Amelia’s Magazine | Magisk Gryning by Hanna Karlzon: Exclusive Interview and Worldwide Giveaway

Magisk Gryning Giveaway copy
Magisk Gryning Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir
Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir

It’s no great secret that I’m a massive fan of Hanna Karlzon‘s wonderful drawings, so I’m thrilled to share my latest catch up, wherein she talks about her new book Magisk Gryning, a magical exploration of all things otherworldly. Best of all, I have managed to secure a chance for you to win your very own copy, and the giveaway is open WORLDWIDE, so if you are still eagerly awaiting it’s release in your country this is your chance to get Magical Dawn, as it is to be called for the English speaking market… just read to the bottom to find out how… and enjoy the wonderful coloured pages from the book on your way (colourists credited below each one.)

Magisk Gryning Claire Eadie
Claire Eadie

Magisk Gryning Zuzana Hánová
Suzana Hánová

Magisk Gryning Tímea Kalakai
Tímea Kalakai

How do you start the creative process each day – for example do you lay out all your implements, or do you start with research for that particular project?
Well making colouring books is a long process, at least for me. It takes me about 5 months to complete a colouring book so I just take it day by day not to get overwhelmed with the amount of work. I try to make one page a day but since I also make all the layout design for my books myself; some weeks I work a lot by my computer and some weeks I only use pen and paper and draw. It’s a mix. And I have my office that I go to every day so I just pick up where I left the day before. I mostly start my days answering emails and messages and taking a look at my Facebook and Instagram and after that I listen to music or podcasts and draw, draw, draw. When I work with the coloring books many days contain the same kind of work, since it’s about 100 drawings that I need to make, but luckily it never gets boring, at least not yet anyways. ;)

Magisk Gryning Stina Gustavsson
Stina Gustavsson

Magisk Gryning Siv Stenseth
Siv Stenseth

Magisk Gryning Sirpa Seppälä
Sirpa Seppälä

Magisk Gryning Liz Moore 2
Liz Moore

What are your favourite motifs to draw at the moment and why?
Well I love to draw people and jewels, crowns and all things that sparkle. I don’t really know why, maybe because its something that you can alter and change every time, there are no rules or regulations, I just draw whatever comes to mind. But it’s also fun to draw birds, and mushrooms, and flowers and I like to mix it up, one day I draw a really detailed illustration with lots and lots of stuff everywhere and the next day I draw something more simple and clean. I need to mix it up like that to make it fun for myself in the work process, but I also think it’s good because that gives my books a diversity of illustrations, a range, from quite hard and detaild pages to easier more simple pages and I know a lot of people like that. Somedays you just want to color something small and simple, like a beetle maybe, and other days you just want to go all in on a big detailed spread, and it’s the same for me, somedays I go simple and somedays I go all in. 

Magisk Gryning Péťa Luky Ratajovi
Péťa Lukt Ratajovi

Magisk Gryning Megan Silcox
Megan Silcox

Magisk Gryning Maria Ronessen Pain
Maria Ronessen Pain

Magisk Gryning Maria Ludvigsen
Maria Ludvigsen

Do you have any current plans beyond colouring books? (for instance further products featuring the images from your books?) I know you’ve been very tied up but your work has become so very popular that I imagine you must have plans for the future! 
Well before I started making colouring books I made a lot ot pattern design, for fabric, wallpaper etc and I would love to go back and work more with that in the future. I miss making patterns! 
And not many may know this but when I started my own business my main focus then was to sew and screen print clothes with my own designs. I made tank tops, leggings, scarfs, totebags and other stuff and sold them in my own webshop. After a while though I started to focus on just designing the prints and that lead me to making illustrations and patterns instead (to cut a long story short) but I miss screen printing and I would really like to start doing that again too. And yes, talking about my webshop, I plan to get it up and running again sometime this year, kind of a re-launch since it has been dozing for a year or two whilst I have been super busy with my books. So, there are many things I want to do but as usual I don’t know what I will end up doing, I just go with the flow. ;)

Magisk Gryning Margo Daniels
Margo Daniels

Magisk Gryning Liz Moore
Liz Moore

Magisk Gryning Lucy Fyles
Lucy Fyles

Magisk Gryning Maja Bergsten
Maja Bergsten

Did you learn anything specific from your research for Magisk Gryning and if so what?
I don’t know if I could say that I do a lot of research when I make a book. I just draw what pops up in my head but I always try to have a local, northern Sweden, feeling in my illustrations, I try to use the animals, flowers and elements of nature that can be found here, where I live. But yes I space out sometimes, we don’t have mushrooms with stars on them or squirrels that run around with little jackets on but you know what I mean, the core of my inspiration will always be my home and the nature around me. 

