Artists Witek Radomski and Carrie Wong started working on their first adult colouring book while living on a farm in Beasley, and less than a year after its release they’re embarking on a cross-country tour to promote its sequel, Legendary Worlds.
“So many crazy things have happened since the Legendary Landscapes came out,” Radomski told the Star, noting their book is shipping to unlikely locales such as India, Guatemala and Thailand. And there was one particular sale that got his attention.
“One day I was told ‘oh, I just delivered one of your books to Diana Krall and Elvis Costello.’ It was insane.”
Radomski and Wong stopped in Nelson as part of their two-month cross-country tour, and the about-to-marry pair have invested their life savings into their book publishing endeavour. This is an unexpected development for them, as they first came to the area prospecting for sapphires.
“We’ve been working non-stop to make this happen. We’ve released two books in less than a year, and to make that happen we pretty much have been working morning to midnight every single day,” said Wong.
“We’re introverts, the two of us. We’re happiest when we’re sitting in a quiet room drawing together. But this process has made us go outside our comfort zone. It’s really given us purpose.”
They also maintain a Facebook group with over 700 members who post their creations online and support one another with feedback and colouring tips.
After the first book, the pair were inundated with requests to see fantastical subjects. So this edition will feature everything from dragons, unicorns, gnomes, dinosaurs and aliens to polar bears and jumbo mushrooms.
“Publishers seem to think everyone wants to colour in one-dimensional flat images. We’re one of the few that try to take a three-dimensional approach to landscapes,” said Wong.
In total, seven artists contributed to this edition: Wong, Radomski, Star graphic designer Kamala Melzack, Al Sayers, Matthew Dorad, Nony Dar Sagol and an anonymous contributor from the southern interior.