Coloring used to be so fun. You could spend hours coloring a single page and the time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. You got excited about hunting through bookstores for the latest editions, and you couldn’t wait to get home so you could bust out your colored pencils. But slowly, over time, that all changed.
One day you missed a coloring section. Then a few days later, you missed another one. Each page would take longer and longer to complete, and you weren’t getting that same feeling of satisfaction when you would finish your latest design. Eventually, coloring became a chore instead of a joy, and one day you put down your pencils and never picked them back up. You hit the coloring block.
It’s only natural. The novelty of any activity wears off over time. We humans are constantly craving new things to excite us and engage our brains. Just because you aren’t into coloring anymore doesn’t mean you won’t ever enjoy it again. Sometimes changing things up or putting a fresh twist on an old past time is all it takes to spark a fresh interest. If you’re looking for ways to reignite your coloring flame, we’ve got a few tips for you.
Minimize Your Coloring Book Collection
This sounds backwards. If I get rid of all my coloring books, how will that help me get back into coloring? Well, it works like this:
The “coloring craze” hit back in 2015 (even though there were tons of adults coloring for years before that), and everyone tried to jump on the bandwagon. Everyone and their mother was publishing a coloring book, and the bookstores were more than happy to fill their shelves with whatever they could get their hands on. For us colorists, it was like Christmas came early, and many of us amassed huge collections of coloring books that we might never even touch again.
Fun Fact: Now that the “coloring craze” is dying down, it should come as no surprise that coloring books are disappearing from bookstores.
As a result, many colorists ended up with stacks and stacks of unopened books. This can make choosing your next page an overwhelming decision. With hundreds of books and thousands of pages to choose from, how can you possibly choose one design to spend your time on? In the old days when you only had one or two books going at a time, at least your next page was that much easier to choose.
So if you’re hoarding a stack of unopened books like some coloring dragon, consider scaling back a bit. Pick a small group of favorites that you can get excited about and donate the rest. Hospitals and nursing homes are always in need of coloring supplies for their programs.
And if you’re not at least sad about a few of the coloring books you’re giving up, then you probably didn’t scale back enough. You should be excited to break into each and every book you keep – no half-measures here. The over-saturation of the coloring book market has introduced many uninspired, imitation books anyway, and most colorists are beginning to realize the value of quality over quantity.
Looking for some new coloring supplies to try out? Check out our interactive lists of colored pencils and markers where your fellow colorists vote for their favorite coloring tools.
Try Out Some New Coloring Supplies
Shaking things up can make coloring exciting again, so maybe now is the time to try out those new colored pencils you’ve been hearing about. Maybe it’s even time to try a whole new medium altogether! Do you always use colored pencils? Buy a set of art markers and learn some new coloring techniques to round out your coloring skills.
Unless there’s a specific brand you’ve been meaning to try out, we’d recommend going for something totally out of your comfort zone. Try out a medium you’ve never used, or experiment with combining tools to create a really unique coloring creation. Whatever it takes to put a fun twist on coloring and get your creative juices flowing again.
Color With Your Friends and Family
It’s fun to zone out and color on your own, but it’s also a great group activity. Coloring is a fantastic way to bring everyone together and is simple enough that you can carry a conversation while you work. Talk about the latest news or gossip, pick up a few new tips and techniques from other colorists, or just spend some time communicating with other outside of the internet. Once everyone sits down and gets into it, the conversation can go anywhere!
If you have the opportunity, it’s always a treat to introduce someone to coloring for the first time. If you’re losing your coloring mojo, there’s nothing like seeing the eagerness and excitement of a newbie. It’s almost like reliving your first coloring experience all over again, and it’s a great way to get back some appreciation for the joy that coloring can bring.
Color Outside Your Comfort Zone
It’s easy to get into a rut if you keep coloring the same things over and over again. If you only ever color mandalas, try out a coloring book with people and animals instead. This will force you to try out new tools and techniques to adapt to the new subject matter. Plus, you may find that you enjoy coloring something you never thought you would!
Want to learn some new techniques for coloring to help bring the spark back?
And don’t just limit yourself to coloring books! The recent explosion of coloring books has brought on some pretty interesting creations. Coloring books are just the beginning; now you can by coloring posters, coloring calendars and planners, even colorable mugs and clothing! Plus, there are a ton of crafts out there which will let you turn your finished pages into beautiful creations. There’s so much creativity in the coloring community that now the fun doesn’t have to end just because you’re finished coloring!
Try A New Craft
Coloring is a great hobby – it’s creative, it’s interactive, and it can help engage your mind without overworking it. But it’s not the only activity that can do this for you; there are tons of other hobbies and crafts that share many of the same benefits as coloring. Chances are, if you were into coloring once, you can probably get excited about a few of these activities too:
- Knitting
- Crocheting
- Doodling
- Stamping
- Crafting
- Scrapbooking
- Jewelry Making
- Makeup Art
- Gardening
- And Many More!
Some of these activities may appeal to you and some may not – we’re all different in the end. It never hurts to try something new, and you may even find a new hobby that you enjoy more than coloring (if that’s even possible).
If All Else Fails… Take a Break!
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get that spark back. There’s nothing wrong with that, and if you loved coloring once, chances are you can love it again. Just give it a bit of time. Trying to force it won’t help – this will only make the coloring block last longer. Sometimes, the best thing is to just stop coloring for a while and wait for the urge to come back on its own. Chances are, it will happen when you least expect it!
So if you’re finding that coloring just isn’t doing it for you anymore, don’t worry. It happens to everyone sooner or later, and it doesn’t mean that this is the end of your coloring career. Try out a few of these strategies and see if that brings the enjoyment back. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, don’t be afraid to take some time off. When you get your mind off of it, there will eventually come a moment where the idea of coloring pops back into your head. And when it does, you’ll be back, and it will feel like you never left!