Let's Color Like We Are Only Five!

I am obsessed with coloring! There, I said it! I have always loved to color, from my first ever Big Book of Coloring and 16-pack of Crayola Crayons, to my collection of Copic Markers and fancy colored pencils. I colored throughout my childhood and adolescence, I took coloring books to college, I colored with my kids, I color today at the ripe old age of 54! 

If you visit my blog with any regularity, you have seen some of my Copic coloring projects like this new project, details HERE. I generally color traditional stamped images or, more often, digital images. I color on smooth paper with Copic alcohol markers, adding a bit of pencil from time to time.

But...I have not been much of a pencil colorist. Pencils are difficult and time consuming compared to markers (in my opinion). However...

I have the huge 150 set of Prismacolor Pencils, just sitting around here, barely used! They are an artist grade, wax-based pencil. They are soft and buttery and have lovely colors. And they have been very lonely!

Edited to add: I was asked about which pencil cases I use. The black case, shown above, is similar to THIS one. It has 160 slots. I have had this one for a few years, and  I like it because it has a handle and a shoulder strap. The purple case, shown below, is THIS one. It has 200 slots. It seems nice and sturdy, but I have only had it a few weeks. It has a little "wrist" strap, but no handle or shoulder strap. Which is a bit of a bummer. I liked this one because it has more space for pencils. 

I recently became obsessed with pencil coloring, which caused me to purchase a 120 set of Crayola Pencils, which are also wax-based, but a bit harder than the Prisma. And, I needed to experiment, so I also purchased a 72 set of the Marco Raffine oil-based pencils. (There is some confusion as to the statement that these are oil rather than wax...I will keep checking into it!)

And once you commit to pencil coloring...

I went through my stash and pulled out some other items that are useful for pencil coloring: erasers, paint brushes (for sweeping away pencil leavings and also for applying blender solution), pencil extenders, white gel pens, blending stumps, blending solution, and a sanding pad for the blending stumps. WHEW! 

I admit, I rarely use the blending solution. I just do not care for it. Sometimes, it is useful for large backgrounds, but...I just don't like it very much. I prefer pencil blending. Plus, this stuff stinks, even the so called odorless! And with my migraines, no thanks to stinky stuff!  

I also had a can of pencil fixative in my stash (when did I buy that?!) This is useful for spraying finished colorings to keep the pencil from transferring. This stuff REALLY STINKS. I sprayed it in the garage, but still. Yuck! And it coats the page with a strange film, that I am not sure I love.

There are lots of other things in my stash that I have yet to pull out and try with my pencil creations: water colors, pastels, stencils, and more! Yes, I have ALL the things!

Now, let's talk coloring materials. You can use colored pencils with stamped images and digital images, but I have become super obsessed with adult coloring books! Now, before you have a cow, adult coloring is not naughty! It just means that the coloring books are a bit more complicated than those produced for children, and the paper is usually of a higher quality! 

I will warn you, there is a segment of the adult coloring craze that IS naughty! Be prepared to see books with vulgar language and nudity! It is a bit like a slap in the face to be looking at sweet coloring book offerings on Amazon, and then one pops up that is the "cuss word" coloring book! I don't get it, but to each his or her own!

There are a myriad of choices. Let's face it, adult coloring is still all the rage and people like to profit off the "in thing." Some choices are better than others. I have done some research into what's good quality and what is not. 

But, like with any hobby, once adults get involved, they can suck the fun out of it! My best advice is to buy what YOU like! I have purchased some high quality children's coloring books, too. I have a Disney Princess one that is quite nice, but you do have to watch out for knock-offs printed on cheap paper! But, it's COLORING, and it's supposed to be fun and relaxing. If you want to color a Dumbo page, printed on pulp paper, with crayons, go for it!

Here are some of my newest acquisitions... 

Adult coloring books come in all styles and price points. This one was under $3. It has a lot of very high quality pages of monograms and Scriptures. It was a steal for that price!

The next price point of books come from Creative Haven. These are usually around $5-$6 and have nice paper, for the most part. Some are better quality than others. They are produced by Dover Publications. I used their coloring books during our homeschooling years, as they have some lovely educational books. (I kept some of those for myself once the kids didn't need or want them!)

Creative Haven books come from a variety of artists and in every subject you can imagine! I have a nice variety of this publisher's books to try! 

The next price point of books goes for around $8-$10. The paper is nice and the subject matter is quite varied. Many of these are "self-published" through Amazon, so sometimes the paper is not as good, but most authors allow you to copy the pages onto better paper (for personal use only). You may copy the pictures onto watercolor paper or marker paper, if you choose. There are artists who also offer free digital copies of the books you purchase. The dessert book by Jade Summer pictured above has a free PDF included. 

Here is a work in progress from the Vintage Classic Coloring Pages by Tatiana Bogema Stolova. I have been working on a few different techniques for this, and a failed technique for the grass....so I may or may not finish it! But I love Tatiana's whimsical drawings.  

Another style of books are grayscale books. The books shown above go for about $8-$10 each, and they include two of each drawing, usually printed on only one side of the paper. I had never done any grayscale coloring, but I am always game for learning new things!

Here is an image from the Victorian Grayscale Coloring Book by Alena Lazareva. The artist puts in all the shading for you. You simply color over the shading to achieve fantastic results...or so I am told!

