How to Complete a Colouring Book (adult coloring book)

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I was asked to put together a video on how I complete adult colouring books so this is my attempt at that! If you would like to see the flip throughs of my completed books they are here -

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#coloringbook #adultcoloring #coloring

[waymire]

Some thoughts:
First is coloring a hobby/therapy for you? If so don't worry about it. Setting goals, to-do lists, pressure to finish.. that's a job. Do you want another job? Don't let what is supposed to be fun and relaxing become work. Obviously, for Rachel this IS work so that is an entirely different situation. Don't hold yourself to the same standard as someone who colors for a living (most of the popular YT/Insta colorists) if you work another job 50 hrs a week.
Be realistic about a book. The average coloring book is somewhere from 30-60 pages depending on if it's single or double sided. If you have a 60 page book and color one page a day, that is two months of coloring. If you color one page a week, that is over a YEAR of coloring just for that one book. If you like to use media that bleeds through don't buy single sided books. Don't buy books with inappropriate paper for your favorite technique or brand of pencil.
Be realistic about technique. If you color very simply it can take an hour or two to do a page. If you color very elaborately it can take 20-30 hours to do a detailed page. Coloring with pencils can take a very long time. Try markers or watercolor pencils to speed things up either alone or as a base for your pencils. I can cut the coloring time for a page in half with a marker base.
Simplify your books.. you don't need them all right now. Get 1-3 (or pull them out and put the rest of your books away out of sight) and just work on those. The others will be there waiting their turn. Books do go out of print.. but the more popular artists work is available for years. In the meantime hundreds of new beautiful books will be released. Don't be pressured to collect if finishing is important to you. If it you really don't want to color it, or it simply doesn't work for you, rehome it or even "gasp" toss it out. It's ok, it's just paper. Don't let paper make you sad and frustrated.
Simplify your materials. You don't need every pencil set in the world, you don't even need every pencil in the set. You don't need every pencil plus every pen, every paint, every marker, every glitter/metallic product. Having one set of materials you know very well takes all that worry and decision making out of the equation and you spend your time coloring instead of trying to decide what to use.
Expand your materials. Do you not color because you are bored with your stuff? Are you frustrated and tired of materials that don't work for you? Pick up something new. Get some new colors, a new type of media, a new tool. Yes, this is exactly the opposite of the previous statement and it totally depends on the individual which is more helpful.
Find some inspiration. This can be looking at that page others have done (as long as you don't hold yourself to some unattainable standard of perfection), or looking for images of items on that page.
Simplify your setup. Organize and have your stuff together where you want to use it. If you take it with you get a bag to carry it. If you color in bed or in front of the TV put your stuff in that area. If your current set up isn't working or is difficult, change it. Having to go get stuff, bring it somewhere, then put it all away again means you are less likely to use it.
Color. It's extremely easy to spend more time watching other people color, looking at other peoples coloring, watching reviews and ads (many reviews are actually ads), and shopping for new stuff.. than actually coloring with what you have. Recognize the issue and take steps to stop whatever it is that is distracting you.

[sherrydennewitz]

Hi Rachel! In the past, I donated 30 used Coloring Books to a Local Charter School. I have mailed out coloring books to a lady that colors, and couldn't afford a new one. I am preparing for a Cross Country Move, so I mailed 10 more Books to a fellow Colorist on Facebook. I always remove the pictures that have been colored. Such a Beautiful Feeling. 👍🏻💜

[Colors_in_the_attick]

I just started coloring last year september and have already 12 coloring books 😂 I made little name tags, put them in a little bowl, and pick one when I feel like coloring and then color a page in the choosen book. 💥🧡 Thank you Rachel for all your tips and tricks. I love your way of approaching things ❤❤🙏🙏

[redstar]

This is a lovely video and you make some great points. I do a full-time job that's very much dependent on a) meeting tight deadlines b) serious subject matter/current affairs and c) perfection, and the freedom of colouring in my spare time has been such a revelation for me and I've found the colouring community online to be really supportive and judgement-free. Weirdly, I think the reason I actually *do* finish books is because I start by giving myself permission not to! It's a bit like going for a run - my standard route is three miles but I've found the all-or-nothing approach doesn't work for me. If I'm not feeling enthusiastic and I tell myself I must do a three-mile run, I'm much more inclined to stay on the sofa or give up halfway through the run because I'm hating it. But if I tell myself 'Oh, just do one mile, it's better than nothing' I almost always find that when I get to the one-mile mark I end up carrying on to do the full three miles anyway. Same applies to colouring. If I started by saying 'You MUST finish this' book it would feel like a chore and I'd be less likely to complete it. But if I tell myself 'Well, maybe just do the first couple of pages and see if it's a book you'll like, it's not the end of the world if you don't finish it' I often find that's when I'll finish every page!

