The colour of money
How I created a million-selling colouring book – just for GROWN-UPS
FEW things entertain children quite as much as a colouring book.
And a Scots mother has decided adults shouldn’t miss out on the fun, taking the publishing world by storm after creating a picture book just for grown-ups.
Illustrator Johanna Basford, 31, has sold more than one million copies of her intricately designed books.
Her debut, The Secret Garden, has been translated into 14 different languages and was such a huge hit in France that it outsold the country’s best-selling cookery books.
Miss Basford, from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, was struggling to make a living
‘I’ve carved out a niche for myself’
after the recession, when she began to put together her drawings.
The mother-of-one, who is married to James Watt, the owner of drinks company BrewDog, studied textile design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, but decided to focus on her love of drawing instead of pursuing a career in fashion.
Miss Basford said: ‘I have always drawn. When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to have a creative job.
‘I didn’t fancy working in the fashion industry but wanted to carry on with drawing.
‘I got commissions from art school and I carried on from there.’
Miss Basford had originally sold hand-painted wallpaper and fabrics, but when the recession hit she struggled to find customers.
From a desk in her living room in 2013, she began drawing her now famous whimsical illustrations as a way to relax.
It was then that she was asked to create a colouring book for children.
But Miss Basford decided to pitch a different idea – to create a book for adults. She said: ‘I have always done everything in black and white.
‘For years people have been saying they would love to colour my pictures, so I pitched doing a grown-up book.
‘They let me go with it and I sent in my drawings and they decided to take a shot with it.’
It took her nine months to illustrate her first book, The Secret Garden, and did so while juggling commissions for various companies, including Absolut Vodka, Sony and Nike.
The finished book now retails at £9.95 in Waterstones.
She said she was ‘hugely surprised’ at how successful the venture had been. Miss Basford added: ‘When I started off I just wanted to make a book that I would like to have.
‘I hoped a few other people would feel the same and buy it.’
The Secret Garden and her latest book, The Enchanted Forest, were inspired by the Isle of Arran, where she spent time as a child visiting her grandparents.
She said: ‘My grandfather was head gardener at Brodick Castle. The first book was inspired by the castle gardens.
‘The second book is inspired by the woodlands that surrounded their house. It was a National Trust house on the property.’
And despite becoming a mother last year, Miss Basford has no plans to stop illustrating, as she starts work on a third book.
She said: ‘It’s going to be different. It’ll be more like a poster book. People can colour in a picture and they can remove it and display it in their home.
‘I’ve managed to carve out a niche for myself. Illustrating has been my full-time job for the past eight years.’
The Enchanted Forest costs £9.95 in most shops.