Coloring books for adults – how adults can show off their beautiful coloring!
Yes, adult coloring books are a thing.
Coloring at any age is allowed and should be actively encouraged!
Mandala’s are said to promote calm; therefore, what’s not to love about them?
Coloring books for adults are a big thing now with many people joining the trend.
This coloring book post about Mandalas may contain affiliate links – please click here to see the affiliate statement.
Artist Cynthia Emerlye, sadly died last year.
However, she has left behind a wealth of material to enjoy for many years to come.
The designs I am using in this post are hers.
Cynthia, was born in Rhode Island USA, lived in Vermont and was an amazing artist.
But above all, she produced far more than just coloring books for adults.
She was an artist who also used her talent to satisfy the demand for adult coloring.
If you click the link above somwhere, you can read more about Cynthia and her work.
Her wonderful mandala designs are published by the Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.
These designs feature in my latest YouTube film about making use of all the lovely coloring you have been doing.
Please click here to see the film.
The film is about using your fabulous coloring in your crafts without destroying the coloring book or cutting it up.
It’s too easy to pass off that adult coloring books as a childish hobby.
However, being an accomplished colorist takes great skill and patience.
Coloring also helps people who believe they ‘aren’t creative’, to ease into an artistic hobby that builds confidence.
It’s a way of starting to express a creative side that may have been supressed for many years.
Enjoying using a coloring book for adults is probably the most non-intimidating way to begin artistic expression.
It can be done when no-one else is around.
You can keep your coloring book to yourself until you feel more confident about letting others see your work.
I have never been attracted to adult coloring books because I like to create my own designs.
But, I love seeing what other people produce and how they interpret the designs of artists such as Cynthia Emerlye.
Adult coloring books have been around since the 60s and possibly even before that.
But the current boom in adult coloring started in 2012.
It seems to have created a crop of colorists whose skills mean that they produce incredibly eye catching results.
No two designs look the same once they have been colored – which is the amazing thing.
My love of seeing what various colorists produce lead me to wondering what people do with all that work.
It got me thinking of ways to get beautiful adult coloring out on display in everday life.
But without anyone having to tear pages out of adult coloring books or spoil them in any way.
So I teamed up with colorist Jen Lynch from Suffolk, UK.
I wanted to see what I could do with the work she produced coloring the Mandala designs of Cynthia Emerlye.
Two of Jen Lynch’s Colored Mandalas from ‘Flower Mandalas To Colour For Calm’ by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.
My Amazon Affiliate statement.
There are 40 designs in all, each one is unique, inspiring and designed to bring calm to the colorist.
The designs are truly beautiful.
Also, there is information about the origin and meaning of mandala designs at the beginning of the book.
There are also some helpful hints about coloring.
The mandala designs inspired me to think of ways to use them in jewelry and everday objects.
So I set about creating some pieces that would feature the gorgeous designs of Cynthia Emerlye and Jen Lynch’s colorful interpretation of them.
You can see what I came up with below.
Click here to see the film about how I made the pieces.
My hope is that it will inspire people to see their coloring book in a different way.
That they will see coloring in adult coloring books as a starting point in a wider process.
A process that leads to taking their work beyond the pages of a coloring book.
Maybe then they can show off their work instead of hiding it away.
A beautifully colored Mandala can really fire the imagination.
It can stimulate thinking of how it could be used beyond the coloring book.
Any design from any coloring book has potential to make a great decoration to be used in craft projects.
However, you must first look at the copyright information in the coloring book you are using.
You need to see who owns it and what permission you may need if you intend to publish pictures of the images on your website.
It didn’t take me long to get a reply from Octopus Publishing Group when I asked if I could make a film using images from Flower Mandalas To Colour For Calm.
They were very helpful in stating their terms for using the images.
Copyright infringement is a very serious issue and should not be taken lightly.
So bear that in mind when scanning images. Are they just for your eyes or beyond?
You would probably run into trouble if you were, for example, trying to sell pendants made using coloring book images if you had not got written permission.
Hopefully, you will now see the possibilities of what can be done with your finished images.
And don’t limit yourself to mandala designs, you can use any design, from any coloring book with a bit of imagination (and permission from the publisher!)
If you enjoyed this post, you may love this one too.
Happy crafting!