[lizbecker]

I love your suggestion about sharing with a friend. I was camping with friends in a cabin that was off the grid, and we had a rainy day. We were all sitting around inside, and I pulled out one of my coloring books and some Prismas. My friend came over and I invited her to join me, and we each finished a page! We enjoyed a glass of wine while we colored and talked. It was such a fun experience, and it made the rainy day go by so fast. I retired two years ago, and I picked up the coloring hobby while trying to learn acrylic painting--coloring is helping A LOT with learning color theory and shading. It's really nice to be able to do something you enjoy for large blocks of time!

[shirenen]

I have definitely used the “color a section” of an overwhelming page.

[zinniazen]

The secret garden was my first book! I stopped colouring five years ago and started up again. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore because I was making it more complicated than it should be. That’s why I quit before. Now colouring again I am keeping it simple.😊

[catherinechinoy]

Thank you Rachel, sometimes it’s comforting to hear someone expressing the dissatisfaction with pages, and the length of time a page can take, especially as a slow worker!
I’ve set myself only one goal: one book finished this year. I have other hobbies than colouring and I track progress on those projects in my bullet journal. For those I do it by the hour spent.
I also try to do some colouring each day maybe when I get home from work, or while I wait for the washing machine cycle to end. Identifying those slots in your day is another trick.
I counted the pages in my copy of Johanna’s Ivy and realised I was nearly half way, so chose this as my one to finish this year. The first half took me a year so this is achievable ( and I haven’t only been doing this book so there’s time for something different factored in)
Date your pages, then you can see how many you’ve managed. I take a photo of each page I complete, so I can just check via my phone, when I first completed a page and how long since I used that book.

[jackidoser]

Thanks for this pep talk. Helps me look at my small collection in a whole new light. My take away from your advice is that a small book would be good to add to my stash. 😊happy to add another.

[ColourwithClaire]

Amazed at how many you’ve completed, especially the more detailed ones like JB! Some beautiful work there xx

[rainastor]

Omgosh, I just looked up your name to see if you’d completed any more books, I’ve watched all of those that you’ve done because it amazes me completely. And here is this video only 7 hours old! Synchronicity!

[AmandaJuliette]

I think it is essential to set reachable goals. If you have 10 colouring books don't set the goal to finish them by the end of one year. Start by wanting to finish just one a year. It sounds like you have set reachable goals for yourself and you keep track of your progress. I keep track of my progress as well, which helps me enormously. I started colouring with the goal of actually wanting to finish a book when I started keeping track of my progress.

[danettetrostle]

I’m new to your channel. I want to say how much I really like your completed pages in Johanna’s books. What I like is the one color pages. I have her books and haven’t colored in them as I don’t think I’m good enough to color in them. I know..? My husband always tells me”you can’t go wrong, it’s coloring.” You have given me inspiration. Thank-you!😎

[sl]

Such a calming and motivating video. This was much awaited. Thank you ❤

[Beecosy]

It depends on someones colouring style, book, supplies and realising that you actually wish to finish a book. I have just completed my first book Friendship but never intended to at the start. I was hoping Aria Vale would be easy to finish due to only having 14 pages but I'm burnt out from it requiring so many layers per page (for my taste). Takes me days to do one matchstick mouse page depending on the media used. I do hope to finish one some day. I don't know why but you are quite a driving force to complete a book ! I've never been able to colour in front of the tv/lap other than magic painting book which is just water LOL Totally get the guilt thing.... I feel sad that I have not got back to my Johanna books as much as I hoped. TYFS

[sherylriehl]

Wow!!! I’ve been colouring since mid 2016 and only finished one book!! Bennett Klein. I’m not retired and colour every evening. Sometimes a bit in the day. It takes me 3 days to a week to finish a page. I don’t do backgrounds very often. I’m slow I guess!! My goal is to finish Secret Garden. Hopefully this year. Working my way thru it. Great video! And it gave me inspiration.

[IndahPrimadona]

I want to finish a coloring book this year, World of Flowers, I hope I can do a little coloring every day, so I can finish it. Thank you for the tips Rachel 😊

[fayelynncolors]

Great video!! Thank you for going through how much time you invested and your encouragement!!

[Prettypages]

You’re very disciplined! Well done. I can’t colour watching a movie or TV … I don’t even watch TV .. if I do watch a movie I’ll probably snack and enjoy the movie. 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

[studioandromedawn]

Thanks for your tips! I too want to actually finish a few. At least! Lol. I don’t follow a ton of rules myself. But I do WANT to finish some…especially the Klara Markovas for example. So thanks for this. Bravo!