Gorgeous and magical would highly recommend
* Angle Cringle *
The cover of the Tangle Magic by Jessica Palmer immediately caught my attention when I first saw it online. Lets look at the inside as well, shall we?
Jessica Palmer is an illustrator, paper cutter and a paper sculpter. She has done two other coloring books before as well, Tangle Wood and Tangle Bay.
Tangle Magic is her newest book and it is all about magic, strange creatures and objects. The imagery is very whimsical and creative. There are references to different fairytales found here and there as well, like the shoe page or the princess and the pea reference. You can find a dragon and a phoenix and countless other fun magical items and creatures within this book, all the content being cohesive and well put together in my opinion.
Some of the pages are very intricate to the point that you'll probably want to use pens instead of pencils. Most are fine for pencils though. Some pages have a printed black background, most are white.
In the beginning there is also a page on how to color gemstones which is very cool, I like these how-to pages in books, it's always a bonus. The paper is very nice, it has a tiny bit of a texture to it which makes layering a dream, it's not an annoying texture but of the good sort. The binding is a bit tough at first but it eases up quite well and seems pretty stable, I don't think it will fall apart quickly.
One of my favorite pages is the crystal ball which you can color as is or draw something in it as well and I love that the book doesn't tell you what to do with it. I'm really not a fan of those doodle here type of comments in books.
I chose mushrooms for my test page and went with a really simple light french grey background but the mushrooms have a multitude of layers at places and the paper held up like a champ. I just love coloring mushrooms, there's something really fun about them
Overall, it's a great book with awesome paper, definitely recommend if you like these whimsical images.
https://thecoloringaddict.com/2016/10/01/book-review-tangle-magic-by-jessica-palmer/
* The Colouring Addict *
Inside is a magical mystical journey through all sorts of unique pictures to colour in. I'm particularly looking forward to colouring the hidden owl and attempting the art of creating my own gem.
* Annette Benjamin *
I am so glad colouring is now fashionable. It is so calming and relaxing and so much fun. This book makes it even more fun. It takes your imagination and turns it on it's head. It takes inspiration from your favorite fairy tales
and puts it in the most amazing pictures. I love Jessica's books as her style is such fun and she makes colouring even more interesting. My whole family enjoys looking for the charms in each of her books. In this book animals are brought into the imagination and put into a lot of circumstances that would normally be human's. The use of the animals makes it even more fun and interesting. I love the crystal ball that you can either just colour-in or you can add your own picture within. I love the use of the black backgrounds in this book, it makes a big impact to the picture. The dragons and other mythical creatures are amazing. They also give you the opportunity to
create your own amazing look when you colour them in. If you haven't tried colouring yet, give it a try.
It's calming and relaxing. It takes your mind off all the stressful things going on and just gives you some meditative time. This book is my favorite of Jessica's. It's set my imagination off as well :-).
Full review and pictures: http://www.crochetaddictuk.com/2016/09/tangle-magic-search-press-book-review.html
* Crochet Addict *
This is Jessica Palmer's third Tangle book and it's both different, and similar, to her previous books. The title is Tangle Magic but it's less about magic as such and more about the magical and enchanting aspect of fantasy.
Like her previous books, animals feature a lot in Tangle Magic. That was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting more darkness and black magic in this book.
Drawing:
There is a multitude of animals and birds in this book, sporting hats and crowns and gorgeous attire. Of course there are owls too, and I love Jessica's owls. There are a few beautiful landscape images on double page spreads and there are several images with black backgrounds. There is a mix of detailed images and pages with less happening. There are also images that give you scope for adding backgrounds and your own details.
Line width is medium and you shouldn't need the magnifying glass!
Within each image is a hidden gem or trinket to find - practise for you at colouring jewels!
Layout and Paper:
Tangle Magic is the same size as Tangle Wood and Tangle Bay so they look great together as a set.
The endpapers have images you can colour and the first page shows you Five Steps to Colour a Shiny Gem. The paper is white and good quality. There is a blank page at the back for you to try out any pens you may wish to use. Binding is string and the book lies pretty flat. A few images run into the spine but you will manage this easily.
Enjoy!
