 Outside The Lines Christopher D King, Illustrator/ author, www.cdkingbooks.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Hi, welcome to my blog, I thought I would start by saying a little something about how I got into Illustration. How does somebody who has no experience of the publishing industry, no high level art qualifications and no contacts get in to this "hobby" as most people would have me believe. I'm not particularly well connected in the publishing industry and I do not have endless funds or a great deal of experience as an illustrator. However, I do have an iron will, steely determination and some latent talent which I am still only beginning to understand as my creativity and technical ability develops. As a famous illustrator that I met at the Frankfurt Book Fair put it "you have to have an ass of iron!" So I look forward to updating my journey and my thoughts on becoming a published author/illustrator from somebody, looking at the publishing industry from outside the industry lines.  Colouring book illustrator Christopher D King shares some previews of his work. Rise of the Creative Class Christopher D King, Illustrator/ author, www.cdkingbooks.com ____________________________________________ The colouring "craze" is definitely here to stay as more people join the digital detox revolution and ditch their I-pads for their art pads. Grown adults clutching armfuls of the latest titles of colouring books for themselves (and not just as Christmas gifts) is a growing and common sight in bookstores and supermarkets the world over as people look for a more nostalgic and analogue gift for this Christmas. The rise of the creative class is something which Oxfordshire's Christopher D King is at the forefront of experiencing. Having trained as an Engineer over a decade ago and experienced a daily diet of almost entirely left-brained activities, he found a way to tap into his right-brain functions by combining running and then drawing, enhancing his own creativity. There is an acknowledged scientific link between exercise and enhanced brain function (eg Charles.H Hillman, University of Illinois, 2008) . Despite the fact that he has only been illustrating seriously for a year, when he took advantage of having some time off between leaving the household appliance manufacturer Dyson and his new role, Chris has made an amazing transformation in his life and while his burgeoning talent is still developing, he has seen attention from major publishers and his current independent publisher will release his first book in the series Chroma-Therapy: A Walk In Nature. (Out November 30th, currently available for pre-order on Amazon).
 King Of The Jungle - one of the 80 designs available in Christopher D King's new colouring book: A Walk in Nature. The Oxfordshire illustrator creates these amazingly detailed images all by hand, unlike a lot of the books of patterns and stock image compilations which are currently dominating the market. Despite the huge popularity of this new genre, which probably turned the fortunes of the printed publishing industry around, a lot of the major publishers are still very cautious and slow about who and how they publish. If the printing industry is moving in the same direction as the music industry, with artists having a direct, live feed to their target audience through social media and independent/self publishers are able to take advantage of being more dynamic, and in-tune with what fans want, then the rise of the artist and the author as the star, is inevitable.  A detail of Glass Dragonfly - an image which is an easier challenge according to the colouring book's unique system of rating the level of difficulty of each image. "I felt like it was something which I needed to do in order to make use of a latent talent, which I was aware of, but this soon became an obsession (luckily I have an understanding fiance) and I felt compelled to just draw and thankfully my work has an audience in these beautiful colouring books." King says. He started to illustrate a year ago as a stress relief and found that this, in combination with exercise gave him a mental boost. He thought that people in his family with diagnosed mental conditions could benefit. Despite managing to achieve a life's ambition to have his books at Waterstones and listed with Blackwell's, Chris is still looking to grow his following and is interested in collaborating with publishers/illustrators and fans. His work can be seen on Instagram @cdkingbooks and on his website www.cdkingbooks.com and he admits, "I can see a clear progression in my work from earlier on in the year to even now. It's a real-life work-in-progress and a journey of discovery, this is really just the beginning and I look forward to where it might take me!" Find out more on Facebook: @cdkingbooks
Follow me on Instagram: @cdkingbooks Subscribe to my exciting channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1eKX_pSm04UIVy5e6TbWvg Order his books from Amazon.com outside the UK and Europe: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1787100774/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480204834&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=chroma-therapy&dpPl=1&dpID=51GwrH9xqAL&ref=plSrch Ordering his books from Amazon in UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1787100774/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478904604&sr=8-1&pi=CB192561891_AA75&keywords=9781787100770 |
AuthorWelcome to my blog page - here I'll post up videos of myself doing what I love the most - which is drawing and pen and ink. I'll often go out running to relax and calm my mind and nothing puts me in more of an uplifted state of mind than drawing - especially in black and white. Let me know what you think and more importantly what you want to see here. ArchivesCategories |
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