We were sent Hirameki by artists Peng + Hu from Thames & Hudson to review and I could immediately see how it would appeal to the twins, age 6. Hirameki means ‘brainwave’ or ‘flash of inspiration’ in Japanese, and this book is full of pages of splodges and splashes of colour that you’re encouraged to turn into something amazing, just by adding a few lines or dots with a black fineliner. The splashes are arranged into seven sections to help you go from single drawings blot-to-blot scenes!
We all know I’m a fan of the adult colouring book, and this is another creative angle on the craze. While I created my own red splodges to turn into Hirameki Valentines cards, the kids had a good look through the book and got creating themselves.
I gave them sheets of watercolour paper and some simple tins of watercolour paints, and they started off by filling their pages with blobs and splodges. Some were darker than other, and I sprayed one sheet of paper with water first, so that the splodges had fuzzier edges. After leaving the paint to dry, the kids were eager to get busy with their black pens. I completely left them to it, wanting to see what they came up with themselves, and I really was wowed by their imaginations and creativity. If you watch my latest Heather’s Space video (have you subscribed yet? Why the heck not?!), the twins will talk you through what their splashes of colour have become.
This was a super-easy activity that kept the kids happily occupied for at least half an hour and the joy of watercolours is that they can make minimal mess, and it’s no stress to clear up. When it comes to the book itself, there’s currently a tug-of-war going on between Ez and I over who will claim ultimate ownership. I think we may need to come to a joint custody agreement, although I might need to read a few more of artists Peng and Hu’s prompts and hints that accompany the pages to come up with anything nearly as good as Ez’s creations.
This looks like alot of fun x