* Colouring Book Reviews with Prue *
I have been given this book to review, it arrived very well packaged, from opening the package the book filled me with awe wonder & excitement, it is a stiff backed book(so usable if you were travelling on a train or bus etc) It is made from good quality paper with lots & lots of exciting pages to discover hidden charms hiding among the pictures as you colour from owls to unicorns, dragons & cats, dancing dogs & bicycle riding hens,the choice is endless, i wont spoil all your fun as you turn the page finding new adventures to colour in with great detail, there is an easy step by step guide to colouring shiny gems which i found helpful. the paper is very good quality nothing worse then colours passing through the page, not the case with this colouring book. so please come and give Tangle magic a try if you love colouring
* Michaela Atkins *
This title matches the other two in shape and size, being square in shape and having a slightly shiny cover you can color in. Like Tangle Bay the paper is a good quality smooth bright white, suitable for waterbased pens but lacking the tooth many pencil users prefer. Pictures are printed on both sides but unless you want to use paint or permanent markers this is not a problem. The lines are black and fine and the drawings mostly on the intricate side so aimed at colorists with good eyesight. Having said that the lines are also very visible and clear with no fuzziness or pixilation - these are all hand drawn images. All of them are highly imaginative and not scenes from classic stories but straight out of the author's own mind which is a bonus. Grandly dressed dogs attend a dance in the woods, chickens ride on a penny farthing, a peacock flies on a broomstick and a teapot sprouts flowers. In a few cases there are tweaks on existing works such as the owl and the pussycat on a watery moon and a crowned dog sleeping in a four poster stacked high with mattresses while hares dance under fantastic trees. At the front there is a page (advertised on the cover) showing how to create the look of a shiny gem if you have good quality artist's pencils and a this book belongs to page to write your name in. There are hidden charms to hunt for and a couple of pages - most notably a blank crystal ball - you can add drawings too but this is not really a feature here. This time no pictures vanish into the spine and as with the last title on the back cover is a message that you can bend and flatten the book as much as you like. Looking at it I can see that it has a special construction and this seems to work well. This is another gorgeous and inventive book that is sure to give colorists a lot of pleasure. May there be many more in this series!
* Myshelf.com *
This is a lovely book with some fantastic illustrations in it there are some very intricate pictures you need some patients as it will take a while to complete one of the pictures but it will be worth it as they will look stunning once completed.
There is easy over 50 pictures in the book to colour (I havn't counted them) there are also sections in twined with the pictures to doodle your own contribution if you wish to do so.
This book would make a lovely present for someone if they enjoy colouring. It's a very mature take on mythical/magical wonderment and because of the complexity of the book it makes me want to take my time with it to make it look the best I can.
The book it's self I couldn't describe it as paper back or hardback as it bends but is stronger and much thicker than normal paperback.
The pages inside are of a high quality paper as they're is pictures to colour on each side of the pages
* Emma Cromarty *
Amazing , the hidden gems to find really make this colouring book stand out from the rest. I love it and highly recommend it to others.
* Gina Ackroyd *
I love this cool colouring book and loved looking for the hidden gems. What I also liked is that although it is a colouring book you are still able to use your imagination as you colour and doodle and get lost in the pictures. It is so relaxing after a day at work where you can forget about everything and enjoy some time having fun.
* Lucy Chester *
I already own both Tangle Wood and Tangle Bay, so when Search Press kindly offered to send me Tangle Magic to review i jumped at the chance. For those who are unfamiliar with Jessica Palmer's Tangle books they are very different than the majority of colouring books on the market. The books are smaller in size than books like those by Johanna Basford/Millie Marotta and others, although bigger than the Good Wives and Warriors Escape to... series. They are extremely well made with a soft backed cover which is sturdier than most paperback covers offering your book good protection. The pages are sewn bound to cloth ribbon meaning that the pages are not going to fall out easily and helps the pages to lay flat for colouring. You can bend and stretch the cover safely to achieve this end. The paper is bright white, apart from some of the pictures which have a lovely black background which will make bright colours simply dazzle. The illustrations are stunning, printed in crisp black lines (no transfer of ink between pages - the ink seems to be completely fixed in this book) in Jessica's unique and quirky style. Most of the pictures are more detailed than previous Tangle Bay, I think they are more similar to Tangle Wood in the level of detail. It does however have Tangle Bay's quirkiness. Inside you will find a Cat Genie and Witch, Bugs having tea, a Chameleon Wizard, a Peacock Witch, Dancing Dogs in Dresses, Moon gazing hares, Bicycle riding Chickens, Bird magicians, dragons, and even a fox princess in the bed of mattresses reimagined from fairytale 'Princess and the Pea.'The designs are such fun to colour and takes both pencil and water-based markers well, and the paper is good quality medium thickness. The pages are double-sided so I would not use Alcohol based markers in this book. I would highly recommend this book. Enjoy the flipthrough. The first picture I decided to colour was the jar of eyes. I chose to colour it solely in glitter gel pens by Luna Jayne and a clear glitter Gelly Roll pen as it reminded me of a rather strange jar of sweets. I love the way it turned out and how it catches the light and sparkles against the black background. I look forward to colouring the phoenix some time in the same way. The second picture I decided to tackle one of the double-page spreads. Unlike most double-pagers the ones in this book, even though they are often very detailed, are quicker and less intimidating to colour due to the size of the pages. I completed this lovely one with the hares and fox in the bed in about three hours. I just love how different the picture is and how the lovely black background is already done for me. I used Prismacolour Premier pencils and the Luna Jayne glitter gel pens again.