Magisk Gryning Linda Russo
Linda Russo

Magisk Gryning Kicki Rolandsson
Kicki Rolandsson

Magisk Gryning Jenny Ågren
Jenny Ågren

Magisk Gryning Jennifer Lyons
Jennifer Lyons

Have you learnt anything from the fans in your Facebook groups and on instagram and if so what?
Well yes, I have learned that creativity is something we all need, regardless of where in the world we live, it is a common ground that makes us meet and come together regarding of age, nationality, gender etc. We all need to express ourselves and colouring books are a great way of doing that. Seeing the coloring community growing every day and all the new friendships that are being made online is truly super amazing! 

Magisk Gryning Hazel Smithies
Hazel Smithies

Magisk Gryning Ingrid Rockx
Ingrid Rockx

Magisk Gryning Julianna Blumenthal Kahn
Julianna Blumenthal Kahn

Magisk Gryning Elzelina Kriek-Breet
Elzelina Kriek-Breet

Can you tell us more about your new hobbies, including root binding – how does it work? It’s not something I’m very familiar with! What makes it so engaging?
Root binding is something I have been doing for about a year and a half. It’s a really old handicraft that you can use to make items like boxes, bowls and jewellery from thin birch roots. It is really, really time consuming, it takes hours and hours to make a small bowl but it’s so much fun. You gather the roots in the forest in spring/summer and then you can store them all dried up and when you want to use a root you put it in water and after a while it gets all soft and you can use it for your craft. And it’s something special working with your hands, creating something that you can see and touch, and since I have never fallen for knitting or crochet, like so many others have, I have really found something in root binding. And I love the fact that you use something as natural as roots for your work and that’s it, nothing else, just roots. It’s just old school, back to basics and that just strikes a chord in my history nerd heart.

Magisk Gryning Grisell Martinez
Grisell Martinez

Magisk Gryning Doerte Ef
Doerte Ef

Magisk Gryning Christy Whetten
Christy Whetten

Magisk Gryning Anita Malkhandi
Anita Malkhandi

As always it’s a pleasure to catch up with you and I can’t wait to see your new book TideVarv, good luck with finishing it off!
Thank you all for supporting me and my work!! /Hanna 

Magisk Gryning Beth Oram
Beth Oram

Magisk Gryning Ann-Sofie Younis
Ann-Sofie Younis

Magisk Gryning Angela E. Colagross
Angela E. Colagross

Magisk Gryning Aline Ferreira
Aline Ferreira

Magisk Gryning Agnes Perger
Agnes Perger

Magisk Gryning Robyn Lipner
Robyn Lipner

Magisk Gryning Marianne Lindahl
Marianne Lindahl

Magisk Gryning Е. Я.
Е. Я.

Magisk Gryning is currently only available for international buyers from Penstore, but shipping costs have gone up recently, so be warned! Many thanks to the awesome colourists of the Facebook group Daydreams Colouring (fans of Hanna Karlzon, Dagdrömmar and Sommarnatt) Why not join the group yourself?

To be in with a chance to win a copy of Magisk Gryning visit my Facebook Page for Amelia’s Magazine here and be sure to leave a comment before midnight on Sunday 26th February 2016 (GMT). Open Worldwide. Good luck!

Categories ,Adult Coloring, ,Adult Colouring Book, ,Coloring for Adults, ,Dagdrömmar and Sommarnatt), ,Daydreams Colouring (fans of Hanna Karlzon, ,Giveaway, ,Hanna Karlzon, ,interview, ,Magical dawn, ,Magisk gryning, ,Penstore

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Amelia’s Magazine | Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book: Colouring Book Review and Editor Interview

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
The Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book was brought to my attention by one of the contributors to my own colouring book, Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion). Sophie Corrigan was also picked to appear in this latest offering from cult website Doodlers Anonymous, run by founder and editor Rony Tako (or OKAT) and coding supremo Hugo Seijas. The book is described as “An Extraordinary Mashup of Doodles and Drawings Begging to be Filled in with Color” and features the work of 90 artists from across the globe. Because it showcases a huge variety of illustrative styles there is something to suit everyone, and the book is highly recommended for anyone who likes the kind of colouring book that I have put together. I spoke with OKAT about colouring, doodling and juggling…

