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Coloured pencils, felt-tip pens and gel pens. Putting colour in colouring books is a very relaxing and soothing pleasure that is suitable for all ages.
Speed up your creativity and reduce stress and anxiety at the same time through colouring and let your thoughts slowly fade away. The inspiration for colouring books for adults comes from Tibetan monks who drew intricate mandala patterns with sand, for centuries. Let’s walk in their footsteps and enjoy a moment for ourselves!
A creative relaxation
Colouring books have always been a great way for children to express themselves creatively and are also a fun way to practice staying within the lines. In recent days, colouring books have also become popular for adults, often described as an aid to stress. We have therefore produced this guide to the best pencils to use when colouring.
When we hand-pick the perfect alternatives we put extra attention to the thin paper of the colouring books, the size of the pen tip and also the wide colour range. The colour should not bleed out or through to the next page, and the colour range should be as broad as possible so that the right effect can be achieved. The pencils that we think are best suited to paint with in the colouring books are sharpening coloured pencils, thin felt-tip pens, gel pens and water-based felt-tip pens. We have well-known brands in our range such as Faber Castell, Derwent, Staedtler, Sakura, Zebra and Stabilo. Find your favorite and start colouring!
Coloured pencils
The most common pencils to use when putting colour in colouring books are sharpened wooden coloured pencils. The price usually tells us how much pigment the pencils contain; the higher the price the more colour intensity. This means that the colour becomes very strong without the need for a harder print.
The amount of crayons needed to colour is of course an individual choice, but to avoid feeling limited when drawing, we advise to invest in a 24 or a 36 set to begin with. If you want to increase the colour scheme, there are sets up to 120 colours! The fixed coloured pencils are also sold individually, so it is easy to add them afterwards.
Gel pens
Gel pens give a wonderful glossy feeling to the painting and provide a smooth ink-flow. It is important to keep in mind that they can easily clump and smear if you access the paint too early, so sometimes the colouring can be a little tricky. The advantage of gel pens is that they are also available in the colour white, which can be used to make a glittering touch. Most gel pens are file-resistant with water-based pigment. For example, try Gelly Roll from Sakura!
Felt-tip pens
If you prefer felt-tip pens instead, you need to use a really thin pen so that they do not go through the paper. Thin felt-tip pens are available in sizes as thin as 0.3 mm and 0.4 mm. These are available from brands such as Staedtler (Triplus Fineliner) and Stabilo (Point 88).
Complements
If you use sharpened crayons to colour with, there are Blendersticks from Caran d’Ache to buy. They can be used to give a shiny "glossy / glazed" effect as well as to mix and tone out and make colours blend softly together. In addition, they provide protection against UV light and water. A really good pencil sharpener adapted for coloured pencils is an important complement. A pencil sharpener with two holes is great to use since the larger hole is usually adapted for coloured pencils.
