Colouring book

Escape to Royal Deeside

A Scottish Landscape Colouring Book

Twenty-five drawings of the Cairngorms and the Dee valley. Every one of them is somewhere you can stand.

Coming soon · 25 plates · 8.5in square

Escape to Royal Deeside: cover, the River Dee running between the hills

Where the scenes come from

I grew up in Royal Deeside. The river, the Ballochbuie pines, the walk up Lochnagar that you do once and then keep doing every year without quite deciding to. It went into the piano writing first, years before it got anywhere near a pencil.

Every plate is a real place, and it says which one underneath. The birch forest beneath The Maim, near the village of Crathie. The Ballochbuie Caledonian pine forest on the Balmoral estate. The corrie near the summit of Lochnagar. The Linn of Dee. If you know Deeside you will recognise most of them before you read the caption. If you went once on a holiday, the caption tells you where you were standing.

Inside the pages

A single plate: birch trees over a rocky burn, drawn in fine grey line work, with a printed caption beneath
Birch forest beneath The Maim, near the village of Crathie
An open spread: the Ballochbuie pine forest on the left page, the corrie at Lochnagar on the right
A spread: Ballochbuie on the left, Lochnagar's corrie on the right

How it is printed

Twenty-five illustrations, 8.5 inches square, which is small enough to hold and big enough to lose an evening in. Every plate is printed single-sided, so gel pens and markers do not bleed through and ruin the scene behind. The line work is fine rather than heavy, which suits coloured pencil best. Work in marker if you prefer, but put a spare sheet behind the page first.

Plates: 25, single-sided · Size: 8.5 × 8.5 inches · Paper: Single-sided, no bleed-through · Suits: Pencils, gel pens, markers · Status: Coming soon

Hear when it is ready. Leave your name and I will email you once, on the day it goes on sale.

Questions

When will Escape to Royal Deeside be available?

There is no date yet. Join the waiting list and you will get one email, on the day it goes on sale.

Which places are in the book?

Real, named locations across Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms. The birch forest beneath The Maim near the village of Crathie, the Ballochbuie Caledonian pine forest on the Balmoral estate, the corrie near the summit of Lochnagar, the Linn of Dee, and the River Dee. Each plate carries its location printed underneath it.

Will markers bleed through the pages?

No. Every plate is printed single-sided, so nothing shows through onto the scene behind. If you are working in heavy marker, put a spare sheet behind the page anyway.

What size is the book?

8.5 inches square, with 25 plates. Small enough to hold comfortably, big enough to lose an evening in.

What pencils or pens suit it best?

The line work is fine rather than heavy, which suits coloured pencil best. Gel pens and markers work too, on single-sided paper.

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