By Alexandra Crockett
Illustrations by Chuck Gonzales
powerHouse Books, Brooklyn NY
A few years ago, Hellbound reviewed Alexandra Crockett’s Metal Cats book, a photo showcase of metal dudes with their adorable heavy metal cats (Metal Cats book review by Matt Hinch). The book beautifully upsets at least two stereotypes, if not more: that only “ladies” are crazy about felines and that metalheads are too cold-hearted to love soft cuddly critters. Metal Cats Coloring Book takes it all one step further.
If you’ve been paying attention you might have noticed that colouring books for adults have become a definite thing. They’re meant for relaxation, winding down, reawakening your inner child… Many of these books feature mandalas, flowers or animals, but as the numbers have multiplied, the creators have gotten increasingly creative. And metal-themed colouring books are much easier to find than you might expect.
The Metal Cats Coloring Book is a hybrid: true heavy metal and some of the cutest cats combined in a single collection of colouring delights. Gonzales has done a good job simplifying Crockett’s photographs into pages of line drawings, each with its own degree of difficulty. When it’s just a dude and his cat, things are pretty straightforward. The challenges arise where the setting offers more and more detail. But there’s always the option of ignoring what you don’t feel like filling in.
My only complaint is that a colouring book full of metalheads is bound to wear all our black crayons to stubs. But then, who’s to say you can’t transform metal black into a rainbow of colours? Last time I checked with a three-year-old, realism isn’t a primary colouring concern, and the book cover already demonstrates a departure from the photos’ original colours.
Metal Cats Coloring Book became available July 25. You can order it straight from powerHouse Books.
www.powerhousearena.com/shop/metal-cats-coloring-book
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