Off the Bookshelf by Samarra Khaja

16/10/2015

Number of Pages: 96
Size: 28 x 21cm
Paper colour: White
Paper surface: Smooth
Paper thickness: Good
Linework: Medium
Perforated: Yes
One sided: Yes
Binding: Glue
Drawings go into the spine: Yes
Waterbased pen bleed: Yes

Samarra Khaja is a photographer, graphic designer, illustrator and art director living in NYC, who has worked for the likes of American Airlines, New York Times, Time Magazine and Victoria's Secret! Her Indian-Australian heritage influences her very individual style; a mixture of traditional themes and experimental, random stuff.

This is her first colouring book and contains over 45 jumbled designs of differing themes and content, for example one page is full of robots, the next is a bunch of hand tools you might find in the shed. The style varies too, from quite basic childlike drawings of cats, to a map of Brooklyn, NY. Samarra's art has an imperfect, sketched quality where lines don't always match up and flaws are all part of the fun. Some of the illustrations may be simple in nature but are detailed enough to keep your attention. I love quirky, chaotic books with an assortment of material, of which Off the Bookshelf fits marvellously!

Here's my finished page, a medley of random science equipment that appealed to the geek in me :)