Indian art finds new colour

Subhash Vyam and Bhavi Mehta

Forget secret gardens, enchanted forests or mandalas. There's a new set of colouring books in town, and they identify as Indian. "We wanted to work with Indian folk artists and incorporate their work into the mainstream and colouring books is a good way to do it," says Bhavi Mehta, a freelance book-cover artist who has edited the series.

Gond artwork

The most interesting of the four books in the Colouring India series (Hachette India) are the ones that feature Madhubani, and Gond art. For these, Mehta worked with an artist from the community and guided them on how to create black and white art. The Gond book has illustrations by Subhash Vyam from Bhopal; these include animals like peacocks, deer, elephants and imaginary creatures. "It was a bit challenging because Gond art has a lot of detail and colour. We had to step back a bit and ensure that not all designs were complicated," says Mehta.

The Madhubani book

Artist Navin Kumar Jha, an expert in the Mithila style of painting, illustrated the Madhubani book. There are scenes from Indian mythology and folklore, celestial bodies and intricate flora and fauna. "I met Navin at Dilli Haat, and he was very enthusiastic about doing this. I had shared a few colouring books with him, and he coloured them all in," says Mehta.

Navin Kumar Jha

The other two are dedicated to Indian textiles and rangoli patterns. Mehta sourced the images from stock images and edited them to make them suitable for colouring.

Log on to: www.hachetteindia.com
Cost: '450