Why Color as an Adult?

My first response would be why the heck not, coloring isn't just for kids! Do you remember when you were a child or even up until your pre-teen years when you had that super hero's coloring book and that new box of crayons. I used to love to sit and color for hours. The thing we don't realize is how relaxing it is to go off in our own little world for awhile and not thing about all the things that happened during our day or week or the things coming up. Whether you use crayons, pens or colored pencils, there seems to be a variety of images to choose from.

Adult coloring books have gained major popularity recently and in fact I've been trying to get Johanna Basford's books on Amazon and they are always sold out. She has two books, one called Secret Garden and the other Enchanted Forest that look wonderful. I guess I will just have to put them on my wish list and hope they come back in stock soon.

Huffington Post recently did an article about Coloring for adults (read it here). Quoting from that article "The practice generates wellness, quietness and also stimulates brain areas related to motor skills, the senses and creativity." I don't know about you but I could certainly use some stimulation to my brain from time to time.

There are lots of other books you can get on Amazon or you can search Pinterest for "Adult Coloring Pages" and get a ton of different sites where artists will let you download their image for free for your own personal use. Here is my Pinterest Coloring Pages board if you want to follow me as I find more to save. 

Here are a couple of examples of pages I love. These might be from a Dover Publication coloring book.

I do have to bring up Zentangle. This has been around for several years here in the states and was developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. They even certify instructors to teach this simple technique of making lines on paper to form art. I love tangling and it really does help when you are stressed and need to relax. I highly recommend checking out their website. 

Here is one of my Zentangles that I completed a few years ago. You don't have to have the fancy paper or pen and it is really just like doodling only in a pattern. So easy to learn.

Need a place to start? Check out this Coloring Page SITE that has pages you can download for free. 

Now I think I'll go print out some pages for me to color.