Colorful Monsters

A few years ago I posted a blog about a couple of monster coloring books I bought online. These books were written and drawn by a superb artist by the name of Terence E. Hanley. His first two coloring books were Monsters and Aliens of America and Mothman, Aliens, & Flying Saucers. Both books are fantastic and fun pieces that harken back to a time almost lost these days... I fondly recall sitting down in the floor coloring in coloring books for hours as a kid. I don't really plan to color these books up because the art is so good as it is. The linework is wonderful and the included biographical information about each monster is a great bonus!

Well, today I received a copy of Mr. Hanley's latest coloring book in the mail. I present to you Monsters from the Mountains, a fantastic look at cryptids and aliens from the mountains of the Eastern United States.

Each page is lovingly crafted by an artist who truly has a love for the subject matter; it shows in each brush stroke!

Along with the images there is a section inside the front cover that gives brief histories for each montser in the book. In addition to that, there's a set of portraits on the back cover of famous Cryptozoologists and UFOlogists with biographies inside the back cover! It's a great starting point for doing some fun research about the unknown!

Mr. Hanley was nice enough to autograph the book and included this awesome Mothman sticker! Whatta nice guy!

I really don't think any searcher of the unknown can claim to have a full collection without these fantastic coloring books in his or her collection! They are a great introduction to folk stories and legends for kids who love monsters-- and really-- what kids don't love monsters?

Mr. Hanley hasn't set up a webstore just yet, but you can order the books from him directly.

His Blogspot site features all of his available products, and I've included his email address so you can contact him to order books if you so wish. Don't pass up an opportunity to own these super books and support an artist at the same time!

Mr. Hanley's Blog

Mr. Hanley's E-Mail

Monsters and Aliens and Crayons-- OH MY!!!

I got a really cool package in the mail today. (I love it when a store throws in extras like stickers and postcards!)



In a thread in the kaiju section of the Octorber Toys Forum (best forum EVAR!) someone mentioned a store called Monster Worship, and, while browsing for toys there, I came across a wonderful coloring book by artist Terence E. Hanley called Monsters and Aliens of America. I managed to snag the last one in stock at the time, but they have restocked, it appears! They have another of his coloring books that I'm probably going to eventually grab called Mothman, Aliens, & Flying Saucers



It's illustrated in a very classic style that makes me think back to the old coloring books I had when I was a kid. Have you guys seen coloring books these days? Most of the ones I've seen lately are just photographs that have been digitally wonked around with until they look like line drawings-- it's pretty sad. There used to be quite a bit of artistry in the making of coloring books



The way the creatures in the book are presented reminds of old episodes of In Search Of, a show that pretty much was responsible for 99% of the nightmares I had when I was a kid.



20 pages of fun critters and brief stories about each one. This is definitely one of those coloring books that will never be touched by a crayon, pencil, or brush-- the line work is just too perfectly beautiful to me to sully with any color. Not too shabby for 5 bucks, huh?



I looked up Terence E. Hanley, and he has a website for those who are interested in hearing more about him. Unfortunately it seems to be in its infancy with very few links or pages. Hopefully that will change. On the good side, it provides contact info for the artist!

If you like his stuff, let him know! Artists need to know they are appreciated! Sometimes we feel all alone, scratching away at our drawing boards like madmen!