This Fanatsy coloring book is quite AWESOME. Now my wife and Daughter have been into those “Adult” Coloring books the last few years. They have their collection of Gel pens and colored pencils. They both even have coloring calendars that they color at the beginning of every month.The ones they color are all flowery and girlie with all these inspirational pictures.I never really saw the attraction. They say it’s relaxing.

But I recently received this new book by a very talented illustrator by the name of Eric Messinger. Among other things he’s done Eric has worked for Marvel Comics and Image Comics.His specialty is Fantasy illustrations. Of course I’ve always been a fan of Fantasy Novels and movies. So when I saw this fantasy coloring book I thought it was very cool indeed.What sets this apart from other is it’s not just a bunch of pages to color. This was created by a professional artist that gives you coloring tips in the book and suggestions on the different colors that compliment each other. Yeah I know we’ve all been coloring since we were kids but this one is a little different.It also has what he calls a color wheel that I thought was pretty interesting.I like that he gives you a few colored pictures to show you how he would color them then the same picture for you to try.

For anyone Young or old (like me )that is a fan of fantasy and the fantastical creatures you’ve come to know and love this is a fun and very different type of fantasy coloring book by a very talented artist that you can tell loves what he does.

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                              Why he does what he does…

I am always honored when my art speaks to people and they ask me how I come up with these characters. I guess the first step is to know that I am most comfortable with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. I allow my mind to still and lightly begin to sketch random lines and from these random lines, the images from my head begin to take shape. Every person or being that I draw comes to me either by rattling around in my head making themselves a nuisance or while I dream, day or night. Many times as I draw these characters, they tell me about themselves-their back story so to speak. This helps me find them a place in the larger illustrations or paintings that I create.

Since I was young, I have been attracted to the characters of High Fantasy. During my summer vacations, we kids of the neighborhood formed a band of warriors and would alternately fight each other or band together to save an imagined village from dragons, orcs, or whatever menace may have been lurking about wanting to cause mayhem. As I have gotten older, my characters started to evolve and have more depth. I started to ask, “Why are Orcs always considered evil? Why are Dragons always considered a pestilence? Why are Gnomes always considered good?” It was by asking these questions, that the world that I now call “The Dominion of Giants” began to take shape.

“The Dominion of Giants” is now my current project. Creating an entire world can be a complex process and in the Dominion there all manner of Giants, fairies, elves, dragons, gnomes, orcs, dwarves, and animals, all relating as individuals and weaving together a broad tapestry of story. To help with this endeavor, I have teamed up with my wife, who is my chief writer and organizer of ideas. Together we are bringing forth the stories that my characters are currently demanding that we tell. It is both exciting and at times a bit nerve wracking. (The characters can get a bit grumpy if we don’t tell their stories the way they would like).

If you would like to follow our evolution, please join us on:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWkKzsM7-wA]