Royal & Langnickel's 'Art Instructor' display at Toy Fair showcases new 'Masterp
Royal & Langnickel's "Art Instructor" display at Toy Fair
Adult coloring books have become a regular presence at Toy Fair the last couple years, and art supplies and activities company Royal & Langnickel has taken the concept a step further with its Painting By Numbers adult series, and its Paint Your Own Masterpiece art sets--which provide everything needed (paints, brushes, palettes, instruction books and online videos) in guiding would-be Picassos in their initial efforts.
But at last month’s Toy Fair, R&L showed a new entry in its Art Instructor series: Also titled Paint Your Own Masterpiece, this variant uses historic art masterpieces in kits containing all the aforementioned materials, plus the important addition of a preprinted canvas.
The titles in the new line so far are Mona Lisa, Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte, and Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Vase of Fifteen Sunflowers.
“One of the biggest obstacles in art [participation] is how to get started,” said R&L sales and marketing director Michael K. Dovellos. “There’s a ‘barrier of entry,’ and you have to teach consumers how to create and mix colors and then how to apply them. So we offer step-by-step online video instruction.”
True, notes Dovellos, “coloring books are always fun.” But Royal & Langnickel’s new Paint Your Masterpiece product takes adult art activity to the next level.