Collection: Adult Coloring Books

Adult Coloring Books

This collection is built around two artists. Johanna Basford and Millie Marotta are the two best-known names in grown-up colouring, and their books are the reason most people end up here. The full-size titles sit between fifteen and twenty dollars, and the smaller books are under ten.

What separates a good colouring book from a bad one is the paper. Johanna's Christmas has 37 images printed single-sided on perforated paper, so you can colour a page and then remove it cleanly to frame. It is printed on ivory stock with a medium tooth, developed specifically for her books, which holds coloured pencil beautifully and still lets a pen glide across it. That is the difference between a book you finish and one you abandon.

The cheaper end is where the volume is. The A Million range from Lulu Mayo, including Mermaids, Kawaii Cuties, Cats and Baby Animals, is all under ten dollars. Each is a 64-page paperback at 7 by 9 inches, packed with detailed spreads rather than simple outlines, so they take weeks rather than an evening. They are the ones bought as a first attempt, because the price makes it easy to try.

If you are working in colour rather than graphite, the Caran d'Ache Swisscolor sets are matched to this kind of work, available as 12 water-soluble pencils in a metal box or 18 permanent ones, in the twenty-five to thirty-five dollar range. The mixed media sketchpad is 250 gsm and takes both wet and dry techniques, with detachable pages.

There is a sticker book as well, Celestial Wonders, which runs to 50 pages and more than 900 stickers at 6.5 inches square, and it suits journaling and scrapbooking as much as colouring.

Colouring has stayed popular because it occupies the hands without demanding anything of the mind, and it is a reliable present for an adult who is difficult to buy for. A book and a pencil set together come in under fifty dollars. If there is a particular artist or title you are looking for that you are not able to find on the website, reach out to us and we will be glad to help.