Whether you should use pencils or markers for adult coloring books is an excellent question, but it does not have an easy, quick answer. Selecting the best coloring medium for your book is going to depend on several different factors, ranging from personal taste to paper quality and the purpose of the coloring page. Or, to put it another way:
Whether you should use colored pencils or markers for adult coloring books depends upon a lot of different things, including whether the project is strictly for yourself or to be used as a gift or even part of a commercial offering, as well as the type of paper used in the coloring book, and upon the type of pencils or markers.
There are so many different kinds of coloring pencils, so wide a variety of markers, and variable types of paper quality that there is no one correct answer to this question. More than that, personal objectives and personal taste are driving forces behind your selection of coloring medium. If that were not enough, the width of the lines in the printed picture in the coloring book, as well as the type of ink used in the printing, along with the amount of detail and the opportunities for creative coloring, also come into play as part of your decision.
Let us take a look at the three main variables and their sub-variables in this colorist’s dilemma: the coloring book, the pencils, and the pens. Each has important aspects that will affect the colorist’s choices as well as the pleasure in the act of coloring and satisfaction with the results.
The Coloring Book
Adult coloring books are published and printed in a variety of styles and sizes. These can range from a small book that can be carried in a pocket, along with a vest pocket’s worth of coloring medium, to large, elaborate books. They can use bold, easy-to-see lines or fine, delicate lines. They can contain simplistic drawings or pictures and patterns that are intricately complex. The subject matter can vary as well, but of greater importance for the topic at hand is the quality of paper that is used and whether the pictures are printed on one side of the page or both sides.
Paper quality and whether the pages are printed on one or both sides are of extreme relevance when choosing whether to use pens or pencils. We will talk more about this under pens, but the important thing to know here is that some brands of coloring or marking pens tend to bleed through the page. For this reason, one-sided printing is always better for use with pens.
Paper quality is also important. Regardless of the coloring medium, pages that are thick, white, and that have a good “tooth” are important to applying color. When using pencils, the tooth is the texture of the page that allows the color to go on smoothly yet grabs onto the wax or oil content of the pencil, welcoming it onto the page. For markers or marking pens, it is the difference between the color staying put where it belongs or wicking along the fibers of the paper and managing to run into areas where it is not wanted. Good quality paper will allow smooth application of marker color while encouraging it to remain in place.
Before selecting any coloring medium for a particular coloring book, it is a good idea to do a color test on an unimportant page before you begin applying color to your selected page. It will give you a good idea of how the color will go on and how it will behave as you work.
Colored Pencils
You could write books about colored pencils, their history, their composition, and how to use them. They are an amazing medium that is versatile and charming but perhaps not too permanent. One of the best things that have come to colored pencils is the ability to take a picture of the work, either by scanning it or by using a camera, and then save it in its pristine, original form.
Colored pencils are essentially made in two varieties: color added to a wax core that is encased in wood or color added to an oil-based core. The color cores are similar to, but not quite the same as, wax crayons or oil pastels. The wooden barrel that encases the color core protects the users’ fingers and allows the core and the barrel to be sharpened. Some types of colored pencils can be sharpened with a handheld pencil sharpener (they usually do not do well in a grinder or electric sharpener since the core is softer than graphite pencils) or by using a craft knife or pen knife. Care should be taken not to drop colored pencils as this can break the core, causing it to crumble when sharpened.
Wax core pencils tend to go onto the page in a creamy, smooth fashion. The colors can be blended, layered, or used in hatching, cross-hatching, or pointillism. They go well with a rich, thick art paper that has a slightly rough but not too rough tooth that will hold the color well. They are excellent for covering broad expanses of blank design space, shading, and otherwise creating delightful art effects. One of their biggest defects is a thing called “wax bloom,” where the wax tends to rise to the top of the colored areas, creating a white film. This is especially true if the color has been deeply layered on the picture.
