Coloring Books Aren’t Just For Kids Anymore – Tawny the Rock Chick’s New Hobby

I’m not trendy, I don’t fall prey to fads and I’m certainly not the first one to know about something cool before it blows up.  However, I can say with all honestly and 100% confidence that I was into adult coloring books before they were cool.

I read a blog about an artist who had illustrated some books for the purpose of calming and relaxation, as a matter a fact, the blog wasn’t even about adult coloring books per say, it was about the various ways for stressed out adults to find some reprieve that didn’t require a beach or a psychiatrist.

When I saw the pages from one of her books they had included in the blog, I was instantly obsessed.  I spent hours trying to find out how to get my hands on one of her books.  Turns out they were received far better than she or her publishing company every imagined because they were totally sold out everywhere, as in all over the planet.  She released a message on her Facebook page staying that the publishing company was working diligently to get more books printed up for shipping as soon as possible.  Still, I had to wait months upon months.

I finally got a book, and in the most beautiful way.  I met a man and fell madly in love with him and he did with me as well.  Right before Christmas, my mom got very sick, she was in ICU for the entire month of December.  It was scary and pretty much the most stressful time in my life.  He searched everywhere until he found them, literally, there was one left of each book I had mentioned to him, on the shelf at the store he got it from.

Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, I can’t even tell you how emotionally touched and ridiculously excited I was when he sat them on my lap.  I bet dogs were the only ones that could hear the sounds coming out of my mouth.

I have every book with her name on it so far if that tells you anything about how much I love this artist.

Don’t misunderstand, there are plenty of good adult coloring books out there, so if her work isn’t your bag you’ll still be able to find a ton of stuff you’re gonna love.

Check out all the super fly coloring books you can get for cheap on Amazon.com.

Or get a coupon online for Hobby Lobby, they have a coupon for 40% off any regular priced item that you can find on their website. If you are reading this on your phone you should be able just to touch that link and it will pop that 40% coupon right up, when you get to the register you just show that to them on your phone and you are good to go.

Like I said my personal favorite adult coloring books come from Johanna Basford, her illustrations are magical and amazingly beautiful and if that weren’t enough most of her books include some hidden elements to be found with a key and index included on the back.  Another super cool artist for adult coloring books is Helen Elliston, her books are so freaking fun.

Now let me help you to really wow her, since colored pencils are NOT created equal you should take the time to hook her up with a quality set that will really get her excited about coloring and won’t cost you a lap dance…well depending on where you’re getting it from. Where was I? Ok colored pencils…..

Here is a short list of the best brands of art pencils for adult coloring, keep in mind these are the very best and some sets will run way more than you want, especially if your giving to them to someone who’s never taken part in the adult coloring craze as of yet.

Sargent Art

Prismacolor-these have to be my favorite so far

Faber Castell

Derwent

All very good brands and worth the price to someone like me who colors every chance I get.  You can get a 12-count half sized set of Sargent Art pencils for about 5$ on Amazon.com right now.

Or a full sized triangle shaped set for the same price.

Here are some other budget friendly options.

Pre-sharpened Coloring Pencils

Faber Castell Lead No Pressure Colored Pencils

Amerigo Colored Pencils

Royal Langnickel Watercolor Pencils

No matter what set you decide on you always want to have a quality sharpener otherwise the money you spent on the pencils is a total waste.   The Prismacolor premier pencil sharpener is a good one, I have that one.

But my favorite is this simple little silver one, I’m not sure that the brand makes a difference, the one I have works great.

Watercolor pencils are a step up for when you’re ready for the next level of time wasting by way of adult coloring books.  All the aforementioned brands offer watercolor pencils as well so the same list applies.

Keep in mind it’s all about how much enjoyment you get out of it, not the end product.  Don’t worry about how something looks when you’re done in the beginning. Worry about how much better coloring is compared to oh, let’s say…chores.