I don’t know when this craze came about, or why you're so popular lately. However, you confuse me. With the complicated images and your intricate designs, you make it almost impossible for the average person to stay inside the lines. I was never an artist, but coloring books as a kid made me feel like I had some artistic ability. This new fad has completely killed my faith in my art skills.
I have to make sure my colored pencils are sharpened to a point and use the skinniest markers I own to color you in. This leaves me with less colors to choose from when trying to fill in your complicated patterns, which in turn makes me sad. Coloring pages should be full of color, not just limited to the five markers that will allow me to fill in your tiny spaces.
I get it. Most adults don’t want to be coloring in images of Bob the Builder or Barney the Dinosaur. But these so-called kids' coloring books are much easier to color. They include simple shapes that even the least competent of children can fill in, which makes it easy for adults to color as well. And all that for less than $10! You even can find many children’s coloring books in the dollar section at your favorite stores. They may not be on fancy paper or have cute designs inside, but they are still a way to relax after a long day. Many kids' coloring books can also bring you back a dose of nostalgia if you were particularly missing your favorite Disney characters that day. Some coloring books don’t have characters at all, and are filled with butterflies, beaches, or nature. What could be more calming than that?
When faced with adult coloring books, I seem to become more stressed. They’re so complicated and take hours to color completely. Once you start, you feel as if you have to fill in every last dot and line with a bit of color to make your picture perfect. Admittedly, many of the pages are very cute when they’re completed, but it takes hours to get to that point. Who has that amount of time to spend on a coloring page? When you’re coloring in Winnie the Pooh, you only have to spend 15 minutes at the most. Most adults don’t have the time for these complicated coloring pages.
The only upside to adult coloring books are the various themed coloring books that have to do with my favorite book series and television shows. I have found many "Harry Potter" coloring books that I would love to own myself, but even these coloring books contain complicated pages that would intimidate even the best artists. I would hate to have to color in a detailed pattern of golden snitches, or the Hogwarts logo.
Admittedly, you are also printed on nice paper. The paper used in most adult coloring books ensures that the marker won’t bleed through onto the next page and ruin the pages underneath. But, for this, you have to pay a ridiculous price. $20 for a coloring book? Who has that kind of money? Definitely not me, a poor college student in need of some cheap entertainment.
Adult coloring books, you tried. It was a very valiant effort on your part, trying to make coloring cool again. And I know many people have given in to your allure. However, I will not be fooled by your shiny paper and your cute designs. I’ll stick with my Hello Kitty coloring book and fat markers, thank you very much.
Sincerely,
A stressed out “adult”
