The second book in my review series is Doodle Invasion by Kerby Rosanes. He is an illustrator from the Philippines and his artwork consists of his famous 'critters', doodles and other fantastical imagery. Many of his pages start out as recognizable animals or things, before turning into compositions of various creatures and doodles.
The artwork is what attracted me to this book. Seeing finished pictures on social media sites tempted me to get this book without reading many reviews, which I should have done.
There are many different types of images including giant animals, fantasy elements like elves and machinery. It is quite wonderful just to look at. The line work is fairly thick and the artist has included black spaces and lines to indicate shading, always helpful to beginners.
Each doodle or piece within an image is not intricate by itself but since there are so many of them, you'll take some time to finish each page.
The paper in this book is the worst I have encountered by far, it looks and feels like printer paper! The images are single sided which means you can use whatever media you chose - water, markers, gel pens, pencils etc. - as long as you slip a few blank sheets underneath.
But the paper itself isn't good for anything in particular. It doesn't have much of a tooth to it, meaning you can't put layers of colored pencil or do much blending. Both the Prismacolors and Polychromos did poorly.
You will have an easier time with markers, fineliners or gel pens but they will bleed through! If you dislike poor paper quality, I would strongly advise against purchasing this book.
Unfortunately, none of the books by Rosanes are available in artist editions or postcard books which is quite a shame. I really love the designs and would've liked to color them in on better paper.
This book is actually quite suitable for beginners since it's all single sided images with no double spreads. Great for keeping aside as a practice book. So get your markers out and go wild in Doodle Invasion!
Doodle Invasion by Kerby Rosanes
Description
It has 50 images which are printed one-sided. Most of the pictures are in portrait mode and the book itself is taller than your average coloring book. There are no double spreads and you don't have to worry about losing images to the center of the book.Artwork
The artwork is what attracted me to this book. Seeing finished pictures on social media sites tempted me to get this book without reading many reviews, which I should have done.There are many different types of images including giant animals, fantasy elements like elves and machinery. It is quite wonderful just to look at. The line work is fairly thick and the artist has included black spaces and lines to indicate shading, always helpful to beginners.
Each doodle or piece within an image is not intricate by itself but since there are so many of them, you'll take some time to finish each page.
Paper Quality
In one of my earlier posts, I talked about paper quality. In that post, I said I was happy with all my purchases so far except one. This is the book I was talking about.The paper in this book is the worst I have encountered by far, it looks and feels like printer paper! The images are single sided which means you can use whatever media you chose - water, markers, gel pens, pencils etc. - as long as you slip a few blank sheets underneath.
But the paper itself isn't good for anything in particular. It doesn't have much of a tooth to it, meaning you can't put layers of colored pencil or do much blending. Both the Prismacolors and Polychromos did poorly.
You will have an easier time with markers, fineliners or gel pens but they will bleed through! If you dislike poor paper quality, I would strongly advise against purchasing this book.
Suitable Media
- Bad for pencils of any kind
- Markers are best
- Pens are ok
- Watercolor is ok if you don't mind buckling.
Value
This book is priced at about $11-$12. But it's not a good value based on paper quality. Compare it with books by Johanna Basford or Hannah Karlzon which come with exceptional paper at the same price.Unfortunately, none of the books by Rosanes are available in artist editions or postcard books which is quite a shame. I really love the designs and would've liked to color them in on better paper.
This book is actually quite suitable for beginners since it's all single sided images with no double spreads. Great for keeping aside as a practice book. So get your markers out and go wild in Doodle Invasion!
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