Magical Jungle: An Inky Expedition and Coloring Book for Adults

I now have 5 of Johanna's books, so I would say that I am definitely a fan of her work. While I do enjoy the intricate details in many of her coloring book pages, I also appreciate the larger areas of Magical Jungle. The pictures are beautiful and will be fun to color.The pages are printed on both sides on lovely creamy paper vs the brillant white in some. Each page is quite thick as are all her books. As the thickness of the book can cause one to have hands awkwardly angled when working around the outer edges of the page, I use another of her books to rest my hand upon. The pictures to go from edge of the page directly to the crease. The 2 page spreads can be difficult unless you break the binding. This is easily done for most. As always, Johanna as included hidden items throughout the book. There are 14 double page spreads & 34 single page pictures. Towards the back is each picture in miniature that show which hidden items are where. There is also a color palette page & 4 bonus pages on perforated single sides!I found the following :Both wax & oil pencils work nicely with easy blending, depending on the brand of pencils used. I used Prismacolor wax pencils & Hero oil pencils & I also used my Artist Choice pencils, which are a harder wax pencil and they worked very well. All layered well.Pastels, the chalky type by Mungyo adhered very well to the pages for background. Remember to use this generally with the oil pencils, as oil will repell the pastel from changing the colors of your coloring. I lightly shave pastels along the outer areas and gently move the color into the smaller areas blending the pastels gently into the overall picture. It can be quite lovely.Gel pens work nicely, but some inks could possibly bleed through.Permanent maker will shadow through. Be sure you have no plans to color the page behind & use cardstock or several pieces of copy paper to protect other pages. I use cardstock behind every page I color.I used Pitt Pens to embellish my pages &there was no bleed through. These are India Ink, brush tipped pens. A dream to work with, &fantastic for making your pictures pop. If you decide to do a black background, the Pitt pens will leave dark shadows, so again be sure you do not want to do the picture behind!Watercolor pencils work very well, but beware of using too much water. These pages can buckle, but using water sparingly can prevent this from happening.Water based markers work well. There can be minor bleed through &pilling of the paper if you try using too much of the markers in 1 place. Layering with these types of markers are not recommended by me,but others may know how to make them work differently for them.For a wonderful YouTube video review or tutorials with Johanna's books, look for Peta Hewitt, La Artistino! She is amazing &I enjoyed the tutorials I have done. As Peta says, "happy coloring! "

Johanna Bashford is my favorite color book author/artist. The paper is heavier that some books, the pictures are fun and lively and the paper does not run or strike thru. There are many types of pictures , miniature, large and looming, intricate and easy. It’s a better book so it costs a little more.

The media could not be loaded. “Magical Jungle” is a very different coloring book from Johanna Basford. The designs are much less intricate than those of her previous books, especially when compared to the tiny and intricate designs of “Lost Ocean”. Another big difference is that it seems the artist made a concentrated effort to reduce the amount of elements in designs that cross over two pages (as the book is printed on both sides of the page.) There were still a few but that is so much less than in previous books, it is almost unnoticeable.The paper in US version of “Magical Jungle” is ivory. It is not the same color of cream as used in “Secret Garden” or “Enchanted Forest”. Nor is it the white color that was used in the first four printings of “Lost Ocean”. I would have modified my review of "Lost Ocean" to mention the darker ivory color paper starting with the fifth printing but due to a glitch in Amazon's review system, I am unable to modify my review of “Lost Ocean”. If you buy a later version of “Lost Ocean” it now has a similar but slightly darker ivory paper as that used in “Magical Jungle”.The designs are based on the jungle with cartoon style animals and lots and lots of plants and flowers. You should be sure to have a large number of green pencils/pens ready when coloring in this book. My preference turned out to be oil-based pencils for that reason. Between my two sets of oil-based, I have a lot of shades of green.I also purchased the UK version of this book and found some common areas and some noticeable differences:First, the paper, while definitely different colors and perhaps weight, were comparable when it came to coloring mediums. I would not choose one over the other thinking I could use a specific medium with better results.Second, the color of the paper. The US version is ivory and the UK version is white. I will include two photos showing both the color difference and how the two-page designs line up. In those photos, the UK version is on the bottom and the US on the top. The rest of the photos and my colored designs are from the US version as is the video on Amazon.Third, the UK version has a removable dustcover with a single long designs on the inside. The inside cover is a pea green with a black design printed on it. It does not have inside flaps. The US version has a fixed cover with the front and back having fold out flaps with the same sort of design on the inside. The covers are slightly different colors but still in the ivory family with gold foil accents.Fourth, the weight of the two are the same (1.23 pounds) with the dustcover on the UK version. Without the dustcover, the UK version is 1.14 pounds. The paper portion of the UK version is 1/16th of an inch thinner than the US version. Between the weight and the slight difference in depth, I think the UK version is a slightly lighter weight paper.Fifth, the binding is different and this makes for a real difference in how the designs inside line up. The US version is a hybrid glue/sewn binding with multiple stitches. The UK version is sewn binding with only a few stitches. My US version did not line up well but my UK version did line up well. For a couple of designs, there was a noticeable difference but, in general, as few designs spread elements across two pages, it wasn't a huge factor.I like both books for different reasons. I like the dustcover and the binding of the UK version but I also like the ivory of the US version. I can't recommend one over the other. It really comes down to what you prefer for your coloring.This is what I found as I colored in this book and tested the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I used for testing and for most of my coloring projects.Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.Water-based markers (except for Tombow's) leave shadows and even spots of color on the back of the page. The brush end of Tombows did not bleed through.Gel pens and India ink did not bleed through the page.Colored pencils worked well. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with good results. I was able to layer the same color for deeper pigment, layer multiple colors and to blend easily with a pencil style blending stick. Pencils did not leave indentations on the back of the page.

I have several other books by JB and I love them ALL. There is always a picture for any mood. All of the detail you want, but not TOO much. Super cute and high quality paper, which is a MUST. I only wish the illustrations were only one sided. I have not had any bleed through with my glitter gel pens, but still prefer one sided pages. Happy coloring!!!!