To see the full review, flip-through video and Hazel's finished colourings: https://creativecolouringwithhazel.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/tangle-magic-by-jessica-palmer/
* Creative Colouring with Hazel *
Tangle Magic is the third book in Jessica Palmer's Tangle series of colouring books, preceded by Tangle Wood and Tangle Bay. Firstly I have to mention how honoured and touched I am to have been listed in the dedications in this book-- thank you so much Jessica!
Tangle Magic isn't entirely what I was expecting- and that's not a bad thing! I had thought it would be full of occult imagery and accoutrements like Ouija boards, Voodoo dolls and spellbooks, but instead it focuses on animals taking on human characteristics and performing magic, which I suppose is the 'magic' part of it. Jessica's books have always been very animal-centric with creatures that seem to have more perception and knowledge than meets the eye, which is a predominant theme in this book. It's like taking a peek into their secret world where peacock witches travel on broomsticks, dogs in dinner jackets rub on magic lamps and seagull magicians pull rabbits out of hats.
As with the previous books Jessica has incorporated a hidden treasure element, whereby lots of interesting trinkets and charms are scattered throughout the illustrations for you to find. There's also a very helpful guide on how to create those shiny gems that a lot of colourists have been doing lately, and ample opportunity in the book to practice.
The book is the same size and format as their predecessors, with even thicker paper stock this time around. Where Tangle Wood had coarse, ivory paper, Tangle Magic has kept the bright white of Tangle Bay but upgraded the paper thickness, at least it feels that way to me. Water-based pens will not bleed through at all, which is good as this book is double sided. There are a mixture of standalone images & double page spreads, and a variety of both intricate and less detailed illustrations.
The books look stunning together on the shelf, each with their thick card covers that are a soft matte aside from glossy details here and there. With a strong stitched spine as opposed to glue, you can bend and lay these books flat without worrying they will fall apart or loosen the pages. - See more at: http://www.colourwithclaire.com/blog/tangle-magic-by-jessica-palmer#sthash.t0eUdrNP.dpuf * Colour with Claire *
I am blown away by this book and have spent more time than I should have just looking through the pages, always noticing something new, there's just so much detail included and so many aspects that aren't immediately obvious but that you notice over time.
This book is 22.2cm square (10 inches), softback with a soft touch flexible card cover with line drawings on the front and back which are contained within the book and the pages are flexibound meaning they're quite tight to begin with but the spine eases up with use and Search Press have reliably informed me that with sensible amounts of bending (including bending the covers so far back that they touch each other completely) the spine will hold up and you'll be able to access the entire page. I'm yet to be brave enough to try this but you can certainly get very close to the centre of each image without much difficulty and the pages are stitch-bound which always increases durability. The paper is thick, bright white and lightly textured, (the same as Tangle Bay), water-based pens don't bleed or shadow as long as you're careful and there is plenty of tooth to be able to build up layers of pencil for blending and shading. The outlines of the images aren't 100% permanent so when using pencils or heavy pressure, make sure you pop a spare sheet of paper behind your work to protect the proceeding page, the transfer is fully erasable but the paper will save time so you don't have to be erasing things.
The book contains 75 pages of double-sided images which consist of a mixture of single and double-page spreads and they are filled with all manner of magical things.
You can read the full review from Colouring in the Midst of Madness here: https://colouringinthemidstofmadness.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/worldwide-giveaway-and-review-tangle-magic-a-spellbinding-colouring-book-with-hidden-charms/
* Colouring in the Midst of Madness *
louring book is beautiful, the detail of the pictures are amazing and I really love the pages with the black background.
The paper it's printed on is good quality so you can use pencils or pens and they won't go through the pages and ruin the other pictures on the other side,
I have spent hours on this book I just love it would definitely recommend it
* Kylie Gibbons *
