Adult Entertainment

I did not think that, in my adult years, I could still keep it up for two hours but I have managed it.

There was a bit of pressure.

My usual style, as a child in the privacy of my own home, would have been in just my pants and with tongue sticking out but on this occasion, at the age of 52, I was in a public place.

I had to compromise and conform on the clothing front but the tongue still had to protrude as part of the intense concentration that is an essential part of doing some colouring in.

I had, as part of attending a meeting, been given an A4 sheet with information on what was the theme of the evening, It was a nice bit of artwork, clear, concise and on message in a dark background with meaningful logo in bright, contrasting and attention grabbing colours.

I picked it up and put it down a few times before I noticed that others in the room on nearby tables of four had another piece of paper,with a plain white background but with smaller shapes and figures on it. Looking around to the ten or so sitting groups there was about an equal split between those paying attention to the speakers at the podium and those head down or subversively doing something with a handful of felt tip pens.

I had arrived just a little later than most and thought that they had been given their interesting sheets and the stock had run out for the latecomers.

Not without a bit of envy and with a lot of attitude I began to curl up the corners of my A4 flyer.

Three corners in I noticed that the reverse was white and with the drawing outline of an upside down ice cream cone. Triumphantly and with a bit of an exaggerated flourish I fully turned over the page and there was the colouring in sheet in its full unadulterated form.

The rest of the meeting flew by, two hours of it, because of my total immersion into the pursuit of blocking in the images in as many colours as I could muster from a selection of materials on the table. There were more ice cream cones from singles to 99's, knickerbocker glory's and sundae dishes, vehicles from lorries to bikes, tropical fish, jungle animals and geometrical shapes.

The multitude of shapes included the distinctive skyline profiles of buildings in my home city and a few jokey references to customs, personalities and eating habits of the population.

I seem to have regressed to my childhood in the art of colouring in but far from it.

The current phenomena in the publishing world is in adult colouring in books and sales are expected to reach multi-million volumes very soon.

What seems to have been the catalyst for this explosion?

It appears that it started a couple of years ago when a Scottish designer, opting out of a niche and poorly paying boutique wallpaper market, produced an intricately detailed book of black and white patterned drawings. Johanna Basford brought out Secret Garden in 2013 with nature inspired graphics followed by Enchanted Forest in the following year and Lost Ocean a couple of months ago. So far over 15 million of her three books have been sold worldwide.

What is the appeal?

The detailed artwork is so much more than anything that I had in my childhood years. Usual offerings in the 1960's and 70's were merchandise for TV programmes such as Thunderbirds and The Clangers or linked to toys such as Barbie and Action Man and could be finished in a few minutes even if sticking to between the lines.

Even in my public exhibition of colouring in I did feel a certain calm and tranquility and this psychologists attribute to the focus that we apply to the activity. Apparently it soothes the stressful mind and forms a barrier to everyday worries whilst stimulating motor skills, senses and creativity.
In the pursuit of a career and with family responsibilities such things always get neglected by all but a privileged few.

What is now available?

Well, our imagination knows now bounds and this is illustrated by the extremely wide range of published titles. Popular titles feature Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, Star Wars, Middle Earth, One Direction, Classic Movie Posters and up to the moment topical and political issues even including Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton themes.

What next?

Publishers are working on dot to dot books for grown ups and the mischief inspiring idea of stickers that can be coloured in and pasted anywhere- a bit like a custom made post-it-note.

If it is not too late I have put a request in to Santa for a colouring in book of my own.

I would urge caution to those doing an internet search using the key words of "Adult"," Colouring in" and "Books" as there appears to be a growing market in erotica and works of mature content.

Oh you had better add "Felt" and "Tip" to the internet filter as well just in case.