Friday, July 9, 2010

Princesses

I am a doodler who studied art for five years and covered every random piece of scrap paper with silhouettes, as if possessed, for the rest of my life.

I think it's interesting that we are so strongly magnetized to idealized female figures.  Little girls flock to the Disney Princesses as if tugged by an insatiable hunger, and I have noticed a genre of video games that feature fantasy females that appear to be designed by and for men.  If a pretty girl is like a melody, it’s a melody that we all seem to know by heart.

I have drawn so many princesses for little girls who love their ball gowns, their bling and their impossible hairdo’s, another coloring book drifted from my pen as if by its own volition.  Because I believe children absorb most of their values unconsciously, I wanted to make sure my princesses were good mentors for the little girls who might be coloring them.  These princesses are readers, sewers, musicians and equestriennes in addition to their routine royal diversions.

I’m not on an anti-digital soap box, but I do know from experience that children want their mothers, their grandmothers, their big sisters or babysitters to sit with them to color.  In fact, my 21-year old nephew tells me his 18-year old tech-savvy girlfriend still loves to color, and my sister says her college senior still adores coloring books.  Coloring princesses could be something that teenagers, moms and grandmas might actually enjoy as much as the youngest girls in the family.  I hope all little girls and the adults who love them will have a grand time hanging around the palace with these fantasy princesses.

2 comments:

  1. Our girls LOVE LOVE to color Princesses! And Kathy's are the best. We're so excited to have them in a coloring book format!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kathy completed 4 books for my granddaughters; fairies and princesses. All of them love to color and paint but I have never heard any of them comment so enthusiastically about any coloring book, before or since. The illustrations are imaginative, unique and so beautifully drawn. It was fun to listen to my little ones make up stories corresponding to each picture. Bravo Kathy! Believe me, this will not be the last time I order from you!

    ReplyDelete