Gerard Way has been keeping himself plenty busy while in quarantine. Over the weekend, the My Chemical Romance frontman surprise-released four new solo songs (one of which was meant for a post-MCR band that never materialized), and on Thursday (April 9) Way celebrated his 43rd birthday by sharing The Quarantine Coloring Book — a free way to help relieve boredom during these trying times.

"Hey everyone! Having a great birthday so far, thank you for all the birthday wishes," he began a lengthy note on Instagram. "So, we wanted to do something special today for everyone in quarantine or stuck at home, also for people that can’t stay home but want something to get their mind off things when they get home from work. Healthcare workers and essential personnel we love you!"

He went on to explain how the project came to be, and how artists (himself included) are continually contributing pages. "My friend Sara Taylor @seriouscreepf rom Youth Code came up with this amazing idea and I really wanted to help her with it. It’s called The Quarantine Coloring Book, and it’s a completely free collection of coloring pages for you to print out and color, or color digitally if you prefer," he wrote. "What we did is ask a bunch of artists we are close with to generously donate a coloring page to the project. The idea is to keep it going as long as we can. So far we have a bunch of really cool art by really cool artists. And we are still actively reaching out to people. It’s hosted on a website, thequarantinecoloringbook.com, where you can download the single images, or a pdf collection when we have a bunch of them. I’m going to put a link in my linktree too, right in my bio. I will be creating a coloring image myself at some point, and I’m really excited about it."

The Quarantine Coloring Book has its own Instagram page, where its collaborators will be uploading new images as they finish them, and showcase finished pieces. "We can’t wait to see all of your finished coloring pieces, and hope this provides you with even a small sense of distraction of relief in these uncertain times," Way wrote.

Read Way's full message below.

About Mike Daniels

Cities 97.1 · Uniquely Twin Cities