Recently I published a coloring book. It is for all ages, but because it contains abstract drawings it is better suited for grown ups. Why a coloring book? The simple answer is: Because they’re popular. The real reason is more complicated than that. Although I’m an artist, besides an author, I wouldn’t sit down and draw new contents for a coloring book. There are far better artists out there who can do that, and the subjects can range from flowers, birds and butterflies, mandala and geometric shapes, animals and scenery, bugs and even obscene language. Everything you can imagine is available.
In my case I already had all the material I needed. Over the years I sketched hundreds of abstract drawings. I painted very few of them, because of time constraints, although I love what I drew. So when the light bulb came on in my head about a coloring book, why not publish one with samples of my abstract sketches? And that’s what I used in “Abstract Dreams- Coloring Book 1, from Sandru’s art collection.” This book contains only 30 sketches from the 100 of similar sketches I drew in sketchbook 1. And I have five more sketchbooks like this one.
You may wonder about the “abstract” part of my drawings. Usually “abstract” is associated with modern art, represented by splashes and splatters and mixtures of colors and other mediums, having very little resemblance to anything you and I may recognize. But then abstract paintings are not intended to be recognizable. They intend to provoke feelings, which sometimes are pleasing and sometimes not so much. Well, my abstract art is pleasing, composed of line drawings that may evoke certain feelings when viewed. Coloring them will produce different outcomes than the original sketches might have shown.
And that’s the story behind my first coloring book for adults. Will it be a second one? It depends on how popular the first one will be. So far I’m giving away two copies of Abstract Dreams here on Goodreads and there was a phenomenal response from the readers/coloring artists.