OKAT doodlers anon
Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
You’ve just released an epic colouring book that features 90 artists that was put together by open brief, what prompted you to do the book, why did you decide on the open brief and how long has it taken to put together?
I’d say just about everything we create at Doodlers Anonymous is by open call through our community. I created Doodlers Anonymous in 2008 because I wanted to bring exposure to people like myself, who love to doodle, draw and scribble. There’s no better way to do that then by letting anyone and everyone (from fresh novices to veteran illustrators) participate and potentially sit side by side on the page.

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
How did you pick the artists featured in your book? I believe you have Sophie Corrigan who has also done something fab for mine! Good choice :)
Sophie’s page is great, she’s an awesome talent. Filtering the submissions down to the ones featured in the book was not easy, but it was definitely fun and rewarding to be reminded of how much great talent is out there. The team and I basically printed every submission and for the most part narrowed them down by keeping a few things in mind:
1) Is the drawing style of this artwork different and interesting?
2) Will this be fun to color in?
The other thing we had to keep in mind when filtering the submissions down from such a large open call was making sure to avoid repetition of a specific theme or style. We put a lot of effort into ensuring there’s a balance in the book, which means we sometimes had to reject a drawn submission we personally loved.

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
Do you colour yourself? If so then can you tell us what kind of images you tend to prefer and what materials you work in?
I definitely love to color, especially other people’s artwork. Mostly because my personal art style is almost always made with just a black-ink pen, so I envy those artworks that are so bold and pop with color. I like using colored pencils or bright and cheap medium-tipped markers.

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
How do you think the worlds of colouring and doodling intersect, and do you think there’s any snobbery involved between one or the other?
I think there’s a definite correlation between the two. For me (and I expect for many others), doodling is an exercise in doing something that’s not intended to be structured or have any specific agenda, just put your pen to the sketchbook and let your brain and creativity wander around the page. In that sense, the same goes for coloring, the beautiful artwork is laid-out before you so now you can relax, de-stress and just enjoy the process of bringing the artwork to life.

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
Your website has been going for a long time now, why did you set it up in the first place and has it turned out the way you expected?
It’s crazy. I think in internet years we are considered almost pre-historic. I didn’t have many expectations at all. When our website launched it seemed doodling was such a niche activity that I figured the community would be small and stay relatively small. In fact, in the beginning we’d often get emails from people asking us what it meant to doodle. Fast-forward to 2015 and you can’t walk into a bookstore without being bombarded by doodle books. It’s great and wonderful that it’s become so popular. We love how large the community has grown and they continue to inspire us each and every day with their talents.

Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book
What else do you do when you’re not making colouring books or managing the website and how do you split your workload so that everything gets done?
We juggle. Juggle, juggle, juggle. In my day-to-day I actually work as a creative director and designer for my clients. So you’ll typically find me either presenting or concepting a brand, logo or website project. The balance of my time goes to Doodlers Anonymous. I’ve been multitasking like this for years and I still have no clue how to split my workload so it’s anymore efficient or well-scheduled, but I tend to think that’s just how I work. Things would get boring otherwise.

Doodlers anonymous epic colouring book
What are your plans for the future? Do you have any other colouring books planned?
It’s really exciting, we have a ton of things planned for 2016. Some of them in collaboration with other brands and partners, and other things will be exclusive stuff from the Doodlers Anonymous community. Stay tuned! In regards to coloring books, well, I think they will always be part of our DNA, we’ve been making them long before they became a trend and we hope to be making long after as well.
Thanks Amelia! xoxo

Doodlers anonymous epic colouring book
My pleasure! Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book is published by Monacelli Press. It’s a wonderful book if you fancy colouring in the work of loads of different artists, buy your copy here.

Categories ,Adult Coloring, ,Adult Colouring, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Coloring for Adults, ,Colouring Book, ,Doodlers Anonymous, ,Doodlers Anonymous Epic Colouring Book, ,Doodles, ,Doodling, ,Epic Colouring Book, ,Hugo Seijas, ,interview, ,Monacelli Press, ,OKAT, ,Rony Tako, ,Sophie Corrigan

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Hazel Partridge: Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion featured artist.

