Color the Classics: Beauty and the Beast Paperback – Coloring Book, May 17, 2016

The media could not be loaded. t the time I am writing this review, there are now three classic storybook coloring books released by Jae Eun Lee. I was less pleased by the number of simply story book pages as compared fully coloring pages in the first release “Anne of Green Gables”. In “Alice In Wonderland” and now again, in “Beauty and the Beast”, I appreciate that there are more coloring pages and that some of the story is inset in those pages instead of taking up a lot of the book with story. Of the 72 design pages in “Beauty”, only 14 are simply illustrated story book pages. Note that the book is listed as having 85 pages but that includes title pages, the foreward, and the thumbnails images at the back of the book.To be clear, the story portrayed in this book is not the happy, feel-good version that we have seen on the big screen. This story goes back to the roots of the tale and includes some less than happy characters (for instance, Beauty's sisters apparently plot to have the Beast devour Beauty.) While the story harkens back to the original, it is in no way complete. You may want to pick up a classic telling of the story to keep along side the coloring book for future reading and reference.I really love the illustrations in this book as I have the two prior ones. Artist Jae Eun Lee has a beautiful ability to draw and make the scenes highly romantic. I found that the designs were open and flowing and easy to color without resorting to specialty pens to get into tiny spots.For my first two projects in this coloring book, I chose to do first a design of Beauty with the Beast and then for the second design, I chose a lovely design of hands in lace partial gloves. I used Caran D'Ache Pablo oil-based Colored Pencils. While I found that these, as well as other oil-based pencils did not blend as well, I liked the way the pencils worked with the paper otherwise and I used them more for layering colors than for any blending. I might have used Verithins for the lacework but I am trying to keep my coloring pencils consistent within each book in this series. For fun, I will use a different brand of colored pencils for each book going forward to give each one a slightly different appearance.Here is what I found in a brief overview:72 pages of Designs and Story Book IllustrationsPrinted on both sides of pagePages are heavyweight, slightly smooth and non-perforatedGlue BindingSome Designs merge into the bindingSome Designs spread across two pagesAlcohol-based markers bleed through the pageWater-based markers do not bleed throughIndia ink pens do not bleed throughGel pens do not bleed through but require extra drying timeColoring pencils did well in laying down good color with this paper. I was able to use them with a light touch as well as with multiple layers for a more solid appearance. Colors also layered well over other colors. Wax-based pencils did better at blending than did oil-based colors but both were acceptable for my use. Hard lead pencils did not did through the back of the book.

I was very excited when this book finally became available on US Amazon so I could buy it! I'd seen it being colored in from some European colorists and I knew I had to have it. It tells the story of Beauty and the Beast that follows the original book more than the Disney version we are used to. I'd say it is for intermediate to advanced colorists as the details are quite complex and a page will take you at least a few days to complete. My first page took a couple of weeks but the result was spectacular. The paper is gorgeous and thick double sided with a binding that is easy to press down to get into the center of the two page spreads. My artist pencils worked spectacularly in this book and I used a few glitter and metallic gel pens for special effects as well. I loved it!

85 pages of beautiful pictures to color. I owned this copy in Mandarin and it was distroyed in a fire. To find a copy in English was a great surprise.I recommend this adult coloring book for the tranquility the artwork alone.

I love the "Color the Classic" series .... this book tells a modified version of the story with great graphics to color. Nice thick white pages, works well with pencils or gel pens. The book does have double sided pictures so I would not recommend sharpies or Bic markers.

The paper is heavy and toothy, and works beautifully with dry mediums. I've had great success with pencils and gel pens. However, watercolor pencils bleed through immediately, and this paper is surprisingly absorbent for the heavy weight. I ruined a page experimenting, but I just couldn't get it to cooperate with watercolors.However the illustrations are beautiful and incredibly detailed, so I highly recommend it to adults who like a fussy and time consuming page. There are a few pages with less details for a quicker result, but most of the pages are incredibly time consuming for me.

This is a beautiful book. It is not anything like the Disney book which is why I was attracted to this book. It is elegant and very detail drawings. It is a book that any advance colorist will enjoy.

Paper quality is really good. I can use my markers with no bleeding through the page:) Some of the outline on the illustrations are not closed which i wish was not the case but overall it is nice

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories and this coloring book has 75 page of coloring fun. Lots of detail with several pages of the Beast. These aren't Disney looking designs but more reminiscent of the 1700's Toile renderings.