Island Escape: My Caribbean Coloring Book

The media could not be loaded.  I originally purchased this coloring book to use to learn watercolor techniques. As soon as it arrived, I knew I wanted to color the book as well, so I immediately ordered a second copy. The designs are wonderful; they take me back to my own Caribbean vacations. I see the beautiful colors and the bright blue skies in my mind's eye.The lovely designs are only one of the reasons why this coloring book is so fantastic. The quality of the paper and the way the book has been published is just about as good as it can get. All of my coloring mediums worked well (though my “juicy” Copic markers did have a tendency to feather as the ink was so quickly pulled into the page.)The paper is a cream tone and is heavyweight watercolor paper. There are ten double page fold-out designs. All of the pages are perforated for easy removal from the book. While the book is sewn binding (a general hint that the book is higher quality), none of the designs cross over the perforations. If you want to remove pages to frame them, you won't lose any portion of the design in taking the page out via the perforations.I am having fun with my first copy with my standard coloring medium. My second copy will be exclusively for learning watercolor and watercolor pencil techniques. I'm thrilled to have found such a beautiful book with which to learn and practice. I will happily purchase any book by this author and/or publisher if they have this quality of book materials. This is one of the books that other publishers should take note of and attempt to measure up to.This is what I experienced in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper. I didn't text any form of watercolor medium as I am just learning how to use it. Because of that, I shy away from saying how it worked for me as any issues I come across are sure to be because of my inexperience rather than any issue with the book.Beautiful Caribbean Inspired Artwork DesignsPrinted on one side of the page with ten double page fold-out designsPaper is thick watercolor paper in cream, rough texture and all pages are perforated for easy removal.Sewn BindingDesigns stop short of perforationsAlcohol-based markers bleed through the page and can feather side-to-side if the marker is “juicy”Water-based markers, India ink pens, and gel pens do not bleed through the paper. Gel pens dry exceptionally quick with this paper.Colored pencils work well with the page though, due to the texture, it takes several layers to get a deep pigment. As I personally prefer a lighter look to my coloring, this was a non-issue for me. Both oil and wax based pencils worked equally well. I was able to get good color, layer different colors easily and blend extremely easily using a pencil style blender stick.

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This book has me speechless. The paper is a very nice watercolor grade. The images are beautiful, the size of this book is three times the size of a Johanna Basford book. It would take 3 possibly 4 of Johanna Basford books to equal one of these books. The images are clean and interesting. This is a must have for the color enthusiast.

I already have the Johanna Basford books and enjoy them immensely, so I really didn't need another. However, I spent part of my childhood in Trinidad and couldn't resist the island temptation. I am so glad I ordered this book! I have been using watercolors, and while the paper is very thirsty, it handles the paint well. I have been able to do washes and fine details, layer colors and drop wet into wet, and the paper hardly moves, certainly doesn't buckle even though it is a lighter weight paper for watercolor. It is more absorbent than regular watercolor paper and I have been able to get used to that pretty quickly. It is a light cream color and shows off the colors nicely. I can lift colors, if I get to them quickly, the paper won't take a lot of scrubbing. It feels like cartridge paper but handles wet media like watercolor paper with no bleed or show through even when using fountain pen ink for tiny details.The pictures are beautiful and just detailed enough to be challenging without being overwhelmed with tiny spaces. They have the caribbean feel that takes me back to hot sunny days, the smell of spices, and a soft sound of steel drums humming in my head. Thanks Jade! I have already ordered the second book in this series.

This Colouring book is amazing: the first thing that captured my attention was that it is by a Trinidadian illustrator/artist who is extremely talented. If you are looking for a book with exotic, beautiful and practical images- then this book is perfect for you! It has thick pages suitable for Watercolouring and they are all perforated. There are also varying images to appeal to different interests- it has a bit of fashion pages, landscape, architecture and amazing foliage and flowers that are reflective of life in the Caribbean. I am a Caribbean colorist, so I find relevance in the wide selection of illustrations.I was so impressed and thoroughly enjoyed using this book that I ordered the second edition, "Rainforest Escape."The only con I see is that I would have preferred the book to be a bit larger as the images are so beautiful! The images are standard sized, but there are also many foldout pages so that a plus.A must get!

I have seen video flips of this book, so knew what the book held. It is in perfect shape except the cover is on backwards. No big deal. I'm mainly using it for watercolor practice. There are a lot of the caption pages are missing, but none of the full size pictures are. This should've been noted in the description. Shipped fast.

This book is exactly what I've been looking for! I love coloring books but watercolor is by far my favorite medium. This book has high quality, watercolor paper, images that are only on one side of the page and gorgeous drawings. The artwork is beautiful and peaceful and I love that there are plenty of large areas to color in. While I love the look of small details (such as Johanna Basford) I tire of coloring in tiny details with little room for shading. This book provides a great balance of details and open spaces. There are a wide variety of designs in this book--landscapes, vignettes, patterns,etc. I am eager to work in this book, to purchase the author's other book, and to stalk Amazon to find her next book. I love the island feel of this book but also am excited to see what else this artist might try out!

Adorei o livro, todo em papel de aquarela de qualidade,os desenhos são lindos, amei. Gostei muito, gostaria de comprar os outros livros de temas diferente.

The paper used is high quality, the drawings are beautiful, very detailed, and the large ones are printed on a large folded sheet, what I appreciate so much because it is too rare, and which means for me a big respect for the colourists. Thank you so much Jade.

This book is one of the nicest watercolor books that you can buy. The artwork is outstanding and some pictures are very detailed. Every book that Jade Gedeon releases is top quality in every way. The paper takes washes and layering well. I have used Inktense pencils and watercolor paints and there was no bleed through. The paper has a fuzzy feel to it, I have this type of watercolor paper and it is very good for watercolor but a colored pencil degrades the paper. This book is square and large in size like Johanna Basford's books. This book is very thick with a lot of pages there are12 double spreads which are very detailed. I had been waiting for this book to be reduced in price since it was released Amazon.ca has recently reduced the price drastically so I was able to purchase a number of Jade Gedeon books. I highly recommend this book and all of Jade Gedeon books for watercolor. Truly a book that needs to be in your collection of watercolor books.

Es un libro con ilustraciones muy bonitas.Tiene un papel de acuarela estupendo, que es lo que yo quería para colorear.

Absolutely stunning! The paper is thick, proper art paper, suitable for dry or wet mediums, the pictures are beautifully drawn and there is a reference in the back explaining a little about some of the places depicted Having been to Jamaica once, to get married this book has given me the wanderlust to visit more of the carries and have my own island escape my favourite colouring book thus far and I have over 200.