Fantastic Collections

In this newest colouring book by the author of the internationally bestselling Fantastic Cities, artist Steve McDonald uses his unique photo-based approach to create beautiful and intimately detailed line drawings of amazing collections of objects. Finding inspiration in the unusual (museum collections, antiques and quirky toys) and the everyday (leaves, butterflies, vintage cameras, store product displays), McDonald creates playful and immersive illustrations that are as lovely as they are fun to colour. The quality of the large, crisp white pages are conducive to a range of applications, while a middle margin keeps all the artwork fully colourable. A dozen meditative mandalas created from the drawings round out this gorgeous adult colouring book.

Steve McDonald doesn’t just draw the cities of the world. A lifelong traveler since his family moved to the Middle East in 1979, he’s lived in Saudi Arabia, Italy, India and Indonesia, visited dozens of other countries, and spent the better part of two decades travelling his native Canada from coast to coast via car, bus, helicopter, canoe, ship and on foot. Everywhere he goes he soaks up the local colour, the architecture, and, most of all, the lines.

Steve’s process includes observing, sketching on-site and taking photos for reference in the studio, as well as working from many noted photographers’ material. He lays down initial groundwork lines in pencil or on a tablet and then gets busy with the details. Although he works in many media, including acrylics, watercolours, and coloured dyes, his favourite is simple pen and ink.

When he’s not knee-deep in the intricate details of his drawings, Steve is likely surfing (most recently in the waves off the coast of Bali, where he lived for two years with his family) or cross-country skiing in the snowdrifts of rural Ontario, which he currently calls home.

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Steve’s work has been showcased in many gallery exhibitions, television documentaries and various publications, and can be found in many private homes and corporate collections worldwide. You can also find it online at artbysteve.squarespace.com.