In a time and age when gadgets are governing all aspects of our lives, a new phenomenon is making an attempt to break that monopoly. Adult colouring books are suddenly resulting in people sitting alone on coffee tables and airport lounges, trying their best to fill small spaces in colouring books in an array of beautiful colours. In this hectic age, adult colouring books has emerged as a new in-thing and is seen as a stress buster and the best way to relax. This global trend has caught on in Namma Bengaluru too. MetroPlus tries to find out what makes these books so addictive and sets them apart from regular books and whether it is an attempt to break away from our lives ruled by gadgets and bright screens.
The phenomenon owes its success to the work of Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford, whose “Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book” won critical acclaim and topped bestseller lists with its images of topiaries and flowers and the occasional challenge to find hidden items in the elaborate illustrations. Quite quickly the market has become flooded with colouring books on a vast range of topics from fantasy themes such as Games Of Thrones and the Harry Potter series to Scandinavian folk themes and Japanese patterns and art therapy colouring books. In India, Penguin Random House is publishing colouring books as companion volumes to Devdutt Pattanaik’s popular books Jaya : An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata and Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana and Harper Collins is working on bringing out the Game of Thrones series and working on a Mills and Boons colouring book series as well.
Mayigowda, who manages the popular Blossoms book store in the city says, “It has been a recent development. Adult colouring books are one of the most fast selling items in the store. Indian publishers are yet to come up with many of these books. It is the books written by the western authors that are very popular. People just pick up these books in bulk. They say that they find colouring books therapeutic.”
For graphic designer Aditi Surendra, the interest in colouring books happened when she was taking a art course.
“I am currently working on Johanna Basford's “The Enchanted Forest”. I find it very meditative. It takes a lot of time and patience. I colour about once a month when I find the time. Earlier when I was more free, I used to colour everyday. It helps me relax. At times, I carry the book and my colour pencils to the bar and have a beer and sit and colour by myself. I plan to work on my own colouring book soon. There are not many Indian authors in the market yet though the mandala colouring books are quite cool.”
For call centre executive Dipak Prashad, colouring books help him de-stress and focus better. “I sleep at odd hours and have a stressful schedule at work.
Published - March 25, 2016 08:09 pm IST
