#sowhoknew: Adult colouring books are not just child’s play…
So what’s the hottest book trend in 30 years? Steamy ’50 Shades of Grey’ style cable-tie action? Nope. Salacious Hollywood gossip pulp fiction? Nah. It’s colouring books for grown-ups seeking an analog release to their daily digital lives (who knew right?). And with sales up almost 2000% this year it’s no wonder that titles like ‘Secret Garden’ currently represent half of the Amazon top 10 bestseller list.
Arts and crafts have long been used as a way to unwind, but why all of a sudden have colouring books taken off and become such big business? (and it really is big business too with Johanna Basford, the ‘ink evangelist’ behind the aforementioned ‘Secret Garden’ shifting over 3.5 million units in the past 2 years). The most popular belief is that people are becoming tired of constant online access, either through work or their social lives, and are seeking some respite with a desire (if not a need) to unplug.
Author Matt Cain explained his freshly acquired love of the medium in an article for the Guardian, “If I switch off the phone, computer and TV and concentrate solely on choosing the right shade of blue, avoiding going over the lines and slowly filling up my page with colour, all my other concerns, I’ve discovered, fade to nothing”
The therapeutic effects derived from indulging in some form of artistry are well documented and resonate with people of all ages. Art therapist Susanne Fincher, has published several colouring books and claims that the simple pastime can lift a persons mood, reduce their anxiety and relieve stress. Well, I guess it’s a lot more relaxing than blowing the head off another flesh eating zombie with an AK47 in the latest (re)incarnation of Resident Evil.
Anyhoo, Ms Fincher goes on to say, “Art making is a powerful intervention. Neuroscientific research has shown that through the use of art therapy, the human brain can physically change, grow, and rejuvenate.”
So have these ‘colourists’ (as they have been termed) completely abandoned the digital platforms that they have become so weary of? Actually it seems not. An item in The New Yorker claims that once they have completed colouring-in their pretty pictures they proudly take a snap of their masterpiece and upload it onto the likes of Facebook and Pinterest. Hmm, given that they turned to colouring books to escape the clutches of their ‘evil’ technology doesn’t that rather defeat the object?
Anyway, to be honest, I’m not quite sure about the stress relieving powers of this publishing phenomenon. In the spirit of science (or should that be art?) I attempted one of these cutesy stress beaters. Unfortunately I got wound up like a Swiss watch when I discovered that I simply couldn’t keep my rudimentary pencilling neatly between the lines. Bah. It seems that my school art teacher was probably right all along, despite my protestations to the contrary, when she informed me that my self portrait resembled a King Edward potato…
So maybe colouring books are not really my thing. Consequently, I’ve decided that I am going to wait until next year when I’m rather hoping that a publisher launches some dot-to-dot books for us ageing folk. Or maybe even some adult pop-ups? (although lord knows what the subject matter might be about).
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