Artistic Adventures with Victoria

I’m part of a book club. It’s a casual, curious, and occasionally chaotic group, and the rule is simple: you must read the selected book—or have an exceptionally good reason not to. And let’s be honest, it’s usually easier to just read the book than invent something convincing. Though I’ve heard some impressive attempts.

This time, the pick was something a little different:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

Now, I’ll admit—it’s not exactly my usual read. I’m not the intended target audience; it’s categorized as Young Adult. And honestly, I’m not even sure this would’ve been a favorite of mine once upon a time. There’s a bit too much Beauty and the Beast—or should I say Stockholm syndrome—for my liking. And then there’s the other thing: Tamlin is around 500 years old, and she’s 19. That age gap alone gives me pause. Still, I can’t say for certain whether either of those things would’ve bothered me back then. Maybe. Maybe not. But this isn’t a book review blog, so let’s move on…

Four Images and a Colorful Spiral

Somewhere between chapters, my imagination took over. Before I even realized it, I had captured my version of the story through four images. There was something about that lake—glowing in the moonlight, as if it had been poured full of starlight.

These aren’t literal scenes from the book. They’re more like visual impressions—my take on the moods, emotions, and tone the story stirred up.

And since I run a coloring YouTube channel, bringing the images to life in video form felt like the natural next step. I thought: maybe another fan would enjoy coloring them too? Just for fun? I planned to share the images—for free—on my website.

And apparently, not a single alarm bell rang in my brain.

Then Came the Copyright Question

I finalized the images, prepared them for print, and ran some test pages. (Side note: switching to a laser printer seems to solve the smudging problem I’ve had with water-based markers. Inkjet ink just doesn’t stand a chance.)

And that’s when it hit me.

Yes, the images are mine—original compositions, entirely my own interpretations.
No, they don’t depict any specific copyrighted scene.
But… they are unmistakably inspired by a copyrighted book, still well within its protection period.

That makes them fan art, and that means limits. Even when the work is original and untraced, it’s still considered a derivative work, and distributing it (even for free) can violate copyright.

Lesson learned: pause before starting… and maybe do a quick search for “Can I do this legally?” It might save you from trouble—or at the very least, save you a lot of time.

So What’s the Solution?

Thankfully, it’s simple:

• I can still color my images on my channel—if I decide I want to. But fan art isn’t really my thing anymore.
• I can talk about the emotions, the lighting, and the atmosphere.
• But I won’t be offering the images for download—not even for free.

The Official Option

I’d like to emphasize once more that these aren’t pages from an official coloring book. They’re simply my personal creative response to the story—my own visual daydreams of what it might look like to color an elf bathing in liquid starlight.

And if you didn’t know: yes, there is an official coloring book for A Court of Thorns and Roses. It’s easily available, if you’d prefer to color something officially sanctioned.

So… Did I Learn Anything?

So… did I learn anything? Yes, I did. I learned to pause, to ask a few questions before moving forward, and to be just a bit more cautious with where creativity leads. Will I read the second book? Probably not—unless the book club insists, in which case I’ll read it, quietly complain, and still finish it out of sheer principle. As for creating more images like this? At the moment, I’d say no. But then again, some projects linger longer than expected—unfinished, unresolved, and quietly waiting. So… I’ll think about it.

Until next time, dear readers.