I Love My Hair by Andrea Pippins Published by Schwartz & Wade on November 10th, 2015
Genres: Coloring Book
Goodreads
For fans of Johanna Basford’s Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest comes a hip, gorgeous doodle coloring book about all things hair. Unlike other adult coloring books, which depict nature scenes and cityscapes, this title celebrates strong, confident women with a passion for style, design, and fashion.
Revel in the mesmerizing patterns and intricate details of Andrea Pippins’s delicate pen-and-ink illustrations, ready for you to color, complete, and embellish. Lose yourself in page after page of bold hairstyles and accessories, from rows of braids, to Mohawks, to sweeping updos, to cascades of ribbons and beads. Be transported to another world as you ink in Medusa’s slithering coiffure, Cleopatra’s elaborate headdress, and Marie Antoinette’s towering bouffant.
Perfect for experienced color-inners and newcomers alike. Coloring enthusiasts of all ages will love this empowering and stylish book. So go ahead—let your hair down, grab some pens or pencils, and add some color to your life.
Hello my lovelies!! If you haven’t been living under a rock you’re probably aware of how in and HUGE adult coloring is right now. If you’re anything like me coloring was your 2nd favorite past time activity as a kid, and I am beyond thrilled that it’s becoming something that isn’t frowned upon or looked down at for adults to do in all seriousness. I, unfortunately, have been living under a rock and hadn’t realized how big and amazing adult coloring is becoming, so when I received an email requesting I review a coloring book you can imagine how intrigued I was. Obviously I said yes and just a few weeks late a few proof pages made their way to me and I squealed like a kid at Christmas! The pictures were absolutely GORGEOUS, and I loved how diverse and encouraging each page was! Especially, as an African American woman with “relaxed” her who has a daughter with “natural” hair, it was nice to see the self love promoted within the pages.
And I am THRILLED to bring you and interview with Andrea Pippins! Author/designer of this amazing coloring book!
Adult coloring books are EVERYWHERE right now (a great delight to me!). What made you decide to design one dedicated to hair?
I met a woman who is an art director at Random House and sent her some ideas for a coloring book last spring, none of which had anything to do with hair. After looking at my artwork they responded asking if I’d be interested in doing a coloring book about hair, and I said “absolutely.” A lot of my current artwork is inspired by hair so it was the perfect direction to take.
“I love my hair” features ALL hair types and styles. What were your favorite to design?
There are so many drawings in the book that I loved working on. My favorites include the drawing of Diana Ross, she is such an icon as an artist and as a style maven — her hair is so dope. I loved working on Carmen Miranda, I watched a documentary about her life and really love capturing her style. Because the book is about empowerment, and because I believe words have a lot of power, the lettering in the book is very special to me. I’m excited to see others color in words that speak to them.
With the constant push for more diversity in the book publishing industry how does it feel to not only be a POC in the industry but to also highlight natural hair? Which is a huge movement being embraced right now?
This is my first book and it hasn’t yet been released therefore I feel it’s somewhat premature for me to say. As I’m responding to this question I’ve only officially been an author for four months so I’m very new to the publishing industry and just learning as go. I’m still processing what it means to me to be an artist, an artist of color, and artist of color who is a woman.
Was the promotion of diversity a factor in creating “I Love My Hair”?
My focus and goal was to make art and produce something I was proud of, and to empower women to love themselves even if it’s just starting with their hair.
What’s the main thing you want people to take away from “I Love My Hair”?
The main thing is for people to use coloring as a way to relax and express their individuality. Because I Love My Hair also encourages doodling, people will also have the opportunity to engage with the pages by embellishing the drawings with their own. So I’m hoping the book inspires creativity.
Most importantly I hope others are inspired by the idea of love. We have to treat ourselves with true love. From the words we say to ourselves to the food we put in our body, from the people we keep in our lives to the things we do to our skin and hair. It should always be in love. And I think it should be something we do and think about daily. I hope that I Love My Hair encourages others to start by saying something they love something themselves, even if it’s just starting with hair.
For this review I wanted to show you one of the “simpler” pages. But don’t be fooled! Me being me still took a few hours to complete it!
Sadly, when I first got the proofs I made a horrible mistake….I used my daughters Crayola colored pencils. Pencils that I completely overestimated and instantly regretted as soon as they touch the beautiful sheet. I didn’t realize how horrible it would be to color these incredibly detailed images with these elementary grade pencils! So, after a few google searches I found Prismacolor pencil on sale on Amazon and quickly ordered a pack. And let me just say BEST DECISION EVER! Not only could I see the difference when I colored but even the feel of them were better! My coworker, whom I convinced to order “I Love My Hair” as well as a box of the Prismacolor pencils even loves them! And look at this difference!
And here is the finished picture! I love it! I can’t wait until I can do some of the more complicated pages in the book!
As an added bonus Random House is letting YOU lovelies take a crack at “I Love My Hair” with a cool Marie Antoinette sample page. Just click the thumbnail below and you’ll have access to a full sized, high res that you can print and color!
I am totally asking Karen to get me a copy of this for New Year’s. I NEEDS IT! Lovely post & interview! 😀
I need this coloring book in my life! I already have two (Underwater and Secret Garden), but this one looks soooo fun! And hooray for natural hair! 😀
I am loving adult coloring books 🙂 so much fun!