There is no wrong way to color with colored pencils. That is one of the beautiful things about being an adult who is coloring in your coloring book with your own set of colored pencils. No teacher is going to come along and correct your technique, no classmate is around to criticize, and if your family gives you grief over your coloring style, you can direct them to their own set of art supplies and their coloring book and tell them to apply their theories and ideas there. You can even take your supplies to the nearest room with a locked door, to the park, or to some other place where you can have peace and privacy. Adult coloring in coloring books made for adults is a personal activity that does not require or even benefit from supervision. It is all about the freedom to engage in a peaceful, relaxing activity.
Some coloring methods produce better results. With that said, some coloring methods will produce better results. If you have a particular appearance in mind for your coloring project, if you are planning to use it to decorate your walls or give it as a gift, you might want to work toward perfecting your coloring technique.
Here are some adult coloring technique ideas and methods that can help you match the product from your hands with the picture in your mind’s eye. Key elements include (but are not limited to): Know your tools, order of coloring, techniques for areas, and specialized art techniques used by professional artists.
Some of them are easy, while others might take some practice. If the first picture is not quite what you had in mind, just keep coloring. Perhaps the next one, or the one after that, will match the esthetic ideal that is in your head.
Know your tools
The demonstration project for this article uses the following:
- Coloring for Tranquility, published by Paragon. The book is becoming a little time-worn because it is the owner’s favorite. The subject pictured is a two-page spread with a stylized floral theme.
- A mixed set of colored pencils includes Crayola brand pencils, CrazyArt pencils, Faber-Castell metallic pencils (set of 12 each), and two blending pencils from Pasler. If you are fortunate enough to own some of the better pencil sets, that is wonderful. But you do not have to break the bank to enjoy coloring with colored pencils.
- Common household solvents such as olive oil, butter, peanut oil, and water can be used to help blend or mix colors if desired. Solvents are something of an advanced technique and are mentioned here for your information.
- Paper stomps, brushes, bathroom tissue, and fingers can also assist with blending.
Order of Coloring
Experienced artists, especially the ones who have had an art class or two, will tell you that it is best to color your background first, light-colored objects next, and dark-colored or featured items last. Lay in large blocks of color, then add details. Why? Let’s break that down and look at it. Add color from top to bottom, from the side of the page, away from your dominant hand to your dominant hand.
Background first
This lets you see how your next colors will appear when you add them. It is usually a good idea to make the background light or neutral color so that it will not dominate the picture. The exception to this might be if you are doing a night scene where the background might be very dark.
Light-colored objects are next
This is a simple matter of coloring practicality. You can color over a light area with a dark color, but the reverse is unlikely to be true.
Add dark colors last
Dark colors can be used to color over errors made with light colors, but light colors will not cover up dark colors. If you lay in the large blocks of color first, you are less likely to accidentally smear your work.
Color top to bottom
From left to right if you are right-handed, and from right to left if you are left-handed. Again, this is a matter of practicality. If you start with the edge farthest from your dominant hand, you are less likely to drag the side of your hand or your sleeve across your work.
They are lying in flat areas of color
When laying in flat areas of color, such as a background area, it is nice to have a smooth, even application of color. This can most easily be achieved by holding the pencil flat to the palm, bracing the point with the index finger with the thumb, and the other three fingers curled around the pencil. This might seem awkward at first, especially since most adults have been trained to write by holding the pencil with the index finger and thumb while bracing it with the middle finger and allowing the length of the pencil to rest on the side of the hand between the forefinger and thumb. You can color this way, but it will leave pencil strokes. Later, this will be a desirable way to hold the pencil for adding detail.
Check out our recommendations for colored pencils HERE.
Holding the pencil flat to the palm while bracing it with the index finger allows the colorist to use the side of the pencil lead to lay in color. This gives a broader span of color per stroke and encourages a light touch.
- The direction of pencil strokes. In this example, CrazyArt Mediterranean Teal is being used as the background color. The colorist is right-handed and has started applying color on the left side of the page. The strokes are being applied horizontally as much as possible, even in small areas. The fold of the bookbinding presents some difficulty, producing variations in color as the colorist tries to get around the central binding. The best coloring books are either perforated at the center or have a spiral binding that allows the book to be laid flat. Keeping the pencil strokes for a large area in the same direction helps keep the coloring technique from being noticeable.
- Light colors to dark. If you are like most colorists, you might not have a complete idea of what colors you wish to use. But the colorist for this project would like to include green leaves, yellow flower centers, and perhaps some red or pink flowers, or both. Maybe some blue…but yellow will be the lightest color used, so it is next. Color options are CrazyArt Yellow from two different sets, light peach and orange crush. These selections make a flower that has a strong orange cast, but by working the next flower is pink and red, then coming back to the first flower and gently shading it with red, the two harmonize instead of clashing. By rubbing gently over the colors with a blending pencil, the edges of the color flow together. Blending colors are one kind of shading that can be used to develop depth in an otherwise flat picture.
- Shading can be accomplished with several different techniques. These include hatching and cross-hatching, pointillism (a system of dots), as well as blending. With a pattern begun, we can turn to the upper left corner of the page and further develop the pattern.
- Hatching and cross-hatching. Hatching is the use of parallel lines to create the illusion of a three-dimensional shape. Cross-hatching adds lines that cross the original hatching. The lines can be made using the same color or different colors. By using different colors, the colorist creates the illusion of mixed color. The use of a blending medium, such as a pencil, oil, or water to dilute the colors and allow them to mix on the page can mix the colors, in fact, not just as an illusion.
- Pointillism or stippling. Colored pencils can be used to create dots on a page. The best way to do this is to place the point of the pencil on the page and gently turn it in place. This gives better control than tapping or pecking at the page. It also preserves the point of the pencil. The color center of a color pencil is soft, whether it is wax-based or oil-based, and treating a pencil roughly can break the lead inside the protective barrel and cause difficulty with sharpening the pencil.
- Blending colors can be accomplished through visual illusion, coloring over an area in layers, or brushing over juxtaposed colors using a blending pencil or a brush dampened with a blending medium. Test your blending medium on a page different from your composition. This will let you know how it will behave before you try it on your picture.
- Work pattern parts in pairs. This will help you use the same technique and colors when duplicating a pattern piece.
Coloring with Colored Pencils is an Individually Inspired Activity
There is no wrong way to color with colored pencils. Coloring with colored pencils is a highly individual activity that is influenced by the colorist’s inspiration. There are no wrong colors, no wrong way to hold a pencil, and no penalty for coloring outside the lines or creating new lines or divisions of a large blank space. Colored pencils are an easily controlled medium that can be used with great skill but does not require great skill to produce something beautiful.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an important thing for a parent to know about teaching a child how to color?
Make age-appropriate coloring materials available but do not force using them. Allow your child the freedom to scribble, select colors, and generally have fun. Pudding paint is a good beginning place – the paint feels good, is non-toxic (it is pudding), and tastes good. Spread newspaper on the floor and place baby’s highchair well away from anything important. Allow your toddler to experiment and have fun.
How can you interest an older person in coloring?
That is a little more challenging. Be aware of the person’s favorite things and gift them with a coloring book that focuses on their former career, their favorite hobby, or something you’ve heard them mention. Add a good set of colored pencils, a brief book on techniques, blending pencils, paper stomps, and facial tissues. After that, leave them alone with the items. Don’t ask if they’ve used the set, don’t pressure. If they use it and like it, eventually, they will do something they want to show off. Remember, it is all about freedom to choose colors, to create, and above all, to decide whether you do or do not want to color.
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