Color Yourself Happy; An Adult Pleasure

I have a confession to make; I never was a fan of coloring books. Coloring inside a pre-printed line annoyed me as a child and frustrated me as an art teacher. Part of the process of teaching people how to draw is getting them to trust their own line-making.

Coloring books were discouraged as an inappropriate adult activity in the Long Term Care facilities where I worked. Interestingly, it was here that my view of coloring books started to change. Provided with complex designs and easy-to-handle materials, adults with cognitive or physical difficulties would sit and create something lovely, something they might even give to a friend or family member.

Now, if you haven't been in a Barnes & Noble or Walmart or Michaels  lately, you might not be aware that we are in an adult coloring book phenomenon. According the New Yorker, in 2011, the British publishing house Laurence King asked Johanna Basford, a Scottish artist and commercial illustrator specializing in hand-drawn black-and-white patterns for wine labels to draw a children’s coloring book. Basford suggested instead that she draw one for adults. Her original release of  “Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book” of thirteen thousand copies has since sold more than two million copies worldwide. It also spawned a a massive new industry category; adult coloring books.

You can now buy beautifully drawn, highly complex pages of imagery from the grocery store or at the airport news stand. Pick up some high-ink markers like fine-tip Sharpie or colored gel pens and you have an activity that appeals across the generations. Teenagers will sit with their grandparents and compare pages. We did it recently at a family gathering. Men will also color if provided with suitable subject matter. Retired engineers and construction managers will create precise elaborate color designs within a pre-printed page. 

Are you are looking for an activity for your home-bound loved one, something to stimulate the senses yet provide stress-relief? Would you like to do something that  provides satisfaction when completed and can engage an individual or a group? Try coloring! You might become a fan.