Writing is my main gig and my profession. I love writing and being a writer. But art is not a stranger; all through school and college, you could find me in art classes. Once I even grew brave enough to exhibit my paintings at a small-town library. Although none sold, it still amazes me that I put my artwork out there for the public to view. So perhaps it is only a natural sequence of events which found me creating coloring pages, and then a coloring book built upon those pages.
While writing is a joy, creating those coloring page designs filled a void which I hadn’t realized needed to be filled. I got to be artistic! And in this particular coloring book, Color Me Happy!, I married my love of words with my love of art. Each page is designed around an uplifting word.
The process I undertook went like this:
- Select an uplifting word. For this I brainstormed a list of such words. Each time I sat down to create a new coloring page design, I picked out a word which felt like one I’d like to use then…one to suit my mood or the mood I wanted to have.
- Placing the word upon the page, I decided how the font should appear. Some words are solid, many are hollow and waiting to be filled with color. Some have designs inside of the letters.
- After the word was placed where I wanted it upon the page, I thought about the word. How did it make me feel? What design would get this feeling across? Most designs within this particular coloring book are based upon geometrical objects such as circles. Some hand drawing appears, too.
The whole book is filled with affirmation words like ‘HAPPY’. Making myself and others feel better and have a more positive outlook is one goal of this book. The other is pure and simple fun–I hope everyone enjoys being creative right along with me.
At the start of 2015, I had no idea I would create and publish a coloring book for adults. Nearing the end of 2015, I’m thrilled I’ve done so. It is all such a happy surprise. I suppose you could color me happy, too.
VJ Schultz, Author 