by Raconteur
on March 2018
Style: color inspiration images, double page printing, Paper: Medium to Heavy
Format: Card cover with fold out, Glue Binding
Fairy tales re-imagined in traditional Korean style
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Raconteur Coloring Book Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video review of the Korean Raconteur Fairy Tale Coloring Book.
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Raconteur Coloring Book Review
When I first saw this Korean artist’s illustrations on Instagram I fell in love. Her colored drawings and line art is so sweet and delicate but unique in her own style. You can follow her on Instagram here to see beautiful art work.
Any coloring book that is based on fairy tales is always something that I will be interested in. Of course, if it has a cute Alice in Wonderland in it I’m very likely to buy it.
What I like and find interesting about this coloring book, is that the fairy tales are depicted in a Korean style and dress. This is a similar concept to my other Korean fairy tale coloring book that depicts characters in traditional dress.
Cover & Layout
The card cover of this book has a waxy textured feel to it which should repel smudges from dirty hands. You immediately notice how thick the book is and heavy when you have it in your hand.
Measuring in at 29.8 cm x 21cm it is slightly longer than most coloring books.
There are fold-out flaps which feature text in Korean at both ends of the book. The front refers to the artist’s social media pages.
There are two toned pages front and back to protect the coloring pages inside.
Ancillary Pages
A plain text title page commences the book with copyright information on the reverse. This is followed by a grayscale version of the front cover art with text on the reverse and facing page. Any of these pages would be suitable to test out your mediums.
At the end of the coloring book, you will find 14 pages of colored illustrations from the book (including the cover art).
Layout
Illustrations have been printed on both sides of the faintly textured, off white paper. The paper is medium to heavy and very sturdy.
All of the illustrations have been orientated landscape style in the book.
There are 56 pages that comprise double-page scenes. Line art does run to the spine of the book in these pages but due to the lay-flat binding, there should be no difficulties coloring these pages.
One small disappointment with the book is the binding. It may just be my copy, but the glue binding feels very loose. Whilst this is great for ensuring the book lays down flat for ease of coloring, it does worry me that the pages may loosen and come out. I have opened and closed it several times since filming. So far it is holding up with no signs of pages coming loose.
Art Work
The artwork has a real hand drawn, sketchy feel to it. The line color varies from a dark gray to a dull black. The artist uses a medium to a heavy line to denote elements in the foreground and often uses heavy, solid black for shading and extra dimension. The line variation makes the illustrations very appealing and different to look at in line art form and would look wonderful colored.
It is always interesting for me to see fairy tales depicted by different artists. What is more interesting though, is when they are reimagined into a different culture and style, like this one. Some fairy tales, like the depiction of Snow White and Seven Dwarves produce an illustration that looks a little scary. Luckily, a YouTube viewer has clarified for me that the masks worn by the dwarves are a traditional Korean mask and are meant to be comical, not scary.
You will find all your favorite illustrations here as never before illustrated in a color book, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Mermaid. Some of the fairy tale illustrations I cannot assign to a fairy tale that I am familiar with. I suspect that they may be Korean tales.
Artists that are visually or motor-impaired will appreciate that there are large areas of open space on the elements in the book. This makes it easier to color together with the thicker outlines that make the illustration easier to see, without resorting to the magnifying lamp.
Bonus
At the end of the book, there are 4 colored postcards that you can cut out and send (if you can bear to part with them)
Detail Level
Where to buy Raconteur Coloring Book
| Etailer 1 | Etailer 2 |
Happy coloring x
Lea
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