I found a printable grayscale book by Mariola Budek on Etsy, so I bought and printed it onto the same paper I use for Copics, then I tried to color the grayscale picture with pencils. This download was about $12 for six grayscale pictures with black lines and six with gray lines. But, you can print them as many times as you wish, on any paper you wish. I ended up buying several of her digital books because her art is beautiful

Here is my FIRST EVER effort of coloring grayscale, using one of the digital images! The paper is super smooth, so laying down the layers of color was difficult. But, I really do prefer a smoother paper over a rough, toothy paper. I think because I am used to markers, that I tend to implement some of the same skills with pencils...with varied results! 

I love to color hair and flowers, so this was a lot of fun! I experimented with coloring gold (metal) and jewels, too.

Coloring fur...not that much fun. I really struggled with this fox/dog/cat creature! I also was not getting the shadows that I normally achieve with markers. I will keep learning!   

My next obsession are the books by Johanna Basford. I recently purchased World of Flowers and Magical Jungle, which are around $10. I am awaiting another one called Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, which is a story book and coloring book in one, and sells for around $16.

These books are square (around 10x10 inches) and have high quality paper. They are fun and whimsical and really interesting. I had seen these books in the craft store, but they looked very difficult to color. But after seeing some finished artwork, I decided to take a chance on them. I am happy that I did! 

Some of the art in these books gives the colorist the ability to draw in some of her own designs, which is something I have never done before. I do NOT have any artistic drawing talent, but...they are my books, so who cares! {smile}

I tried out a few techniques on the cover page of World of Flowers. I somehow got some black smudge happening. I think my blender pencil had some gunk on it! 

This is another page from World of Flowers. I was trying another background technique here, again with dubious results. I used the blender solution, and really did not care for how it came out. I think I rushed the background (because it was boring). I will try again and take my time!  

I was however tickled with my dandelions! It is hard to see here, but they really look like fluffy, dandelions! I am excited to color more in these Johanna Basford books!

The next set of books are these "doodle" books. I have two by Kerby Rosanes (Imagimorphia and Mythmorphia), and one by Joseph Catimbang (Mythographic Imagine). These sell for around $11 or so. These books are just creative and amazing. Some of the colored work I have seen on Instagram is mind blowing! I have not had the courage to color in one yet, but I am working up to it! 

This type of book really lends itself to some fun colors and techniques. They also contain about 50 drawings each, so lots of fun to be had! I am excited to try them. My kids said they look crazy difficult and they do not really think that I can manage it...we will see.

Now we come to my favorites! These three books are called Romantic Country (First, Second, and Third Tales) and are by a toothpick artist from Japan, named Eriy. (Oh yes, you read that right...she draws with ink and toothpicks!)

These books strike a chord in me that I cannot fully explain. It is like being five years old again and knowing that everything magical and fanciful is TRUE. It is Harry Potter and The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh all in one! They make my heart feel big and full and happy, and five.

I started out coloring in The Second Tale, because that's how I roll. The books are about 10x10 inches square and printed on nice, thick paper. Each book has more than 100 drawings! The ink is a brown color rather than black, which is very fun. And the lines are all wibbly wobbly and childlike. Her perspective is "off" and everything is childlike and whimsical. It is like falling down a well into childhood!

I colored the treehouse page first. This is FAR outside my comfort zone! I never do busy coloring or backgrounds or fussy stuff! But for some reason, I was drawn to this book as if by a magnet! Because I am an adult, and adults make things harder than necessary, I thought about my color scheme before I started. Then I broke the page down into sections so that I would not drown in the details.

The last thing I wanted was a hot mess of color like a clown party! I used mostly browns and greens, with soft grays and blues. I wanted to color a sunny day at the treehouse botanical workshop! (The artist describes it as "a laboratory for plants.") 

This coloring took about 8-10 hours, spread out over several days. A real labor of love...that is worth nothing to anyone, except me! The joy I felt while coloring this picture is hard to explain. I think I really did become five again! I was able to forget my aches and pains, and my chores, for a few hours at a time!

I was excited about the green-washed boards and wood items! I don't normally choose green, but for some reason, I just had it in my head that the wood ceiling needed to be green, like leaves on a tree!

As an artist, I want to work on my light and shadow, especially how the sun hits things, or how the lantern light hits things. There is no one light source here, but many! I did my best! (Again, adults tend to over-analyze.)

I also enjoyed coloring the jars, and adding the blue accents. The process fed the artist in me. As I said, I do not have any "true" artistic ability in that I cannot draw or paint. But I do know color theory and a bit of the mechanics of coloring. And I so enjoy letting the little artist out from time to time!  

I cannot wait to find time to color more pages in this delightful series. I will keep sharing what I color with you. I will share any tips I learn along the way. I will try to share the colors I use, when I remember to write them down! 

If you want to "learn to color" there are loads of YouTube videos to watch. Just search for "adult pencil coloring" or search on the name of a specific coloring book. If you search Instagram or Pinterest, you will find gobs of finished projects. There are some amazingly talented colorists out there! (My favorites to watch right now are Pencil Stash, Chris Cheng, and Julie's Passion for Coloring.)

Just, please, do me the favor of NOT comparing yourself to other artists! Down that path lies failure of the worst sort! If you love to color...go color some stuff! Try to remember....it is coloring, not rocket science or the cure for the common cold! We should want to feel five when we color, not all stressed out and stiff! Retain the wonder of coloring - do not turn it into a job! {she says as she blogs endlessly about...coloring!}

As for those who wish to ask, "But, what is it for???" I have to say, it's for fun. That's it. I do not plan to make anything out of these coloring projects. I may hang some up in my studio, but for the most part, I plan to color them, show them to people who are interested, and that's it. It is pure fun. Nothing else! 

Have a happy, colorful day...I have to go...my colors are calling!