Benefits of Coloring for Artists
Did you create any art today? Many artists are so busy with their jobs or making art for other people that they don’t have time to create just for fun. Having fun and letting your creativity flow is an important part of growing and learning as an artist. This does not have to be difficult to set up nor does it need to take a lot of time. It can be as simple as … coloring in a coloring book.
Adult coloring books are a big thing right now. They are marketed, and rightly so, as a way to relieve stress, regain focus and achieve better overall mental health etc. But aside from these benefits, how can coloring help artists become better at creating art? Here are some thoughts.
Coloring can help you improve your color mixing skills. For example you may want to color a certain kind of bird or animal on your coloring page. You find a reference photo to figure out what colors you’ll need. Since you don’t have those exact colors in your palette (or in your box), you’ll have to figure out what colors to use to get a match. I discovered that it gets easier the more I do it.
Coloring can help you learn how to blend colors to make your image more realistic. Whether you are using crayons, colored pencils or blendable markers etc., you can learn how to blend colors to add highlights, shading, texture and dimension to the image you’re coloring.
Coloring books are easy to take with you and require minimal set up. You can take a coloring book and coloring tools with you to appointments, or you can sit at the table and color as you wait for your spouse to get home from work etc. No more excuses for not creating art.
Coloring is a way to create when you are too tired or stressed to be creative. Coloring doesn’t require as much effort and concentration as some types of art do. You won’t have to spend time wondering what to create. The hardest decision you’ll have to make is which picture to color and which colors to use on it.
My daughter and I are blessed to be able to meet with some of the artists in our city once a week. We get together and talk as we work on our projects. I used to take assemblage art projects to work on but found that it was too much effort. Now, in order to keep it simple, I’ll bring my coloring books and colored pencils.
Another benefit of coloring is that it can spark ideas for future art projects. For example, as I was coloring some daisies in a coloring book, I had the idea for an art project using cut out flowers. Other times an image will spark an idea for a mixed media project.
So there you have it, not only is coloring a fun, easy way to help you relieve stress and regroup your thoughts, it also stimulates your creativity and helps hone your artistic skills.