Jigsaw Puzzles – Ulla Thynell

This article includes commercial content

Did you know that many of my artworks are available as puzzles? You can order them at the Society6 store. All the puzzles are available in 200, 500 and 1000 piece sets. I have tested a 200-piece and a 500-piece puzzle myself, so those are the ones that I will focus on in this post.

The two featured jigsaw puzzles are Swamp Tale (200 piece set) and The Forgotten Garden (500 piece set). Note that there are plenty more puzzles with my drawings and paintings in the shop, so you may want to check them out too if you are looking for more options to choose from!

Each Society6 puzzle comes in a small box with a picture of the illustration on the lid. The total sizes of the puzzles and average sizes of the individual pieces vary depending on which of the set you choose (200, 500 or 1000 pieces). The dimensions are listed in both inches and centimetres on each product page in the shop (just scroll down and click on the title that says Specifications).

I’ve been a bit of a puzzle nerd since childhood, and have enjoyed all kinds of puzzles through my adult years as well. Assembling jigsaw puzzles is such a meditative and escapistic activity for the stressed mind – especially if you are a passionately detail-oriented personality like me. It’s so satisfying to find some order and click pieces side by side in this chaotic world where bits of reality seldom fit together so perfectly.

Cannot tell how excited I was when Society6 finally added jigsaw puzzles as a new product category! My favourite puzzles typically feature illustrations with a fair amount of whimsical detail, so I knew I wanted to start testing the puzzles with my mixed media drawings – this style of mine tends to be filled with various types of intricate detail and softly varied colour.

The smaller 200 piece Swamp Tale puzzle took me just about one hour to assemble. Admittedly, as the original illustrator I have the obvious advantage of instantly recognizing the patterns and shapes in the picture more easily.

In any case, I would recommend the 200 piece set for those who are newer to the world of puzzles, or why not for the more skilled puzzler who still prefers a quick challenge instead of a huge project that will cover the dinner table for the next three months.

The other set that I tested was a 500 piece puzzle of my illustration The Forgotten Garden. This one includes more pieces and took me longer to complete. I would estimate it makes a several hours project for the more skilled puzzler, and probably a few days days or longer for beginners.

I was quite happy with the quality of this puzzle as well. The pieces were smaller in size than with the other one, but I didn’t notice any false fits in either of the puzzles, which is always a big plus!

The 500 piece set is a great choice if you are looking for medium level of challenge but don’t have a huge space to work with. In case you are looking for a larger and more difficult puzzle, you may want to try a 1000 piece set, which are also available for each of the different designs.

Overall, this too was a very enjoyable and surprisingly challenging puzzle to put together, even though I already knew all the details by heart. Here’s how the finished 500 piece puzzle looks:

You can buy the products featured in this post at the Society6 store. Society6 print-on-demand store is based in the United States. Shipping is available worldwide! However, if you are not in the US delivery may take a bit longer, so I recommend ordering at least a month beforehand – especially if your purchase will be a gift on a special occasion.