14 Adult Coloring Books I struggle to color in

Hi everyone

Since I took up coloring for grownups in May 2020, my adult coloring book collection has grown pretty steadily. Amongst my loved coloring books are some adult coloring books, I am struggling to get started in or complete a single page. What is going on?

In this video, I show you about 14 or coloring books for adults which I am struggling to color in. I talk about my thoughts as to what is stopping me from painting in these beautiful coloring books for grownups.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments

#adultcoloringchannel #adultcolorbook #coloringforgrownups #colouringart

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[alisamartin]

Aillie, Stop being so hard on yourself. Comparing yourself to others is unhelpful. Some of these people may have been colouring for many years. Remember colouring is for personal relaxation and enjoyment. There is no comparisons to be made here. All of us have struggled at one time or another including myself. Colouring is about having fun.

[tonjacolors]

I think comparison robs us of joy in many areas of life. I’m grateful I realized this early on in my coloring journey. Mine was Chris Cheng’s tutorials. I LOVED her work and wanted to color just like her. It didn’t take long to realize her style of tons of layers did NOT bring me joy and I almost hated finishing those pages because it took way too long. Now that I know my style, I rarely struggle with a book and I don’t worry about making a thing the ”right” color all the time. It’s been very freeing for me. You do beautiful work! I know when the time is right, you’ll enjoy all of these books too. But don’t rush yourself. 😊 Thanks for sharing!

[melissakalloway]

Having coloring books that cause us stress defeats the whole purpose of coloring, which should be pleasant, relaxing, satisfying, therapeutic. The coloring genre has grown so big I think a lot of coloring book creators are authoring books more to display their artistic skills, than for the consumer. Also, some of the books are, as you said, "dark". There's something creepy and evil about them. I want nothing to do with them, no matter how popular they are. It's waste of time and money to keep hold of books that oppress you with the guilt and anxiety of "I SHOULD" color in this. Give them away. Get them out of your life. Remember why you wanted to color in the first place and find the books that give you that feeling again.

[veronicadunn]

These are all difficult books, I get where you are coming from. I am not destashing any books, but I am putting away one's I am not currently ready for, and leaving the one's I love and use near me.

[briannareece]

When I am having trouble starting in a book, I will find a color along to follow, and learn some new techniques along the way. It’s simple and fun, and opens me up to a new book that I would have been scared to start in on my own!

[roninboxers]

I really appreciate this video! I have a selection of books I absolutely love, but have struggled to start for a range of reasons... The main one being I love them so much I don't want to ruin them. Often I just enjoy getting all my favourite (uncoloured) books out, looking at all the pictures then putting them away.

[redgraphicunicorn]

Sometimes we tend to think about things way too much. I am guilty of this myself. I will get out a book and think I want to color something in it but start to over analyze each page and then end up putting the book away. Lately, I have been just trying to randomly choose a book and just pick a page... more or less trying to step outside of that comfort box and just let my creative juices flow! Who cares what colors you make your flowers? You can color them any way you wish - pick a particular palette and just go with it. Sometimes I will use photos as a reference, but most of the time when coloring flowers, I just go with whatever my imagination is telling me at the time. I never spend time choosing colors beforehand and I keep my pencil sets in boxes so I can sift through them... I love to be able to dig and sort through them all - it is like a treasure hunt for me finding just the right colors for each magical work of art! Just try to make it fun - an adventure and perhaps you will find that you will be reaching for more of those books sooner than later.

[coloredbymaia]

Ya i agree! The best thing to do is keep it on the shelf and revisit in a year or six months and eventually you will be very ready for that book with both mood and skill level. Sometimes I just have easier books that im not in the mood for, I never force myself to work in a book that im not into ❤ keep it on the shelf, its time will come ! Awesome video ❤

[jenell]

You’re very talented, so I know you will work through this. My only suggestion would be to not put so much pressure on yourself when it comes to coloring things realistically. I find this part of the fun to color pink leaves. You only get better when some of your pictures fail. You got this!

[MichelleGerrie]

Aww hOney I feel the same when I start comparing myself to everyone else. I absolutely love your work and strive to get better at colouring. When I first started I would look at my sisters work and think why bother it won’t be as good. But then I told myself that this was a hobby, that I’m supposed to be enjoying. So I did do an intricate page and it was ok, undeniably wasn’t as good as hers but I enjoyed myself and with each page I feel I’m getting better. I don’t think I will ever be as amazing as she is but then again I’m not her and I’m enjoying learning this craft. And don’t forget they are still making books although I don’t think you could ever really muck up a page. Take the pressure off yourself and have fun and enjoy those beautiful books. Xxxx

[wendyscolouring]

