Picture Perfect Nostalgia- Colouring books for Adults

by Startacus Admin

Eoin from Startacus writes...

“I’m disheartened, but not ashamed to admit it has been many many years since I armed myself with box of crayons and embarked on an afternoon of colouring-in…that’s not something that adults do, right?

Of course I never was much good at it in my youth…colouring was the last resort of a rainy afternoon, and heaven knows we had enough of those in Ireland!

Since outgrowing these trappings of childhood, I haven't really given the matter much thought. Until, that is I came across a lady who has flipped my perception of colouring-in on its head, by establishing it as a genuine and realistic pastime for adults. Her work is so remarkable and surprising that I am compelled to share it with you.

Johanna Basford is an illustrator from Scotland who has created a colouring book designed for adults called Secret Garden. It features stunningly sketched images inspired by visits to her grandparents’ Ayrshire home, and has far and away exceeded the expectations of all involved.

As of January 2015 Johnna’s book had sold 1 million copies worldwide, which is staggeringly good considering the relative obscurity of the marketplace. She has just released her second colouring book ‘Enchanted Forest’ which has been flying off the shelves so fast that there has been real difficulties keeping it in stock.

Johanna attributes much of the success to the fact that the images within her books are hand drawn by herself, rather than created by a computer.

“For me, computer generated graphics can feel cold and soulless whereas hand drawing captures a sense of energy and character which no pixel can ever replicate”.

The success of her books is somewhat surprising, evident from the fact that she has garnered quite considerable media coverage in the past few months or so.

People seem to be truly surprised by her success and I think that this is because she has successfully made one of the most difficult of enterprise leaps; creating a product that plays to our sense of nostalgia, but doesn’t quickly fade in the cold light of ‘today’…and that is quite a remarkable feat.

Through accident or design, she has very efficiently turned something which is potentially niche into something with a much wider appeal…

Another happy and inspiring self-starter tale. Just what we like to see.

Check out some of Johanna’s work below and follow her on Twitter for some more.

 

• #secret garden
• #colouring book for adults
• #johanna basford

Published on: 10th April 2015