Adult Coloring Pages

I love creating coloring pages that are printable at home because they are a great way for adults to relax after a long day at work. I believe it’s a good way for people to ground themselves and slow down for a moment.

Grab the Free Printable Coloring Pages Below

We live in such a fast paced world now that it's become difficult to slow down and tune in. Coloring gives us an activity where paying close attention and slowing down pays off. Every color choice and stroke of our pencil or brush matters.

Intention

One of my favorite aspects of making art is that intention and attention matters a lot. The better you get at slowing down as you do these coloring pages the more beautiful they become. Rushing through them doesnt produce great results.

It taking a long time is actually part of its virtue.

As you go on your creative journey you will begin to realize the importance of slowing down. Your internal state as a creator will reflect in the work, so you can actually see yourself in the work.

I find it immensely interesting that you can do a coloring page and you can see in specific areas where you were paying closer attention and where you were distracted. I can sometimes notice that I was rushing in certain parts of the coloring process while I was thinking about things that cause me stress. 

Relaxation and Self Care

If you are someone who struggles with relaxing, I recommend building a routine around your coloring. This will look very different depending on your life circumstances but they may look like some of these examples;

1. You do 5 minutes of coloring while you have your morning coffee, starting the day off by tuning in

2. You do a coloring page during your lunch break which helps you reset your mind from the morning stress. This relief helps you energize for the rest of the day.

3. You do a coloring page during the afternoon when you finally have some time to yourself. Maybe you use it as a break from studying or other adult responsibilities

4. You do some coloring while your partner or family watches TV, you are sharing space with them but you take some time to tune into how you feel internally. 

5. You do a coloring page with a cup of tea in the evening, this helps you reset and relax your body and mind. 

6. You take 10 minutes before bed to do some coloring as part of your getting to bed routine. This way you can decompress from the stress of the day and relax your mind.

Coloring Tools

You can use a variety of tools for the coloring of your pages and it really comes down to personal preference. If you are printing the pages on regular paper then colored pencils might be the easiest choice because the thin paper can handle the pencils.

Keep in mind that you don't need fancy or expensive drawing tools to experience the joy of drawing or to create something beautiful. You can simply buy a couple of colored pencils or see if you can borrow some from family or friends and have tons of fun with just the few.

Don't fall into the trap of buying fancy materials and tools without actually making any art! It's tempting to just go shopping but let's put that energy into actually doing some coloring pages right now!

If you are interested in using paints, such as watercolor or acrylic washes, then you are going to have to print the inks on thicker paper. 

Printing the Coloring Pages

When printing the coloring pages you can use regular paper and your printer at home. You can also take the files to a friend's house or to a print shop to get them printed if you don't own a printer at home.

One of the great things about asking your friends or family to print at their house is that you can host a little coloring party! It can be a great activity because it's simple enough where you can still chat while coloring.

If you are looking to print on thicker papers then I would recommend bringing the files and the type of paper you want to use to a print shop. Make sure to ask them if they can print it using waterproof inks. You may have to call around to find a person who has experience with this!

You can also look for tutorials online on how to do this. This isnt my area of expertise and its highly dependent on your situation so I cant cover all that advice here.

Coloring Techniques