Before I begin, I want to thank everyone who commented, and showed support, on yesterday's blog post. There is a writing competition, NaNoWriMo, that has a July "summer camp". The timing isn't the best due to a family situation, but I may see what happens if I put some of my thoughts down in a computer document, and participate in the "Camp". The confirmation of facts and possible blogging can come later, if I get that far. So, thank you again!!
Do you like to color? I do. But not all of us have the inclination to make drawings from scratch.
Back in the 1950's and 1960's, paint and color by number were popular with both children and adults. Yesterday, a blogger blogged about Adult Coloring Pages. Seems that coloring for adults is a relaxing hobby that has been rediscovered.
Many adults could use a form of relaxation. Our lives are hectic.
Adults can take art classes and learn how to draw. But for some of us, including me, it would be nice if we could buy a kit Something, perhaps, like a modern, updated version of something dear to those of us who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's.
The adult coloring blog post reminded me of one of my favorite blog posts of all time. I originally posted it in August of 2011 and it remains true today. Imagine - women are even forming coloring clubs (although, apparently, with freestyle coloring, not coloring kits). Here's how to form your own club.
Here's part of my post from 2011.
I loved Venus Paradise coloring sets,
Yesterday evening, the sky
reminded me of the sky of a color by number painting. All those shades
of blue and light purple. And, with that, I will repeat portions of my original 2011 post. Enjoy!
Do you remember color by number? It was popular in the 1950's
and early 1960's, when I was growing up. You can still find color by
number in paint today. But what my family loved was the Venus Paradise
sets. They were color pencil color by numbers. They had sets geared
to all ages - from children old enough to color to adults.
The pencils were numbered, and you got the pencils you needed for your
set with the set. My favorite was #7, Peacock Blue. You can even find
the list of colors online
(except for two "mystery colors"). It would seem that some older
artists miss them, too - they were high quality but as a child, I just
took them for granted.
My Dad and I would color together. I would have my child's set and he
an adult set. I remember one in particular, set with famous buildings.
I remember him in particular working on a Taj Mahal picture. I looked
at him color with great concentration. He put wax paper on top of the
part of the picture he had completed so it would not smear.
His picture had so much detail. You could barely make out some of the
numbers in the small portions. But I would grow up one day and be able
to do complicated pictures just like my Dad!
Except I lost interest, until my son was born.
I went to all the stores (when he was old enough to color) and no one
had them. In fact, I couldn't find any kind of color by number pencil
art set, period.
Venus Paradise is out of business. And, I couldn't even find a set on eBay (I did find a couple of auctions for the pencils.)
The good news is that there is a pencil color by number set
out there now. Better yet, the people who own the business remember
Venus Paradise. So perhaps a new generation of children will remember
pencil by number sets fondly.
In writing this post, I find my spouse remembers the sets too. He
thinks when he retires, it might be fun to buy one. But sadly, this is
something I'm not sure will ever return to favor for the general
population.
So....do you remember Venus Paradise?
Or, would you consider participating in a coloring club?
Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
Friday, May 29, 2015
4 comments:
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I would DEFINITELY join a coloring club! I liked coloring as a kid and then now as an adult, since I have kids! I've been thinking about summer activities that we're going to do and coloring, painting, etc is definitely part the plan :)
ReplyDeleteColoring can be very relaxing and I enjoy coloring with my sons. Never heard of a coloring club before but now I'll definitely check it out!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Venus Paradise! I actually do enjoy coloring with colored pencils when I design my quilts. I use graph paper and sketch the initial design with regular pencil, then use colored pencils to fill in the design.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly about how adult coloring books have recently become popular. They had a review of a couple of them--books more complex than the cartoon ones aimed at kids. I guess this is the next big thing. That's cool. I always loved to color.
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