Hi Aliie, we all have those books that we know are beautiful but starting in them is daunting. I have quite a few ( Voyage is in my pile of uncoloured ones!😉) and I'm ok with that. I will get around to working in them one day, I find just looking through does help me find that page which feels a bit more manageable as a start. I might still not colour it even having picked a page, but just thinking about how I might approach that page, does help me feel more likely to work in it. Ultimately if it's a book you love, you will get there, but putting yourself under pressure to do it won't help. ( Or at least it doest help me, it kind of steals the pleasure) If it helps I use Holbeins in my Klara books, and I find I like the feel of them on that smooth paper, but I've also worked Brutfuner on it and it was ok as well. Have a play with the pencils you have on the back of a page somewhere till you find a pencil that feels good to you. They are a lovely books to work in, I really enjoy Klara pages, Perhaps try one of the little drawings on the reverse side of the pages to get you going, it doest really matter if they go wrong a bit. 👍

[Beecosy]

Thank you for sharing your sticking points. I think it is normal. These are some pretty heavy advanced colouring books. I share a couple of those (books) collecting dust on the shelves uncoloured or not revisited. I am mostly the same apart from following the coloured examples already given. For small images I just enlarge them. Colour alongs are similar. Have you tried following different people ? It maybe a style thing? Sometimes it is painstaking colouring pixel by pixel, when it goes well it is fun. If it's not for you just go your own way. Embrace your strengths.
If you are fortunate to have a strong one, use your imagination. (this is a major sticking point for me, I need references). Sounds like you are aiming for realism most of the time. This cannot be rushed, just enjoy the process. In the meantime do you have less difficult books you can just relax into, be more fantasy colour wise ? Above all you are not alone 🥰

[ladyh]

I feel this.... although I try to think about what the coloring process would be before I buy a book, and maybe decide not to buy it (yet).
When I'm stuck with books I already own, it helps to look through Pinterest and see what other colorists have done. Sometimes it takes time, but sooner or later I find at least one picture that I like and that fits to my skills. And then I simply copy it 🙈😅 I wouldn't show it anywhere of course, because I don't want to get credits for the creativity of someone else, but it really helps to get in a book and the style of its artist.
And besides of that I think that some of my books just have the purpose to admire the artwork, with no need to color them 😊

[lynneclark]

I have the same problem!! I love the artwork & am afraid to ruin it by coloring! Ridiculous!! 🙄

[CuriosityRocks]

Using reference photos for light and colour is good to do and when there’s a coloured example you could colour it as a different time of day so if there’s a day scene you could colour it as a night scene.

[SmallhouseModelsLLC]

The thing that really helped me get started on my stuck books (and all of my books actually), is to go through each page and decide which month during the year I'd most like to color that page. I then balance all my decisions so i have an equal number per month, and then I put sticky notes on each page with that month. When the new month starts, I only look at those 3 or 4 pages in each book and choose from there. You say all the pages are gorgeous, and i think part of your issue is decision overwhelm. Another thing this method adds is urgency. If I don't choose this page right now, I can't color it for a whole year, and then FOMO works in my favor. Having a push to just start is a very handy thing.

[gokuson]

I have some of those books. found out that when colouring Eiry books, I enjoy colouring it when I do just like her . Simple with water colour.

I struggle colouring beautifully in Maria Trolle and Tomic Tomislav, Rita Bernam, mouse stick books. I have followed some tutorials. Some helped but some did not.

I now have decided to tackle them with my own style as simply as I can.

For the Korean books that i have, I know how they dress( I have watched lots of Kdrama so I know what the hanbok looks like .


I find that colouring like I want helps me complete pages.

[Karen-qfrs]

I have 2 special books I am aiming to color in. I am fairly new to coloring. I got some books that are not that detailed. I decided to go for it and learn more about coloring. I have used different pencils and make notes all over the page about what I use. All over the page. It is a process of learning for me. My goal is for those 2 books. My creativity blooms when I have alot of mess up. 😂 Utube is a good place to start as there are some colorists I learn from. Best of luck on your coloring journey.

[donnabost]

I agree with you, i have about 10 books also i struggle with for the same reason, and the reason i don't buy some of them too....I just feel like im not "ready"

[RashmikaLikesBooks]

You've explained your thoughts so articulately here. I've avoided buying certain colouring books (Ken Matsuda and the beautiful Korean ones) because of the doubts you expressed regarding realism.

I would somewhat agree with some of the comments saying not to compare yourself. I think you make great points when you say that certain books may appeal to you more as your colouring style develops. Many of us have seen that happen in real-time, where we "outgrow" our favourite artists and start to enjoy new ones.

I really appreciated this video and I wish you well on your colouring journey. ❤ You have a strong inner compass and I'm sure you'll be fine in judging what to colour next. Follow your joy. :)