Colin Thompson brings you inside a universe filled with books, objects and creatures, where nothing really is what it seems. Full of surprises and very captivating, his artwork invites you to travel to this imaginary world hidden in shelves of books, roots of trees or the corner of the stairs. I love the humour, the funny references and the little streets and creatures that permeate his work.

It is impossible to notice everything on your first glance. This is part of the fun here. Every time you look there are interesting things to discover. There is also a challenge in that, as the drawings can get quite small and difficult to colour. You may need glasses, or augmentation lenses to complete certain parts of this book. It’s part of the amusement and adventure of this book, always exploring and finding new elements and jokes.

The book is printed on grey scale. It is the black and white version of Colin Thompson’s illustrations from books as “How to live forever”.

The process to colour those images is different from colouring where we have only black lines. Here we need a lighter touch with the pencil, in order not to cover the details. It’s more spontaneous because you don’t need to worry about light and shadow. I find it very relaxing and interesting, I really love this book.

The paper has a white hue, thick enough ( I would guess 60 lbs) and very, very smooth, almost no texture. Most images are double pages. Illustrations are printed on both sides and there are no margins.

I’ve found that some pencils work better than others for this paper and the greyscale. I like my Prismacolors, but not for those pages, as they cover and smudge too much. Some transparency is welcome, to show the grey image under. A core that can hold a point is a must, as there are so many details. My favourite pencil to work on this book is Guang Hui, they cover well, have transparency because are oil-based. Polychromos do a beautiful colouring here, they layer so well and hold a point, being precise. I also use my Irojiten on this book, one of the only uses I’ve found for that set.

Funtastic by Colin Thompson is a great colouring adventure!

Funtastic. Colin Thompson’s Colouring Book. Published by Ravensburger. Printed in Germany.

This review was not requested by the Publisher, I’ve purchased my copy of this book.