THE ART & LAW COLORING BOOK
The Art & Law Coloring Book (the “Book”) is a project of The Art & Law Program that addresses the educational and artistic needs of children worldwide.
The Book is made possible by the generous contributions of many artists, including Art & Law Program alumni, friends, and seminar leaders. Below you will find a range of drawings that together create the Book. To print or view a larger version of an image, please click on the image and a PDF version will appear in a new window. You may color the drawings via digital format and/or print as many drawings as you would like to color.
Educators are encouraged to use this webpage as an instructional tool and integrate the drawings into their current art, history, economics, government, philosophy, and/or political science curricula. Although the Book pages can be used independently, educators are encouraged to use all of the contents of this webpage, i.e.- the Book, as one source on art and law. For example, educators may want to have students color the drawing by Emma Jane Bloomfield after reading all or some of the hyperlinked terms art, architecture, text, writing, and structure.
Although the drawings are free of charge to you, the user, the copyrights in and to the drawings are held by each artist. You are granted a revocable non-exclusive license to print and/or color the drawings below. If you would like to use any of the Book drawings for any other purpose, please contact me at sms@artlawoffice.com and I will put you in contact with the appropriate artist(s).
Please note that this Book should in no way be considered comprehensive. Rather, it is intended to be an interim statement which mutates with time (What is “time”?). The Book indicates some representations from certain individuals and sources but does not even pretend to be a complete documentation.
Lastly, you are of course welcome to display your altered images and, if you would like to share your and/or your students’ colored pages with us, please email them to me at sms@artlawoffice.com and we will post said images on the Art & Law Program Instagram account.
Artists:
Emma Jane Bloomfield
Damien Davis
Molly Dilworth
João Enxuto
Soda Jerk
Clare Kambhu
Alexandra Lerman
Erica Love
Douglas Melini
Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento
Melinda Shades
Elisabeth Smolarz
Gabriel Sosa
Alfred Steiner
Valerie Suter
Molly Dilworth’s drawing, Trouble 135 (2017), derives from a series of 273 drawings from Molly’s first six months of 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is one of two drawings from a day at a waterkeeper camp where issues of extractive industries were discussed on privately owned native land.
In July of 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that approximately half of the land in the state of Oklahoma is within a Native American reservation, a decision that will have major consequences for both past and future criminal and civil cases.
Emma Jane Bloomfield connects art, architecture, inter-relations, production, and mark-making in her drawing, Siblings*.
Clare Kambhu contributes, Jump (2021). As an artist and art teacher, Clare has this to say about public education: “At a moment in which public education is highly contested, both threatened and threatening, we often see school furniture as a stand in for student bodies. I make observational paintings in public schools, teachers unions, and other bureaucratic spaces.”
While artists work from the real to the abstract, architects must work from the abstract to the real. While art may legitimize itself as an object or an event, architecture dissolves into a blur of buildings. - Steven Holl, What is Architecture? (Art?)
Damien Davis contributes three drawings based on Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space. This is one of Damien’s drawings.
Rogers v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301 (2d Cir. 1992)
Click here to see a photograph of two people holding 8 puppies. This same photo was then used by another artist to create a three-dimensional sculpture. Who was that artist? Why did this sculpture become part of a major copyright lawsuit?
Elisabeth Smolarz’s drawing is fun to color, but also helps us understand about animal extinction. In this case, Elisabeth raises awareness about the “Vaquita,” the most endangered marine mammal. Follow the link to find out more about where “Vaquitas” live and why “Vaquitas” are endangered.
Alfred Steiner’s, Skull No. 1, is a vector graphic in variable dimensions. This means you may print this drawing as big or as small as you’d like.
What is “law”?
Gabriel Sosa’s drawing, “How Many Words Can You See?”, comes from a series of drawings that integrate text from the Boston Police Department handbook and the aesthetic of the Rorschach inkblot tests.
If you do not know the meaning of a word, try using this dictionary to look up the definition and use of that word.