Oil-core pencils work similarly but tend to do a better job of blending. Unfortunately, this also means that they do a better job of smearing if a hand or other object is brushed across the picture after it is finished. For this reason, you will often see sheets of tracing paper or waxed paper between the coloring book pages of serious colorists. These sheets help protect the pictures from rubbing against each other and creating unexpected and unwanted effects.
Although modern colored pencils are much improved from older models, pictures made with colored pencils tend to fade with time. Hence the statement that one of the best things to come to colored pencils is modern technology because it allows the colorist to make a record of the picture while it is at its best before the weathering of time erodes the original work.
Markers or Marking Pens
Markers or marking pens are the most recent outgrowth of the ancient and honorable art of writing and drawing pictures with pens. The original pens were made from sharpened reeds that were dipped in pots of ink. There were many different kinds of ink, far too numerous to go into here, of varying degrees of permanency. Quill pens were the next or perhaps a parallel development as writing tools. (It might be a good idea to note that charcoal was also used as a drawing tool long before it was made into a formal art supply.) Quill pens were/are made from the flight feathers of large birds. Goose feathers are highly favored for this. The end of the quill is sharpened, and the hollow of the pen takes up the ink. Quills were highly prized for illuminating manuscripts that were written on vellum or parchment because of the way the ink flowed smoothly over the surface of the page. Quills were the writing tools of choice for several centuries.
Metal pen nibs were used by the Egyptians, but the quality of their writing performance was inferior to reed or quill pens. Although advances were made, this was generally true until the early 1800s. At that time, two manufacturers, one in Britain and one in the U.S., began making quality steel pen nibs. These did not require sharpening (something of a delicate skill) and far outlasted either a reed or quill pen. These nibs led to the invention of the fountain pen, followed up by the ballpoint pen, for which a patent was issued on October 30, 1888, to John J. Loud.
In 1910, Lee Newman patented a felt-tipped pen, and in 1926, Benjamin Paskach came up with the fountain paintbrush – a single barrel that held several colors. From these beginnings were born our modern marking and art pens.
Perhaps it should be noted at this point that reed, quill, and stick pens are still used for art applications since each performs in ways that cannot be duplicated by other mediums, not even the best of marking pens. They could even be used in coloring books if a colorist were truly dedicated and adventurous.
For the rest of us, there are a wide variety of markers available for easy use. Department stores carry markers as student school supplies in several varieties. These include markers for coloring, highlighting (low bleed-through, high transparency), for use on dry-erase marker boards (the modern replacement for chalkboards), and permanent markers for identifying everything from laundry to lunch boxes and more. Point styles range from classic chisel-tips, chunky round tips such as are used by Crayola school markers, extra big and wide markers for making signs or posters, indelible markers (similar to permanent markers), and even election voting markers that leave a little ink stain on your fingers so that it can be detected if you come back and try to vote twice. The stain wears off in a couple of weeks, but it does not wash off.
The simple school markers, which include Crayola and Roseart brands, among others, frequently tend to bleed through pages, so colorists who want to use markers would be well-advised to select books that are either printed on one side only or to choose between the picture on one side of the page or the other. Some of the more expensive art brands, however, make claims that they do not bleed through. Even so, it is always a good idea to check the interaction between marker and page before using them extensively on a prized picture. Incidentally, this is also a good idea if you like to highlight your textbooks. There is nothing more frustrating than highlighting important things on one side of the page and having bleed-through so that the text is randomly highlighted on the other side.
Some Brands, Titles, and Options from which to Select
Coloring Books (Some Reviews)
- Sirena: Colorful Dreams of Mermaids and Shells, by Mardel Rubio, published by indie publisher Phoenix Amulet. If you looked all day, you could not possibly find a perfect coloring book for that expensive set of artists’ markers you purchased. First, the pages are single-sided. The book is spiral-bound with perforated pages, so you have the option of removing a page before working on it. The paper is of excellent quality. The book is pricey, but it is gorgeous. The drawings are in fine lines with intricate detail. One proud owner commented that there was finally a coloring book artist and publisher who understood what colorists were seeking in a book. The purchase includes a mini-poster. You can learn more about the artist at https://www.facebook.com/mardelrubioart. Or you can look at the artist’s seller page https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMardel+Rubio&s=relevancerank&text=Mardel+Rubio&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
- The Art of Laurel Burch, by Laurel Burch, published by C&T Publishing. Here is a slightly more traditional artist, with the added twist that this is a collection of detachable postcards that you can color and send. Not as pricey as Sirena, but still a bonafide artist selling something different. Some copies of this book are also available from used bookstores. This book is an excellent choice for fine-line markers.
