Coloring as a hobby for adults: a screen-free evening that ends in something to keep

Coloring is one of the simplest screen-free hobbies for adults: it needs a book, a set of colored pencils and a table, and every evening ends with something you made. Pick a realistic book on a subject you love, and a finished page can be cut out and framed.

Why adults take up coloring

• It has an end. A page is finished in an evening or two, and you can see it on the wall.
• No drawing skill needed. The lines are already there; you choose the colors.
• It fits around a day. Ten minutes or two hours, at a kitchen table.
• It is a real skill to grow. Layering, blending and shading get better with every page.

Things to do instead of scrolling

The easiest swap is one that sits where the phone would be: a coloring book and a pencil case on the sofa table. Other screen-free hobbies for adults that work the same way are a book of logic puzzles, a jigsaw, knitting or a sketchbook. What they share is a small, finished result each evening.

What you need to start

• A coloring book printed on one side of the page, so no drawing sits behind the one you are coloring.
• A set of 24 or more colored pencils with a range of light and dark shades. Colored pencils and markers for adult coloring.
• A sharpener and a soft eraser.

How to choose a first coloring book

Choose a subject you already love, the sea, winter animals or birds, rather than a pattern. Realistic drawings are easier than they look when there is a light gray shading guide under the lines, because it shows where the shadows go. How to color with a gray shading guide.

In short

Start with one book on a theme you love, one set of pencils and one page. Nibfern books such as Quiet Ocean and Quiet Winter have 45 realistic drawings each, one per page and printed on one side, with a cut line for a standard 8 x 10 frame.

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