Melinda Shades uses drawing and music to share her interests in self-discovery and key historical cultural moments. One of Melinda’s concerns is giving today’s young generation knowledge of great art of the late 20th Century. This drawing, dnarnya, is one example.
What will the future of this planet look like? Will it be utopic? Or will it be dystopic? Will it be premised on the community or the individual?
Soda Jerk’s slogan SURF NOT SERF refuses the techno-feudal turn of the internet in the contemporary era of surveillance capitalism. The image was originally designed as a flag to protest the gutting of net neutrality in 2017. Instead of data farming, the work reclaims the metaphorical routes of the 90’s internet as an open ocean — a frontier of corporate mutiny, noble-minded piracy and gnarly good times. Surf the net, don’t let it surf you.
"A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks." - Justice Thurgood Marshall
João Enxuto and Erica Love’s drawing is a coloring book version of their larger project, The Digital Divide (Every LinkNYC in Manhattan), from 2018, where they explore the impact of technology, commerce and the city landscape.
If you do not know the meaning of a word, try using this dictionary to look up the definition and use of that word.
Another drawing by Valerie Suter, visual artist and educator. Through Valerie’s use of figurative painting, drawing, sculpture and video she questions dominant narratives and explores subjects that have been historically marginalized and objectified, often making portraits that assert their social, cultural, and political power. In this drawing, Valerie portays Astrid Lindgren, an author who has sold roughly 165 million books worldwide. In 1994, Lindgren was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her unique authorship dedicated to the rights of children and respect for their individuality."
Molly Dilworth’s drawing, Trouble 192 (2017), derives from a series of 273 drawings from Molly’s first six months of 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is one of two drawings from a day at a waterkeeper camp where issues of extractive industries were discussed on privately owned native land. The other drawing can be found above.
What is “art”? Is there a difference between “art” and “expression”?
Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento’s drawing, “Your Very Own,” invites you to author a drawing and be an artist, all while learning a little about intellectual property.
Valerie Suter is a visual artist and educator. Through her use of figurative painting, drawing, sculpture and video she questions dominant narratives and explores subjects that have been historically marginalized and objectified, often making portraits that assert their social, cultural, and political power. In this drawing, Valerie portays Astrid Lindgren, an author who has sold roughly 165 million books worldwide. In 1994, Lindgren was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her unique authorship dedicated to the rights of children and respect for their individuality."
Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento’s drawing, “Lemmy,” invites you to color eight of these drawings and then cut each one out. Once you’ve cut them out, find a friend, sit next to each other, and have a friend or a parent take a picture of you and your friend with all eight Lemmys, just like you see in this picture.
What is “government”?
Since governments exist by the consent of the people in order to protect the rights of the people and promote the public good, governments that fail to do so can be resisted and replaced with new governments.
Douglas Melini’s drawings and paintings are combinations of patterned optical illusions and painterly abstract expression that explore the relationship between color, texture, and space. He often extends his patterns and vibrant colors across the frame, adding a third-dimension to the work. Click here to see how Doug colored-in one of his drawings!
Historically the biggest barrier to the colonization of the Amazon rainforest has been the hostility of the natural environment to man. Protective mesh suiting became prevalent in the late nineteenth century when it was discovered that mosquitoes were the predominant agent in spreading malaria. Netting became in this moment a necessary barrier between humans and nature which ultimately enabled the colonization and monetization of Amazonia.
Alexandra Lerman’s Mosquito Man, 3, was born out of the mosquito suit gifted to Alexandra as she was leaving for a trip to the Amazon rain forest. While there Alexandra used it to make a series of indexical photograms that depicted the presence of an absent body. The Mosquito Man became a character with a power cord skeleton. What does “indexical” mean?
Did you know some drawings are animated? Watch the video below for a good example on the art of animation. You’ll also learn about a really cool cat who helped end legal segregation. He was also a United States Supreme Court justice.
Who was Justice Thurgood Marshall?
What would happen if you made a collage of two or more images in this Book? What if you used images from other sources not in this Book? Do you know what “collage” is? If not, use the dictionary link to find out.
Damien Davis contributes three drawings based on Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space. This is Damien’s second drawing.