Across the Prairie by Claudia McGehee

​Summary
Current Price: £7.33
Number of Pages: 24
Size: 24 x 21cm
Paper colour: White
Paper surface: Smooth 
Paper thickness: Above Average
Linework: Bold​ 
Perforated: No 
One sided: Yes 
Binding: Staple
Drawings go into the spine: No​
Waterbased pen bleed: Slight Shadowing

Claudia McGhee grew up in the prairies of the Pacific Northwest, the landscapes of which inspired her to create this book. Her art is unusual in its style- a type named Scratchboard, which is where you use sharp tools to etch an illustration through India Ink on clay-covered board, giving an imperfect, textured look to your art.

This book focuses on the organic, grassy landscapes of the Prairie and the native animals you will find there. On the reverse corner of each page is a small illustration and a line of narrative guiding you as you travel through each scene.

The book only has 12 illustrations and is therefore very thin. The paper is thicker than average but still creates shadowing on the reverse, which isn't a problem but it might have been nice to use the back of each page as a journal or sketchbook, given the nature of the artwork. I'm still not convinced that Scratchboard necessarily makes good colouring pages, with the amount of black, thick lines there is, but I'd love to hear your views on it. Watercolour paints might have a nicer effect.

Here is a page I finished with Faber Castell Pitt pens.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. You can find it on Etsy here.