- Splendid Symmetries by Vera Brook, published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing. Users describe the designs as lovely, but the paper as being thin. This one might be better as a colored pencil book unless you can transfer the designs to heavier paper. One colorist remarked that she likes to use fine line markers and that the color does bleed through easily. A solution is to back the pages with heavy cardboard or a piece of heavy art paper to keep it from affecting other pages in the book. There are three copies of each design, making it easy to share with friends.
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils need a little introduction here. They are a tool well-loved and often anticipated by school children who are “graduating” from simple wax crayons. Here are some brands for comparison. Prices are from Amazon as of July 15, 2021.
- Faber Castell: An excellent brand of colored pencil, made in Germany. The pencils tend to be a little harder than the average and can seem scratchy as they are applied to the page. With that said, they have an excellent range of colors, including a set with metallic colors, and have good lasting power, with less wax bloom than some other brands. A set of 48 Faber Castell colored pencils will cost around $28.00.
- Prismacolor: If you can lay your hands on Berol Prismacolor vintage pencils, they are excellent. However, rumor has it that the pencils made by this company after their primary manufactory moved to Mexico have some flaws. However, the primary complaints are about the color core being off-center in the barrel. If you usually hand sharpen your pencils, this should not be a problem, and you will still have Prismacolor’s smooth, creamy wax colors. A pretty tin of 60 Prismacolor pencils will cost about $25 for a scholar’s set.
- Crayola: Not the best pencil on the market, but certainly not the worst. This is an inexpensive pencil that maintains good quality and will be satisfactory for most purposes, including being part of any student’s carry-to-school supply set. A set of fifty Crayola crayons can be purchased for less than $12.00 at most department stores or from Amazon.
- Crazy: Not on par with Crayola, but still serviceable. If your budget doesn’t run the fancy pencils, you will still get a satisfactory coloring experience from a set of these. If you are truly strapped for cash but seriously need your coloring session, you can purchase a set of 12 Crazyart pencils for around $2.50.
Markers
Amazon is often a good place to find all sorts of things, including art supplies. But art markers are one of those things that can have problems. If you purchase from an Amazon seller, be sure to check the markers immediately upon receipt. If you purchase from a local store or art supply, check the contents of art supply packages right away. If the items are not as expected, it is best to immediately notify the seller. Mistakes can happen. Timely responses to review requests are the best way to reward sellers for good products or to correct difficulties.
Let’s take a look at some marker sets. Prices are from Amazon as of July 15, 2021.
- Coptic brush pens are the penultimate markers. They have a brush point on one end and a chisel point on the other. Most users praise them to the skies, but like all art supplies, there were a few people who had problems with them. Coptic pens are available in lovely, graduated colors and are amazingly blendable. They are one of the favorite go-tos for cartoonists and illustrators. With that said, they are not cheap. A set of 36, which is not their full spectrum by any means, is $168.00. That’s a high price, so one hopes that the buyer will be doing some serious coloring or artwork with them.
- Prismacolor also puts out a double-ended marker set. These are fine points on one end and chisel points on the other. A set of 24 is offered at $53.64. Again, that’s a fairly steep price for a tool that is very like sets that are part of a seven-year-old student’s supply list. Of course, your elementary school student is not likely to be supplied with artist-quality markers. Prismacolor’s sets are sold as being perfect for “illustrations and art projects.”
