Inspired: A Roy Henry Vickers Colouring Book

 

Art by Roy Henry Vickers

Harbour Publishing

978-1-998526-33-8

88 pp.

All ages

Releases June 17, 2025 

Roy Henry Vickers, an Indigenous artist of rich Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, and English ancestry, has inspired many a child through his First West Coast Books with Robert "Lucky" Budd, and art lovers with his carvings, paintings, and prints, and even music lovers through his Grammy-nominated artwork for the Grateful Dead's 2018 boxed set. With this new publication, Roy Henry Vickers shares his art with those who may be inspired to create beauty through the colouring process.

From Inspired by Roy Henry Vickers

First, I must apologize for the poor reproductions of the gorgeous pages of Inspired. As line drawings, I could not share them properly to display the beauty of their shapes and line. That is my failing, not that of the book. Once you have your own copy of Inspired, you'll see the true depth of charm and style depicted in each spread. Roy Henry Vickers does not disappoint, though my scanned images do.

From Inspired by Roy Henry Vickers

Inspired is a collection of 42 pages for the reader to colour. The perforated pages are blank on one side, allowing the reader or colourist to remove the pages easily for display. Some of the titles of Roy Henry Vickers's colouring pages, some derived from actual art pieces, include Two Salmon, Bear Claw, Frog Drum, Snowy Owl, and Skeena Northern Lights. They cover a wide variety of Pacific Coast animals, people, and places. How the reader or colourist decides to give embellishment to the art, whether with pencil crayons, markers or watercolour paint, is up to them.

From Inspired by Roy Henry Vickers

Roy Henry Vickers's style is evident in each illustration with flowing lines creating elegant abstractions. His images, even as line drawings, are powerful and magnificent, recreating familiar scenes and natural elements in wonderfully stylized Northwest Coastal art. Roy Henry Vickers, who lives in BC, blends his natural surroundings with his heritage and designs creations that are both unreal and recognizable. They are beautiful.

From Inspired by Roy Henry Vickers

Though I would be tempted to colour these images myself, I think Inspired would be a lovely gift to someone who needs to see beauty and have a hand in gracing it with colour. Roy Henry Vickers's artwork needs no embellishment; it is perfection. But, by creating a colouring book of his images, Roy Henry Vickers allows the reader, nay colourist, to be part of a process by giving them license to impart their own vision onto his outlines. It's a subtle collaboration that empowers and soothes.

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To further appreciate the art of Roy Henry Vickers, check out the First West Coast Book series he created with Robert Budd.

Hello, Humpback!

One Eagle Soaring

Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue

Raven Squawk, Orca Squeak

A is for Anemone

A Flock of Gulls, A Chorus of Frogs

Hello Humpback! and One Eagle Soaring

Hello Humpback!

Illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers
Text by Robert Budd
Harbour Publishing
978-1-55017-799-2
20 pp.
Ages 2-6
2017

One Eagle Soaring

Illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers
Text by Robert Budd
Harbour Publishing
978-1-55017-828-9
20 pp.
Ages 2-6
2018

After my last review in which I applauded the recently published Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue, the third book in the A First West Coast Book series by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd, I thought it imperative that I give some attention to the first two books. Published in 2017 and 2018 respectively, Hello Humpback! and One Eagle Soaring focus on their own concepts–these are concept books after all–but still with a Pacific Northwest flavour and honouring First Nations.

From Hello Humpback!, illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers, text by Robert Budd

Hello Humpback! celebrates a variety of West Coast features in Robert Budd's subtle rhyme and Roy Henry Vickers's illustrations. From animals such as the humpback whale, the salmon, the raven and a myriad of sea creatures such as the steelhead, ratfish and sea urchin, to plant life but also the land and the water, Hello Humpback! is a salute to the Pacific Northwest.

From Hello Humpback!, illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers, text by Robert Budd

Counting in One Eagle Soaring also becomes an homage to the wildlife of the British Columbia coast. In rhyming text, children can count one eagle, two moose, three orcas, four bees, five sea lions, six bears, seven swans, eight robins, nine frogs, and ten owls. But the text is far more sophisticated, emphasizing the actions undertaken by the wildlife and the development of vocabulary with words like pollinate, wander and serenade.

From One Eagle Soaring, illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers, text by Robert Budd

Robert Budd's text is as fluid as Roy Henry Vickers's art. One puts forth important ideas in understated rhyme and the other conveys it in rich colours and line that embed readers in a West Coast state of mind and heart. The effect is heartfelt but informative, with the stunning artwork both calming and still emotionally charged, incorporating both the traditional and the contemporary to full effect.

I urge all parents, grandparents and teachers of the very young to share the West Coast environs through Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd's trio of board books. There will be  learning about animals, numbers, colours and more but the discussions about place will teach even more.

Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue

Illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers

Text by Robert Budd

Harbour Publishing

978-1-55017-870-8

20 pp.

Ages 2-6

May 2019

By their very nature, concept books i.e. those that teach concepts such as letters, numbers and colours must be simple in order for very young children to grasp the concept being highlighted. By simple, I mean straightforward and transparent, though some concept books embrace the idea of simplicity by being meagre and plain. Not Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue.  It may focus on presenting a basic palette to children but it proclaims its artistry in a brilliance of sophistication and heritage.

The colours of silver, blue, yellow, purple, red, orange, grey, black, white and green are clearly identified in each illustration but they are so much more than "just" a colour. They are part of the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. Its flora and fauna, its mountains and ocean, and its seasons become part of the art. From the "sockeye silver" of the adult salmon at sea, glorious under a silver moon, to the blue of the saltchuck waters flowing into a river and the yellow of the spring salmonberries, Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue becomes a journey of place and seasons. Young readers will spot the purple sea stars resting on a rock, the red of the sunset, the sandhill cranes flying across an orange sky, and the whales in the grey mist of heavy rains. There are ravens black and a white ptarmigan in the snow, and the finale spread of "green lights aglow on a wintry night."

From Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue, illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers, words by Robert Budd

 

The words are those of Robert Budd, accomplished author and champion of British Columbia's stories and history. They are concise but impactful, and any child living far from the BC coast will want to visit.

But the art makes Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue the masterpiece it is. There is movement and richness in the colours, and the spot-gloss art is significant and memorable. Sometimes the glossy entity is bold and unmistakable, as in the black of the raven or the wolves howling beneath the northern lights. Other times, however, it almost can only be discerned by touch such as the thunderbird against the white snow or the totem poles hugging the coast of the saltchuck.

Roy Henry Vickers is a multi-talented Tsimshian artist who has excelled at printmaking, carving, music and leadership. His accomplishments have earned him many honours and even more accolades at home in British Columbia and around the world. With his gorgeous prints providing the art for Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue, this concept book is elevated from teaching tool to showpiece.

From Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue, illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers, words by Robert Budd

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Look for my next post which will highlight the earlier two books in this series, Hello Humpback! and One Eagle Soaring.

First West Coast Books