Hazel Partidge Image 5
Beautiful nature themed artworks by Hazel Partridge were one of my top picks at this year’s New Designers show, so I was thrilled that she took up the offer to submit for Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion. Her gorgeous papercut piece was inspired by a poem from Black Country poet Liz Berry.

Hazel Partridge Image 11
I found you at New Designers, what was the best thing about that show for you?
New Designers was really inspiring and informative, the atmosphere was great and it was packed the whole time! I really enjoyed looking at the work from all of the different disciplines and Universities; it was really encouraging to see such diverse ideas and products from this year’s graduates. The most useful aspect of the show was that it gave a great opportunity to speak to representatives from the creative industry; at the Falmouth University stand we met people from publishers, agencies and design companies, all of whom were really enthusiastic about our work.

Hazel Partidge Image 9
Hazel Partidge Image 6
How did studying at Falmouth Uni inform your illustrations, it’s such a beautiful town!?
Falmouth is such an inspiring location, and I think everyone studying there would agree! Working in a collaborative studio environment is something that I really miss, it’s so useful to be able to see what others are working on, and get reliable feedback on your own work as well. Nature is a recurring theme for me, and exploring the local Cornish landscapes definitely influences my illustrations. I scuba dive and rock-climb regularly, seeing the world from a different perspective- whether it’s underwater or from halfway up a sea cliff – gets me away from my desk, and more productive when I am back there.

Hazel Partridge Image 4
Where do you like to go when you are at home in the Cotswolds and in need of inspiration?
I’m lucky to live close to so many beautiful places; I love a good long walk through the woods and fields with friends, and heading over to Wales with my family on our motorcycles. I also find a lot of inspiration through reading, I’ve recently finished The Worm Forgives the Plough by John Stewart Collis, which I enjoyed.

HAZEL PARTRIDGE
Can you tell us what inspired your double page for my book?
My colouring page was inspired by imagery from Bird by the Black Country poet Liz Berry. I caught a snatch of the poem; the lines ‘I shed my nightdress to the drowning arms of the dark, my shoes to the sun’s widening mouth’ on the radio, and jotted them down so that I could find out the rest. A little research later and I had discovered an amazing poem that was rich with themes of metamorphosis and migration, and which evoked an enticing yet slightly unsettling atmosphere.

Hazel Partidge Image 8
What are your preferred methods when making artwork?
My illustration was created using cut paper, inks and digital editing. My current favourite mediums to work in are lino print and papercutting, I really enjoy how the process flows- starting with a blank surface and then removing bits of it until the design emerges (hopefully) unbroken. Although working traditionally is by no means the fastest method of producing images in these styles, I find that the results have a warmer and more authentic quality than they would if created digitally as I have put a lot more of myself into their creation.

Hazel Partridge Image 3
Hazel Partidge Image 7
You obviously have a great love for birds as they feature widely in your work, what is your favourite bird and why?
My favourite bird is probably the magpie, because not only are they intelligent and beautiful, but they have such a rich folklore surrounding them – most people know the One for Sorrow rhyme, for example. My illustrative work reflects my interests in natural history and science, and although my images are often decorative I enjoy researching the background information on my subjects and trying to keep the designs accurate.

Hazel Partridge Image 3
What new projects are you working on now?
I am currently working on a series of privately commissioned images featuring various birds in their natural habitats. It’s always hard to part with my original artworks, but it’s lovely to know that they are going to a good home where they will be displayed properly rather than sat in a folder in my studio. I’ve got a few print-based projects in the pipeline as well, but I can’t say more about them at the moment, and as Christmas is on its way I’m beginning to plan some festive projects too. I post on social media frequently, so updates can be found there.

Find Hazel on Facebook, Twitter @HP_Illustrates, Instagram @hazelpartridgeillustration and Tumblr. You can colour Hazel Partridge‘s art in Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion alongside that of 40 other international artists. Funding on Kickstarter with only 10 days left, so get your copy now, it makes a fantastic Christmas gift!

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,Adult Coloring, ,Adult Colouring, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Bird, ,Christmas, ,Coloring for Adults, ,Colouring Book, ,Cotswolds, ,Falmouth University, ,Hazel Partridge, ,illustration, ,interview, ,John Stewart Collis, ,Kickstarter, ,Lino printing, ,Liz Berry, ,nature, ,New Designers, ,One for Sorrow, ,Papercut, ,The Worm Forgives the Plough, ,wales

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