- Crayola brand has a brush and fine liner set of 24 pens for less than $10.00, so artistic youngsters and starving college students do have a decent option. Like most Crayola brand markers, these are reliable under most circumstances. With that said, be sure to use backing cardboard when working with them as they do bleed through most papers, and they do stain.
- Reaeon brush pens with fine liner: These were on special through Amazon on July 13, 2021, which meant their purchase price was less than $10 for a set of 34. One user reports: “Upon receipt (having read the many negative reviews posted on various mail-order websites), I quickly tested each pen. The brush end behaved like a brush; the pen end made a delicate fine line. I tried using them on a coloring book page that I considered of little worth and discovered that the brush end does cause a little bleed-through. The title of the coloring book is Coloring for Tranquility, published by Paragon. I received it as a gift several years ago. Therefore I do not know the seller. Its pages are medium-weight art paper with a slightly coarse tooth. The pages were originally bright white but had slightly yellowed with age. These brush pens would be fine for one-sided coloring pages or calligraphy.”
Check out our guide to getting started coloring HERE.
Upsides and Downsides
That’s a lot of information to digest all at once. So let’s talk about the upsides and downsides of coloring with colored pencils as compared to coloring with marking pens.
- Similarities: Both pencils and markers are available in a wide range of costs and qualities. The cost of an art supply does not always match up with its cost – as in, just because it costs more does not always make it better—but it is often an indicator and a place to start looking. Both colored pencils and markers are frequently on student school supply lists, but they are also frequently used by professional artists.
Both pencils and markers are usually used on a paper medium but can be used on other surfaces. In all cases, they might need protection from water or the sun to prevent fading.
- Differences:
- Colored pencils will not dry out. That means that you can purchase a set of colored pencils now, and ten years from now (provided you have not lost them or used them up), they will still be good to use and will color in almost the same way as they did when you purchased them.
- Markers usually have brighter, richer colors than colored pencils. Even with blender pencils, it is more difficult to mix marker colors than it is to mix colored pencil colors.
- Markers will sometimes cause the lines in a coloring book to dissolve and mix with the markers’ colors, creating a muddy effect.
- Markers can sometimes bleed through a page or wick along the fibers of the paper.
- Pictures created with markers tend to retain their bright colors longer than those colored with pencils.
- Colored pencils are easier to mix, layer, or blend colors than markers.
- Colored pencils will not bleed through a page.
- Colored pencils can develop a thing called wax bloom. Markers containing no wax will not.
- Colored pencils sometimes make a scritching noise during use. Markers are usually silent.
Which is better for coloring in coloring adult books, colored pencils, or markers?
In many ways, the choice is one of taste and purpose. Many colorists will sometimes use colored pencils and sometimes use markers. Colored pencils will usually produce a mellow, subdued color effect, whereas markers are brighter and livelier. Is your picture one that feels soft and gentle, like a weeping willow leaning over a brook? Or is it brilliant and loud like a carnival, circus, or fair?
Sometimes it is a point of practicality. If you have a page that has a beautiful picture on both sides, then colored pencils will be your best choice because there will not be any chance of the colors bleeding through from one side to the other. But if you have a delicate picture printed on one side of a page, then exceptionally fine-tipped markers might be exactly the coloring tool you need to bring out the beauty and intricacy of the design.
At the very heart of the matter, there is personal taste. Which do you like better, colored pencils or markers? Do you like how colored pencils smooth the page, creating almost a new surface on the paper? Or do you prefer the painterly qualities of markers which are, in the final analysis, applicators for pigment dissolved in liquid?
The Deepest Principles of Adult Coloring
Whether you use colored pencils, crayons, or markers to color your adult coloring book pages is, in the long run, entirely up to you. You are completely free to indulge yourself with a coloring spree in whichever medium you happen to have on hand or with the one that fits your current budget. This is your hobby, your relaxation time, and it is absolutely up to you. You can use either one or both. You can add crayons, oil pastels, or watercolors. The choice is yours. The freedom to choose is yours.
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