Category Archives: Adult Coloring

The challenge of choosing a color scheme for your adult coloring book pages can be daunting – but with the right understanding, it can also open up limitless possibilities! There are several different types of color schemes you can use in your coloring pages to create stunningly beautiful artwork. Here is a guide to the most common types of color schemes:

Monochromatic Color Scheme

A monochromatic color scheme is the use of one single dominant color throughout your adult coloring book page. By using tints, tones, and shades of the same hue, it creates a harmonious palette that can be used to create an overall cohesive look and feel. A common example of a monochromatic color scheme would be the use of different shades of blue to color a page featuring an ocean scene.

Analogous Color Scheme

An analogous color scheme uses colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel as its base. It’s possible to create an almost endless combination of hues by combining them in different proportions to create an interesting yet balanced palette for your adult coloring book page.

Complementary Color Scheme

A complementary color scheme uses a pair of colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green or yellow and purple. Using two contrasting colors helps create contrast and visual interest in your adult coloring book pages.

Split Complementary Color Scheme

A split complementary color scheme is similar to a complementary color scheme but with an added twist. Instead of using two colors from opposite sides of the color wheel, it uses one hue and then two colors that flank either side.

Compound Color Scheme

A compound color scheme combines two complementary or split-complementary color schemes. This type of color scheme can be used to create a vibrant and exciting look for your adult coloring book page by combining colors that, when used alone, create a more subtle look. An example of a compound color scheme would be a combination of yellow-green and red-violet.

Triadic Color Scheme

The triadic color scheme is based on three evenly spaced hues on the 12-hue color wheel, such as red, yellow, and blue or orange, green, and purple. This type of color scheme can be used to add visual interest to your adult coloring book page without overwhelming the eye with too many competing colors at once.

Square Color Scheme

A square color scheme is similar to a tetradic or rectangle color scheme, but with one less hue in its mix. It consists of three colors that are spaced equally apart from each other on the color wheel, creating an interesting yet balanced palette for your adult coloring book page. An example of a square color scheme would be a combination of yellow, blue, and green.

Rectangle (Tetradic) Color Scheme

A tetradic or rectangle color scheme is made up of four colors which are spaced equally apart from each other on the color wheel. This type of color scheme can be used to create a visually stimulating atmosphere and an almost limitless range of combinations for your adult coloring book page.

Even though I have about 50 different adult coloring books, my collection tends to lean towards mandalas and pretty patterns. Coloring people was always very frustrating for me, since my efforts never quite seemed to measure up. Fortunately, I recently stumbled across Jade Summer’s grayscale coloring books.

If you’re not familiar with grayscale coloring, this term simply means that the image is looks a little like a black and white photograph with shading already added to the line art. When you color over top of the grayscale, this adds depth and dimension to your picture with no extra work on your part.

Currently, there are three Jade Summer titles with grayscale people:

• Chibi Girls
• Vampires Grayscale Coloring Book
• Light & Dark Fantasy Grayscale Coloring Book

These titles have a wide variety of images. Some of the backgrounds are quite detailed, while others put the focus clearly on the people. However, even the pages with detailed backgrounds don’t have a lot of the super tight spaces that require lots of patience to color. Since I color primarily for relaxation and managing anxiety, this low-key approach is much appreciated.

Each print book comes with a code in the back to download a free digital copy. I love this feature because you can print multiple pages of the same image to test color choices or have extras in case you aren’t happy with what your finished image looks like.

My favorite way to color grayscale images is with alcohol markers. I have a few different sets from the cheaper brands on Amazon, but Ohuhu markers are still my favorite. They have quite a few lighter shades, which work best for grayscale coloring because they let the shading in the original image show through clearly. Someday I might be able to swing a small set of Copic markers, but this set suits my needs for now.

