A Coloring Obsession
The adult coloring book hit the scene around 2014 and I was in year two of traumatic grief. My therapist had suggested many left-brain activities to help me with mindfulness, as my stress, anxiety and depression were through the roof. She suggested resuming playing the piano, as well as gardening, massage therapy, writing etc. etc. I ordered one of the first books available - Johanna Basford’s first book, Secret Garden.
And that was it. I was hooked.
And I still am.
They are calming and you are creating something beautiful. You’re concentrating on the moment and not letting your mind be consumed with worry or “disasterizing”, at which I’m a pro. My thing is, and has always been, creating and making things pretty. So there you go.
Even if I color every night, the books take me 4-6 months to finish. These days I don’t have as much time to devote to it, so I’m getting one done every 9 months or so.
If you like to draw or paint, I highly recommend it. I go on Instagram to find pretty examples of whatever book I’m working on, and there you will find the most stunning images of work, done worldwide. I even have some “coloring friends” in the UK. So, many of these color combinations were inspired by someone far more talented than me - I use theirs for inspiration. Some of the prettiest, I just flat out copy!
Here are some of my favorite pages in the 7 books that I have finished and the one that I am working on now. You will see how the books, and my coloring, have gotten better and better. And I’ll show you the few supplies you need.
These are the first four books by Johanna Basford, who is one of the two queens of this phenomenon. she is from Scotland and hers are more fun and somewhat more storybook like.
Secret Garden
Enchanted Forest
Lost Ocean
Magical Jungle
The other Coloring Book queen is Millie Marotta and her books are more sophisticated. Millie is from England and she draws exclusively nature - animals and botanical images.
Animal Kingdom
Tropical Wonderland
Wild Savannah
I am working on this one now. I am working in very different colors than what I gravitate toward.
I use Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils. They are almost a cross between a pencil and a crayon. I have not found anything else I like to use. I got a zippered case to hold them all. You can see I have a lot of pencils. You can also see how my coloring got better, the more colors I began to use.
I watched lots of how-tos on Youtube when I first started. I got some soft artist pastels to use in shading and backgrounds, and an electric pencil sharpener.
These are the books I have left to do. I’ll be coloring for a long time…
“I am going to make everything around me beautiful…that will be my life…” ….Elsie de Wolfe 🌻