Poseidon is my latest finished page from the book "Mythos: Of Greek Gods and Godesses" by Patrick Earl E. Alvarez, and it definitely won't be the last. I had also done Cronus, Titan God of Time previous to this.
A couple of months back, February 13 to be exact, I came face to face with this 32-page inked creation, which then wasn't even a published book yet. The hand sketches were showed by Patrick to the colorista crowd gathered for an Over Coffee Coloring™ event, and everyone oohed and aaahed on each turn of the book's 11 x 14 inch sized pages. My mind went berzerk with each quick turn. The illustrations were unlike anything I've seen in other coloring books. It was the kind of illustration I'm always drawn to color, the manually-inked kind.
I have always sensed the difference.
For instance, when I colored the portuguese man of war (jellyfishes) in the book Atlantis by White Star Publications (Australian) I sensed that I was quite forlorn. Unlike previous works I did of Johanna Basford or Millie Marotta the artist in Atlantis was unknown and I wasn't feeling any connection while coloring. Even more when I would notice unfinished details in the picture that screamed 'digital layout'.
When I got my copy of Mythos I browsed each page and immediately confirmed to myself that the raw quality of its illustrations is the premium kind I, as a colorist, long for in illustrations. After all I color not just with my hands but with all of my being, and essentially do so to make a connection. I savor each experience of tracing my pencil tip to follow shapes and strokes in drawings which, to the artist, are essential to complete the overall illustration. Coloring for me is like the Ignatian spiritual exercises, they are time well spent, praying using pigments. If I can't make this journey through coloring I could very well just render the images using Photoshop© in my PC.
Funny thing though, unlike the Jesuits who meditate in serene places, my zone of peace looks like this haha! 
Oh well, to each his own.
By the way here is Cronus, my other Mythos work. 
I should mention that someone else felt an adrenaline rush when I brought my Mythos copy home. It was my daughter. She just turned thirteen and, like her brothers, she's a net gaming junkie. She kept saying "Oh my gosh! These images are awesome", before she showed me images from an internet game she knows of, Smite. She suggested that I use as color inspiration the images of the Greek and Titan gods there. It's awesome when I can connect with my kids this way through coloring.
She loved this Poseidon work of mine by the way.
Magnificent art works!
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