, that can hold up to the water without damaging the paper. As with most coloring books, you will need to use a couple blotter pages behind the image you are coloring, if using markers, to avoid any bleed through issues.There is a blank page at the back of the book that you can use as a blotter page or to test your medium.I would recommend this book for all skill levels.

Love it! The pictures in this book are beautiful! The book is well made and the paper is medium weight. Pictures are on one side, so that's always good. I know I'm going to love coloring this. I'll probably end up buying it again just to color it again. I've done that with one book already that I just love. Anyone could color this book. From a 5 year old on up. I believe any medium would work on these pages. Always protect the next picture behind the one you're coloring though! Just put a few sheets of notebook paper under the page you color. Or cardstock. It prevents any possible bleed through and indentations that could ruin or lessen the quality of the next picture. I hope this has been helpful! Happy Coloring!!

It’s ok to color. Cheezy drawings. Didn't really keep my interest.

The graphics were OK, but I still enjoyed coloring them.

I love this book as it allows me to get creative with colors, rather than using perfect replications of colors in nature coloring books. The mermaid fantasy is yours to interpret in color as you imagine this mythical creature's appearance.I did tear out about 5 photos I didn't want to color that had men or kids in them as they seemed corny to me. But I would buy another copy of this and I'll buy a couple for Christmas gifts. I really like to use some metallic colors too for bubbles or baubles. The faces are fun to get creative with and because they are imaginary you don't need to stick to a flesh skin tone. Go crazy with your imagination!

I just got this absolutely gorgeous book today! All of the art is very well done and most are very original in concept. All are on e side of the page which is a plus for me. In the back are smaller versions which can be framed or made into cards. A must have for all mermaid/fantasy fans.