Staedtler with Johanna Basford

I’m going to hold my hands up and say, I didn’t really get adult colouring in. I do love craft, and learning new skills is something I have tried to do all year, I’ve tried my hand at a few thing including some really cool glass art and screen printing. So when I was asked to attend the Staedtler event in London with the Queen of adult colouring in Johanna Basford, I just had to attend and find out what all the fuss was about.

Let me set the scene. A group of like-minded people (bloggers) with all the colouring ingredients you could shake a stick at, a glass of wine, some lovely nibbles and the Queen of colouring in giving you all of her expert advice right there at your shoulder. If you haven’t already guessed I loved every minute of it!

We got to try out all of the range, and even some of the more experienced colourist learnt something new.

Here are Johanna’s top colouring in tips :

Pick your book carefully, it should be something you really love.
Decide if you are going to use pens or pencils – both have their place. Pens are great as they can give vibrant pops of colour, but be careful when you use them. Pencils are fab for blending and layering up colours.
Test – Both pens and pencils should be tested before you use them. Find an area in the book you are using to test pens just in case they bleed or feather. You should test pencils because the colour can be quite different especially if the paper is cream.
Tear out the page, turn your book over and place your sheet of paper on this side. It will act as a cushion whilst you are drawing. Don’t worry if you go over the lines, colouring in should be fun!
Share your work! There is an amazing and supportive online colourist community.

During that time I felt myself relax, I no longer was stressing about the commute and all of that Christmas traffic. As we chatted and played around with all of the pens and pencils, I genuinely felt myself getting more and more de-stressed. We also had a go and making a Christmas card using the techniques Johanna uses when she creates her drawings for her work. I need a bit more practise I think with this.

I’ve tried a few different techniques, since I’ve been home and I have been so impressed with the quality of the Staedtler products. I think pencils is my favourite medium, but I’m now working on a little pen project for Christmas, and I could be changing my mind! I haven’t got any of the watercolour pencils that I was using in the image below, but I’m going to buy some of those as I really love the effect they gave.

I have finished one of the pages, and I have two more things on the go. I’ve actually found myself reaching for the pencils and book, at the end of the day as it has felt great to be able to wind down at the end of a hectic day.