The first page of colouring is complete, although I could add more shading and deepen some colours. For example, the sky could be more evenly shaded and darkened since the stars suggest it is night.

Eventually, I will look for a wider range of colours. The coloured pencils I am using are Crayola blenders, which are double-ended with a slightly different shade at one end which can be blended with the other, and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils which give a paint effect when you go over the top with a wet brush. So far, I’ve used them dry as the illustrations have fine details and I go over the edge quite a lot as it is! I know now that trying to keep inside the lines was part of learning fine motor skills as a child.

I find myself happily colouring in silence rather than listening to podcasts or the radio. There’s just the soft rasp of pencil on paper and a ‘clink’ as I drop it back in its ceramic pot where the pencils ‘chatter’ together as I select the next. The paper is smooth to touch and sturdy, so that pressing harder to deepen the colour doesn’t show on the reverse side.

I am considering attempting a less ‘busy’ illustration to colour next – when I’ve finished the book I’m reading.