If you know me, you know I love books and that I’m an adult with a child’s mind and imagination. Thus, it was easy for me to fall in love with adult coloring books when they exploded in popularity a few years back. They’ve since fallen off the radar a little bit, and I definitely don’t pick them up as much as I once did, but they are still a go-to for relaxation. There’s something extremely mind-clearing about being able to sit down, watch a T.V. show, and just color. I have some coloring books that I actually “try” in (blend colors, etc.) and some that I just sit down and mindlessly color. Here are my top 5 coloring books, including what coloring supplies I think work best with them!
1. Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns by Blue Star
I got this coloring book in an Owlcrate box, a monthly subscription box for book lovers that I recently wrote an article about which you can check out here! Blue Star has created a ton of good coloring books, and this one consists of some of their best patterns. While this exact coloring book cannot be purchased anymore as it was exclusive to the subscription box, you can pick up nearly the same one online!
The simple, large patterns make for an ultra-relaxing coloring experience. As the patterns are so large, you can use nearly any coloring supply you want. I like to use markers and Crayola’s twistable colored pencils – they’re quite crayon-like – for this book.
2. The Mindfulness Coloring Book (Volume 2) by Emma Farrarons
The Mindfulness Coloring Book is small and compact, which makes it perfect for traveling. When I’m going to be sitting for a long car ride or flight, this is usually the coloring book I take along. It’s full of patterns that are neither too intricate nor too simple.
This book is perfect for coloring with my beloved gel pens!
3. Swear Word Adult Coloring Book by Colormom Books
This book is definitely not for children. Colormom Books produced one of the first trendy adult swear-word coloring books that was wildly popular on social media. Little did I know that the swear words were British slang — it’s pretty humorous.
The pages are not double sided (though they are thin), so I tend to use markers with this book. Not surprisingly, this is probably the most cleansing coloring book I own for when I have bad days.
4. Color Me Inspired by Kristina Webb
This is the coloring book that I really try in. Kristina Webb became really popular on Instagram as a young self-taught artist. She’s drawn art that went viral, including the Disney princesses at a sleepover. Some of the pages are fully blank, while some of the pages have an already colored background. She drew all of the designs in this coloring book, all of which are beautiful!
This is one of the pages that I’ve been working on for quite a while. I use colored pencils designed for blending and artwork (like Staedtler pencils). When I finish, I want to hang it up in my room for both the quote and my blending – I’m a little proud of it.
5. Disney Princess Art Therapy: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation
This is my favorite coloring book that I’ve ever purchased. (Of course it is, it’s Disney…) Besides being princess-themed, my favorite thing about this book is the two styles of coloring pages you get. There are full-pages of just a princess and her sidekick or prince, which remind me of the coloring books I had as a kid. Then, there are the more adult-coloring book style pages, which include patterns of castles and glass slippers.
I stick to only colored pencils in this book. The pages are double sided and relatively thin, so markers or gel pens would bleed through. The patterns tend to be intricate and small, so I find that a sharp, pointed pencil works best!