food

Meet Querkles. It's colour-by-numbers, all grown up.

Adult colouring books are having a real moment right now. Proving to be more than illustrations of birds, flowers and trees, big-kid colouring in has emerged as nostalgic, creative and completely relaxing.

Now the trend has gained further momentum with the arrival of Querkles.

The book Querkles: A Puzzling Colour-By-Numbers Book by colouring aficionado Thomas Pavitte takes the concept of colouring in to a very sophisticated new level. Its illustrations are like good old colour-by-numbers – if they were designed by Andy Warhol.

Untouched, Querkles look like a jumble of completely chaotic and overlapping circles. Colour them in, however, and the mess reveals iconic portraits of famous faces including Mona Lisa, Marilyn Monroe and Che Guevara.

Marilyn Monroe Querkle. Source: @line.lilleskare

The illustrations are made from hundreds of circles numbered from one to five. Colour choice is left entirely up to the colourer - , as long as they follow a tonal pattern of dark to light.

“You can keep it simple, and use one pen or pencil, or you can go colourful, with felt tips or paints: the principle is no more complicated than the colour-by-numbers books that kids love,” Pavitte said.

That said, if you play by the rules, the colourings are totally removable masterpieces good enough to be framed and displayed.

ADVERTISEMENT
Traditional Colour By Numbers. Source: @carronjc

Melbourne-based Pavitte transformed his flair for dot-to-dot drawings into the precursor to Querkles, The 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book, which sold 400,000 copies globally and is one of six titles published under his name.

Check out some more Querkle masterpieces below. Post continues after gallery.

Heralded as the latest weapon against stress, adult colouring books are currently in the top 20 on Amazon’s Bestseller List and there are even Facebook pages dedicated to adult colouring.

Publishers have latched onto colouring’s health benefits, honing in on the zen-like effects of putting pen to paper. No doubt this helps eliminate the idea that colouring is childish. In fact, because colouring encourages you to strip away multitasking, it’s a wonder cure for stressed adults who struggle to squeeze a slither of relaxation into their day.

It’s sort of like everyday meditation for people who don’t like to meditate.

While colouring might not entirely motivate you to pay off your debt, it’s a new type of creative mindfulness that has adults reaching for their felt-tips.

For more on the latest craze, why not try ...

Why Colouring Books For Adults Are the Next Big Thing

Colouring Books For Adults Just Got an R Rating