Why You NEED to Start Making Your Own Coloring Sheets
I personally love coloring sheets, but I find it so hard to find adult coloring books that have the right design for me– they are always either too intricate and I lose my focus, or they are too boring and I lose my focus. After facing this difficulty for YEARS, I came up with a simple solution…. I can just make my own!
I know that I must not be the only one facing this annoying (and slightly dramatic) problem, so I wanted to share my tips for creating your own coloring sheets!
This idea has been building up inside me for a while now, but it finally hit me when I was working with toddlers. Whenever I color with the kids, they line up and ask me to draw them random ideas from their imagination that they can color in… I have probably drawn 50 mermaids in the past week! I have also created my fair share of “Salami-raptors” and Princess Elsa’s from the movie Frozen. The sheer joy and excitement that comes from these kids when I draw them a simple doodle is so amazing, and I was struck with the question- Why can’t adults have doodle coloring sheets, too?
My favorite thing to color in are the doodle-y coloring sheets… they have the perfect amount of everything! They aren't too realistic, so you can use any colors you want; they aren't too abstract, so you aren’t just coloring in an intricate design; and they are extremely FUN! The downside of this is that all of the doodle ones, are for children.
I have searched long and hard for the perfect adult doodle coloring sheets, and the only ones I could find that SLIGHTLY fit my description were just too much money. I then realized that the reason I can not find any coloring sheets that pique my interest is that I have a specific idea in my head… nothing that I buy off of Amazon will be the same as my own creation!
This is where it ties back to the toddlers- they love to tell me what to draw for them to color in, because they are coloring in an idea that came from their own brain. Psychologically speaking, this is a form of confirmation bias phenomenon:
“Confirmation Bias is the tendency to look for information that supports, rather than rejects, one’s preconceptions, typically by interpreting evidence to confirm existing beliefs while rejecting or ignoring any conflicting data”
When we are doing something as elementary as coloring in a picture, the effects of Confirmation Bias still impact our decisions. Mainly, the effect of Confirmation Bias on our self-esteem is at risk… when we search long and hard and can not find the coloring sheet that “supports” our preconceived subconscious ideals, we start to feel a bit defeated. Adversely, this is why children (and adults) get so excited when they see their ideas put down on paper!
Long story short, I will be giving you some tips about creating your own coloring page!
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- Thick bullet-tip marker
-I use the Tombow TwinTone marker in black
- Thinner markers
- I highly recommend purchasing a few different sizes of the Pigma Micron pens, they come in all different sizes and work the best for this project
- Thick paper
-watercolor and sketchbook paper work best for this, but you could use any type of paper (just be cautious of the markers bleeding through)
- Pencil and eraser
GETTING STARTED
So, the best way to start is to conceptualize the vision in your mind. I like to use a little journal or scratch paper to test out different doodles and designs that I like. Think about cute little elements that you might be able to doodle: hearts, balloons, flowers, faces, rainbows, shapes, icecream, suns, jewels, etc.
If you are a dangerous doodler like me, you can probably look through your notes from work or school and find millions of doodle ideas. Lately, I have been drawing stars on EVERYTHING…
Once you have some doodles in mind, I highly recommend finding some sort of corny inspirational quote to use in your coloring sheet. It makes it so fun!! A way I like to find these quotes is to just search on Pinterest “short cute quotes” or “inspiring words”... you are bound to find something! I have also found that using a quote ties the whole coloring sheet together very nicely.
Corny Quote Ideas:
- One Day at A Time
- Remember to Smile
- Collect Beautiful Moments
- One Day at a Time
- There is Power in Kindness
… I think you get the idea.
BRINGING IT TO LIFE
Now, we can finally get to sketching! A good way to map out your design is to look at your little doodle ideas and test out how they look together. It can be pretty daunting to star at an empty sheet of paper and expect an amazing coloring sheet to appear… you MUST start by writing your cute quote!! Once you write it nice and big, the rest of the design will fit right in.
You can even tie your quote into the doodles by putting it in a speech bubble, making the letters into doodles, writing it on a sign or banner… there are so many possibilities!! After you have finished sketching it out, grab your thickest marker and start outlining!! I like using the thick markers not only for aesthetic reason, but because they make it easier to outline without any mistakes!
Outline everything that you sketched, and remember to erase the pencil marks!
THE FUN PART
Finally, it is time to color! This part is very straightforward…. I don’t think I need to explain how to color! Grab some colored pencils and have a blast
Thank you for reading, and I hope this post inspired you to save some money and increase your happiness by creating your own coloring sheet. After writing this, I really want to go make another one; I am not even finished coloring my other page!! I would LOVE to see what you guys come up with
Talk to you later,
