St. John's artists collaborate on original colouring book

A St. John's artist is offering her own spin on one of the holiday season's biggest trends, by collaborating with local artists to create her very own adult colouring book

Meghan Harnum first had the idea to curate a colouring book back in November, when she found herself seized by a recurring motif in her art. 

"I had been obsessed with drawing these weird little leg people for a while and I thought they would make a good colouring book," said Harnum.

"I just picked up a pen one day and started drawing them and I became kind of obsessed with doing it."

But she quickly realized that she couldn't do it on her own, and asked other friends and members of the local art community to pitch in with their own drawings.

"I put up a Facebook event and was just like, in the month of November, I'm going to make a page every day for my colouring book," she said

"I wanted to put some pressure on myself to do that, so I invited a bunch of friends to collaborate on a group book."

The results exceeded her wildest expectations, and friends quickly jumped to pitch in with their own idiosyncratic mix of drawings for the book.

"In the end, I ended up with a lot of really great submissions, so I decided to put the group book together as well as my own."

Detailed illustrations

Flipping through the compiled colouring book, it's easy to find yourself gripped by the amount of talent on display.

"There's a really really beautiful piece from Noah Bender in the book." said Harnum

"He has a cityscape piece in there that's very very detailed, I love that one. I would just hang it on my wall — as is."

Among the many other illustrations in the book, there's something for everyone.

Whether it's the gender bending illustration by Jason Wells of his alter-ego Irma Gerd, emoji illustrations by Amery Sandford, or kid-friendly illustrations by Mimi Stockland, there's something for colourers of all ages in the book.  

Harnum sees colouring as a great way to relax after a long work day, and a way to let others take a more participatory role in other people's art. 

"I think it's neat because to draw a page for a colouring book, it's like you're half completing something, and then you're passing it on to someone else and letting them finish your art almost," she said. 

"That's pretty cool for both the artist, and the person colouring the page."

The book has been on sale for just over the week, but Harnum said sales are already strong, and that she hopes to put out more issues in the future.

"When this started it was just me on Facebook trying to get my friends to motivate me to finish my own project, I didn't even really think that it would come together as well as it has."

St John's Colouring Collective Issue #1 and Meggz Draws Leggz are now available for sale at The Sprout, Fixed Coffee and Baking and Broken Books in downtown St. John's.