I’ve included a few of my own colored pages for your reference, but you can see lots of great examples on the Jade Summer website as well as full previews of what is inside each book. There is also a Jade Summer Artwork Facebook group you can join to connect with other colorists and easily share your work.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays! If you’re busy planning your celebration, why not try printing a few free coloring pages to get you in the holiday spirit? Coloring can be a fun activity for the entire family to enjoy and it’s much less messy than actually dyeing eggs. Add a few jars of colorful jellybeans and some marshmallow Peeps to snack on and you’re all set! (If you can’t decide what colors you want to use, I’d suggest checking out the Spring Pantone inspired color palettes.)

Red Ted Art has single Easter egg and multiple Easter egg coloring pages to print.

U Create Crafts has a “He Is Risen” page that pays tribute to the season.Jade Summer, one of my new favorite publishers, has a free sample page from their newly published Easter coloring book. (I have the digital version of this title and everything in it is adorable!)

Just Color has several Zentangle inspired pages with Easter themes. I love the idea of coloring the eggs and cutting them out to make a garland or place cards for your holiday meal.

Mum in the Madhouse  has Easter egg coloring pages with five different egg patterns to choose from.

The printable bunny coloring page from Mein Lila Park would be cute to use as gift wrap for small treats in an Easter basket when you’re finished coloring.

Dover Publications has six stained glass style free Easter coloring pages for adults to enjoy.

Sarah Renae Clark has the best eye when it comes to pairing colors. For your enjoyment, she’s put together a collection of 25 color palettes inspired by Pantone’s Spring 2018 color trends. You can view the entire list on her website or purchase a PDF ebook with all of the palettes together for easy printing and reference. Click here for details.

My three favorite colors from this range are PANTONE 17-3020 – Spring Crocus, PANTONE 14-3207 – Pink Lavender, and PANTONE 18-3838 – Ultra Violet, but I think I’m in love with them all! There are so many fun possibilities that it’s going to be hard to pick just one to color with!

Pale Vermillion and Crimson Red aren’t really my favorite colors to use, but I think this mandala color palette works well. The Jade Green and Sepia tones serve to tone down the vibrant nature of the colors.

All colors are from the Prismacolor 72 count set, although I believe some of the colors might be found in smaller sets.

• PC948 –  Sepia
• PC1803 – Putty Beige
• PC1201 – Jade Green
• PC921 – Pale Vermillion
• PC924 – Crimson Red

The image is from the free Greatest Hits coloring book from Jade Summer. This sampler collection of 50 images includes mandalas, as well as animals, mermaids, flowers, and more.

Coloring is the perfect cure for a bad day. There’s something about combos of lilac and aquamarine just makes me happy!

All colors are from the Prismacolor 72 count set, although I believe some of the colors might be found in smaller sets.

• PC1007 – Imperial Violet
• PC956 – Lilac
• PC1027 – Peacock Blue
• PC905 – Aquamarine
• PC992 – Light Aqua

The mandala image is from Ugh, I Can’t Even: A Snarky Mandala Coloring Book by Papeterie Bleu. This book features a collection of quick and easy mandala images with sarcastic and humorous sayings that are sure to turn a bad mood around.

Warm grey and blue is one of my favorite home decor color combos, so I decided to translate this idea into a pretty color palette for a mandala.

All colors are from the Prismacolor 72 count set, although I believe some of the colors might be found in smaller sets.

• PC901 – Indigo Blue
• PC903 – True Blue
• PC913 – Spring Green
• PC1051 – 20% Warm Grey
• PC1056 – 70% Warm Grey

The mandala is from Coloring Pages for Adults, a free PDF book available on Wikimedia Commons. This 258-page freebie has mandalas, butterflies, animals, hearts, and more for you to color. I printed my design at 50% scale so it would be small enough to add to a handmade greeting card when I was finished.

