Lines Unlimited
Volume 1
Peter Kimack
8.75x11 P.B. 53pgs.
$40.00
1-60052-020-0

This "Coloring Book for all Ages" embodies the creative spirit of San Francisco artist Peter Kimack, whose mind-bending illustrations stretch the imagination far beyond recognition. A look at the samples on the inside front cover flap beckons the use of saturated bright colors and also shows the diverse methods by which color can be applied. Whether you choose to stay in the lines or not, Kimack's book provides the perfect vehicle from which to let one's creative juices flow.

Throughout Kimack’s drawings, underground roots break the surface of some desert plain filled with gnarled trees yielding fruit, insects make believe and real, and even sea shells. It is as though two worlds have collided. Past memories are represented in the sea shells which once lay at the bottom of an ancient ocean that is now a desert. In addition, blooming trees carry hope for the future as their strong roots and branches fight toward the sky amidst a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape where vegetation is finally beginning to grow again.

Despite the barren horizon, these drawings hold astounding detail. In plate 11, a huge beetle lies entangled in a tree, whose branches could easily be mistaken for the beetles markings. And who knows, perhaps they are one and the same. It is difficult to determine where Peter’s imagination ends and where reality begins. That is, if it ever does begin.

Recognizable images are abound, and a second look reveals that Peter’s creative genius has left its mark on every one of them. In plate 14, for example, we see an apple tree. However, the rendered tree trunk and leaves do not look like those you might find in an orchard. The apples are so large that they cause the tree to bend and almost touch the ground. One would be wary to pick an apple from this tree.

Yet one would be very lucky to get to color it in. We hope you enjoy the images and experience of this coloring book as much as we do.

- Renee Zalles