Guest Post: Hue Monthly

I'm honoured to present Colour with Claire's first guest post, written by Dave Hopkins from hue. 

hue is an adult colouring subscription with a difference: instead of getting regular emails with free pages to download and print yourself, a physical book is sent to your door each month containing unique and original art from featured illustrators around the world. I think this is a fantastic idea that Dave and his co-creator Mark are working hard to bring to fruition as we speak. 

Without further ado, here's Dave to tell you more about how he got into colouring and the creation of hue.

This journey all started back when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was obsessed with building models and paint by number. I wanted to be an amazing illustrator and draw awesome sports cars and airplanes, but I wasn’t blessed with those skills.

I remember as a kid buying countless “how to draw cars” or “how to draw planes” books. I wanted to draw them so bad! After realizing that illustration might not be my specialty, I came across Paint by Number. Remember those?

The one that sticks out for me the most is one that was a couple of Army Spitfire airplanes overtop of landscape and ocean scenery. I must have painted for two days straight following the “instructions” on how to make the picture look amazing! Finally complete, I just starred at what I had created. Even though I couldn’t claim that it was all my artwork, I felt this massive sense of accomplishment. I still remember it to this day.

Fast forward 20 years and I find myself working a busy day job, trying to fulfill this creative desire inside, and working on being the best parent I can be.

My wife and I have 3 kids, ages 7, 5, and 3. It was when my oldest was about 3 years old that colouring started to take over our home. She loved it! And one of the best ways I could spend time with her after a busy day, was sitting at the table talking about our days while we coloured and drew together. Her drawings of flowers and grass on a sunny day always looked amazing. So much creativity and inspiration in them.

Since then, our younger kids have also picked up this love of colouring. Seeing all three at the table colouring away, sharing each others pictures, complimenting each others drawings, just warms your heart! I can’t help but get in there with them!

I have enjoyed this colouring time with my kids since it started all those years ago. It is so relaxing and before you know it, an hour has gone by and the table is full of different pictures!

What keeps me busy during the day is my Sales job in the commercial print industry. What that means is that I get to work with Agencies and Graphic Designers to create unique marketing materials and print collateral. Working with Pantone books and graphic design, I am always surrounded by colours and inspiring design. You could say I have a passion for print.

It’s this passion for print, and the love for coloring with my kids that led me and my cousin Mark to look for a way to provide adults with a really unique experience in the world of colouring for adults. We had a look at what others were doing in the industry, what people were saying they loved and what they wanted, and landed on an idea.

Working with artists from around the world, we would have each month focus on a particular country to take the customer on a journey through that country and that culture. One month would feature an artist from Morocco, then the next India, then Ireland and so on.

So we asked a few “colouring for adults” facebook groups what they thought about our idea, just put it out there not knowing what to expect. We were overwhelmed with positive feedback and interest within minutes. That continued through the night, and for the next 3-4 days. We knew we were on to something. Something people really resonated with.

Keeping this desire to create something really unique, exciting, and playful yet sophisticated, we set out to name this idea. We did what most people would do...Google “words for colour”.

I have a love for short and simple business names that pack big character. So it was after much research, thinking, debate, and convincing that we settled on.... hue.

hue - coloring for adults will be an inspiring and unique experience for adults who love to colour. It is a subscription box that will deliver an original and unique colouring book to your door every month. Escape the stress and anxiety of your day while you colour illustrations and take a journey with our featured artist.

So here we are, in the most exciting part of something new. Creation. We are working daily to bring this experience to your doorstep.

To thank all of the people who took time out of their day to give us their feedback, we created a contest for $290 worth of premium colouring instruments. These include Sakura Gelly Roll pens, Derwent Inktense pencils and Copic markers! After entering the contest, you will also automatically have our free colouring page sent to your inbox. These coloring pages feature artists from Ireland, India, and Romania.

Click here to enter! You can also check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Dave Hopkins is co-creator of hue - colouring for adults. He enjoys being creative and inspiring others by sharing his creativity. Vancouver BC, Canada is where Dave and his Family currently live. Together with his wife Victoria, they have three children. Evangeline, age 7, Liliana, age 5, and Cohen, age 3. Ohh, and to round it all out, a Golden Retriever named Bella.