Jade Summer, owned by Fritzen Publishing, offers a number of adult coloring books covering themes such as animals, flowers, Alice in Wonderland, and more. Visit their website for a number of free downloads, including a free PDF adult coloring book featuring their 50 best coloring pages. (You’ll need to sign up for their newsletter by clicking on the “Join our email list” to get the free book, but the newsletter gives you access to so many great samples that it’s well worth the effort.)

If you love the freebies in this great coloring book, Amazon has all of the Jade Summer titles available for purchase. Most sell for just $6.99, which makes them an affordable addition to your collection.

Grayscale coloring is a new way to enjoy the stress-relieving benefits of adult coloring. Instead of coloring in a traditional line drawing, you are coloring over an image highlighted with different shades of gray. This gives you the look of shading in your finished picture without actually having to shade the colors yourself. For this reason, many people find that grayscale coloring pages are more forgiving of small mistakes than pages done with traditional line art.

Popular subjects for grayscale coloring pages include landscapes, animals, flowers, and fairytale or fantasy drawings. Grayscale coloring is most often done with colored pencils, but you may try using watercolors or markers. However, keep in mind that you want to use a coloring medium that will let the gray in the original image show through. Opaque mediums such as gel pens will cover up the details in a grayscale page, which is why they are typically only used for highlighting small areas.

Grayscale Coloring Tutorials

If you’re thinking about trying grayscale coloring for yourself, start with this short beginner video.

This video focuses on blending colors on grayscale pages.

If you want to color pages with people, you’ll find this skin tone video helpful.

Free Grayscale Coloring Pages

Canoe by Mountain Lake free grayscale coloring page from Coloring Pages Bliss

Free grayscale coloring page with fairy from Aurella Art

Free grayscale coloring page with fairy from Color Planer

Venice, Italy free grayscale coloring page from Sarah Renee Clark

Popular Grayscale Coloring Books 

Beautiful Nature

Adorable Animals

Enchanted Art

Animals Grayscale Coloring Book

I have wanted to try alcohol markers for some time. Since I’m on a tight budget, I decided to try out the highly rated Ohuhu markers from Amazon.

Ohuhu markers come in 80 and 40 count sets, so you can choose which one best meets your needs. The price works out to be about 68 cents per marker for the smaller set and 56 cents per marker for the larger set. Either way, this is a steal since comparable Copic sets on Amazon sell for $5 or more per marker.

What I Love

• The colors are vibrant and highly pigmented. Just keep in mind that they will dry a little lighter than what they first appear. I would suggest making yourself a labeled color chart for reference.
• I know lots of people prefer a brush tip, but for me the fine tip and bullet tip are easier to use than the brush tips. The fine tip is sufficient for all but the most detailed of adult coloring books.
• Blending is fairly easy. I’m a newbie when it comes to alcohol markers, but it didn’t take me too long to figure out how to blend the colors.
• The included carrying case makes it easy to store and transport your markers for coloring on the go.

What I Don’t

• The printing they use on the caps is terrible. I love the idea of being able to identify each color with a name and number, but the printing keeps wearing off. I’ve been using these markers for about two months now and the printing has worn off on 75% of the caps. (However, in the Amazon product description, it looks like there is a new 2018 version of the product that is supposed to address this issue.)
• There are no decent skin tones, so if you color people a lot you’ll need a separate set for that.
• There is no blending marker included, so I purchased mine separately. You can make some neat effects without a colorless blender, but it’s definitely a nice addition that I wish would have been added.

Examples

Blue and green color test using color numbers 185, 63, 163 and 59.

Pink color test using color numbers 6, 15, 8, and 196.

Yellow and orange color test using color numbers 33, 23 45, and 10.

Final Thoughts

I was a little nervous about this purchase because I researched the company and found that Ohuhu doesn’t make art supplies exclusively. On their website, they have markers as wella s home, health, auto, music, beauty, and gardening items. That’s quite the diverse assortment!

Overall though, I’m very pleased with this set for the price. If you’re a beginner who wants to experiment with alcohol markers, but can’t afford Copics or other premium brands, this is a great alternative.

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