Do You Remember Your First Coloring Book?
As a kid I loved anything that would make a mark, but crayons were extra special. Pencils you could find anywhere. Crayons were intentional. They added the finishing touch, the color, the last step before you could admire your creation. And I used them to color coloring books, some pages at least. I ended up making my own drawings to color because the books were pretty boring.
This probably led to my lifelong drawing obsession.
From that time on, I’ve spent a great deal of my life drawing.
Recently, I started a new series of visually intense images on the iPad Pro that begin as elaborate line drawings. I ended up digitally painting the images in shades and tints of gray. You can see the finished images on this site.
As I was thinking about the new work, I thought, maybe I can do something more than just post them, print them, and show them.
This led me down my favorite path, the great “What If.”
So, I began to wonder what if these drawings were colored by other people? I bet they would be cooler and more colorful.
What if I turned the line drawings into coloring books?
Then, what if, when the person finished coloring, they could turn it into a poster?
This little project, the More! Big! New!: A Poster Coloring Book for the Wild Imagination, is result of that thinking, a little way in which we could collaborate on some art. Part mine, and part yours. If you’re interested, you can wander around in my world for a bit. It’s really kind of playful.
Who knows, maybe my wild pages will inspire you to make your own drawings. Or, maybe you’ll just want to color as part of your mindfulness practice. You might get rid of some stressful thoughts for awhile.
I do promise, these coloring pages won’t be boring. Maybe weird, but not boring.
You might enjoy coloring in these books because it’s certainly more fun than the news. You can click on the individual books below.
(I created the links because Volume 2 seems hard to find on Amazon right now.)
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