Sudbury miners were already colouring books in the 1980s, before it was trendy
When they were laid off from Inco in the 1980s, two brothers put down their mining gear and picked up markers
Adult colouring books are increasingly being used as a way to relieve stress. But long before it became a trend, a group of nickel miners from Sudbury were trying their hand at colouring.
And now they're looking for a new colouring challenge.
Brothers Paul and Marc Laplante love to colour — they see themselves as experts at it.
Paul said it all started in the 1980s, when the pair lost their jobs at the Inco nickel mine.
"We were laid off from INCO in 1982," he said.
"We were hanging out, we were living downtown and every day we would take a walk. I was at Woolworths in their basement and they had a bargain bin, and I saw this book."
The book was called PILE, a large, hard-cover sci-fi book for adults that featured intricate illustrations all in black and white.
"It was 50 cents so I picked it up and brought it home," Paul continued.
"It wasn't that interesting after I read the story — well the story was OK — But the illustrations were just in black and white, and I preferred colour. After a day or so of having the book, I thought, 'well, maybe I can doodle art the colours in this book. So I went down and bought a set of magic markers and started doing it. It started turning out really nice."
As Paul started meticulously colouring in the pictures, each page brought another complex scene that he spent hours poring over.
'Simple, inexpensive' hobby
The pictures featured intricate medieval court rooms with masked jesters and entire city scapes of spiraling turrets with hundreds of individual bricks.
Paul told Marc and their other mining friends they should try colouring too.
"So we went down to Woolworths and bought the rest of the books for fifty cents each and each got a package of magic markers and started to colour the books," Paul said.
Marc said he wasn't too sure about it at first.
"It was simple [and] it was inexpensive to get into," he said.
"So I thought, 'OK, I'll try this.' And it's captivating. You start to do it and you see how much detail there is. That seems to be almost an addictive part of it.
'They thought I was crazy'
Soon, it became more than a casual hobby.
"It became an obsession," Marc said.
For the next few months, Marc and Paul and the other laid-off miners would spend several hours a day colouring.
Paul and Marc said they sometimes took days to complete just a section of an illustration.
It also became a competition.
"And [you look at] the next guy ... beside you, and you're like, 'whoa ... let me see your book'," Marc said.
Paul admitted that "You always think your colouring is better."
No matter who was the better colouring artist, they both received equal amounts of raised eyebrows from friends and family for their colouring habit.
"They thought I was crazy," Paul said.
But when anyone saw their colouring books, they understood.
Months passed and eventually the men got their jobs back at the mine.
But they kept on colouring.
Paul managed to colour in his entire book in two years.
Marc took about 15 years until he was done.
"I had stopped after a while, and got back in to it years later," he recalled.
"Once I got back in to it, it was extremely addictive again."
Pitching their ideas
When the brothers were finally done, they contacted the illustrator of the book.
They suggested the book be republished — but this time sell it with a box of magic markers attached.
"He wrote back and said the theme of the book was to be a black and white world. It wasn't supposed to be coloured," Paul recalled.
"He didn't think it was in the spirit of the original publication to republish. He said, 'your picture looks interesting but it's not something I would encourage people to do."
Pauls said he wrote the illustrator a couple of more times, asking him if he would reconsider — but he didn't.
They still have a few of the original PILE books. Paul said he gave a copy to his nephew, however it didn't end well.
"He got a hold of the book and scribbled all through it," he said. "I cringed."
Paul and Marc say now that colouring books for adults are becoming popular, they'll be on the hunt for a new book to colour.
But they'll only be satisfied when they find one that it's as intricate as that first book Paul found back in 1982.
Paul and Marc say they're hoping to exhibit their colouring books sometime soon.
CBC News has also learned that the illustrator may finally consider creating an adult colouring book: