Greyscale adult coloring books introduce a new way to color.
Greyscale coloring books are surprisingly simple even though they might seem a bit intimidating at first. Let the gray shading and highlighting guide you when deciding where and how dark or light to color. Your image will come to life with great detail and realism. You will be amazed. Perfect for both the novice colorist and the experienced colorist!
Greyscale coloring comes from either taking a photograph and coloring on top or when an illustrator puts in the beginning grey shading they would use to complete an illustration themselves. Artists have several different methods of doing that. We will explore both types in the greyscale coloring books below.
I discovered Christine’s work in my coloring group and have bought quite a few of her Etsy instant downloads. This is her first full sized published book and it is SPECTACULAR!
Nikki Burnette is a fantasy watercolor artist who loves to depict the world of fantasy.
She has created two greyscale coloring books each with two options, one for beginning colorists and one for the more advanced.
The images in this book have been created from Nikki’s original watercolor paintings including, witches, mermaids, fairies, vampires and more fantasy creatures.
This is the Beginner’s Edition of the book that features darker grayscale images. This book is recommended for colorists who would like more assistance with shading. You will find that you have to add very little shading or none at all, yet the image will still have a lot of depth and vibrancy. An Advanced Edition, which contains the same 20 images, with lighter levels of grayscale that allow for more flexibility and color variety is also available separately.
This is the advanced version of the same greyscale coloring book, Spellbinding Images. We like the beginner version even though we consider ourselves intermediate to advanced colorists simply because it is easier to get the very intense shading already done for you. This saves your pencils and tired hands.
20 Single-Sided Grayscale Images to Color(The Beginner’s Edition features darker grayscale images that assist more with shading)
2 miniature testers of each image in the book to experiment with color schemes and try out your materials
20 small colored images showing the artist’s color choices
4 pages of introduction text that explain the basics of grayscale coloring and offer tips, tricks and techniques to use inside the book
Pages are formatted with full black borders that extend to the edge of the page to help create a clean line while coloring
The paper is 8.5×11″ and is a smooth, 60#, medium weight paper with a slight satin finish due to the printing process
**Please note: These are grayscale images, not traditional black and white line art coloring pages. These are also some of the same characters that are included in Nikki’s traditional coloring books, but instead, these are grayscale images and will be a completely different coloring experience.
I purchased this gorgeous coloring book this week so I would have some harvest and Halloween images to color in as fall arrives in the Rocky Mountains. This coloring book is gorgeous! I think greyscale coloring is great for beginners to help them learn where to do shading and highlights. You can see my flip through on Instagram here.Molly Harrison‘s artwork is quite unique and this book contains gothic, vampire type fairies, fanciful Halloween witches, and autumn magic.
Be taken away to a calm, underwater world full of beautiful mermaids, dolphins, and aquatic creatures as you color in these beautiful, black and white fantasy paintings, optimized for coloring. Let the original painting’s tones and shading guide you to creating your own masterpieces that appear like magic!
Features fully shaded black and white versions of finished paintings, ready for color to be added.
25 artworks to color, with a bonus second set of the same designs for further experimentation, backup, or sharing.
Images on one side only.
Large 8.5 x 11-inch size.
Detail/Skill Level Guide: Medium-Advanced
Mermaids – Grayscale Coloring Edition features the same set of artworks as Selina’s more traditional Mermaids Calm Ocean Coloring Collection book, for those who prefer outline style coloring books.
Let Selena’s original painting’s tones and shading, guide you to creating your own masterpieces. This coloring book features 25 fully shaded, black and white versions of finished paintings, ready for color to be added. A bonus second set of the same designs for further experimentation, backup, or sharing is included. Images on one side only ~ Large 8.5 x 11-inch size ~ Detail/Skill Level Guide: Beginner to Medium. Fairy Art – Grayscale Coloring Edition features the same set of artworks as Selina’s more traditional Fairy Art Coloring Book, for those who prefer outline style coloring books.
24 unique grayscale images plus 12 bonus images, for a total of 36 pages to color. Colored Pencils and pastels are suggested for the best results. If you like to blend with Gamsol, remember to put a sheet of paper behind the page to prevent any bleed-through. Each picture is printed one-sided on 60 lb. pure white paper. A member of our Facebook group shared her colorings from Ruth Sanderson’s Cinderella book and these illustrations are just spectacular.
This is a new greyscale book from Nicole Stocker the creator of Beautiful Creatures called Beautiful Nature.
Printed one-sided on 100lb archival quality, acid-free paper
48 grayscale images of flowers, plants, and landscapes for you to color
Perforated for easy removal and framing of your colored picture
From wide-sweeping landscapes to the most delicate botanicals, Beautiful Nature harnesses the restorative power of the natural world.
Simply color over the gray, matching light and dark tones to reveal lifelike shading. Saturate the grayscale with heavy color, use the lightest of touches or simply let it be. Flood the page with vibrant brights or allow a softer color palette to emerge. As the colorist, you are free to immerse yourself in the space between black and white, and explore the many shades of your imagination.
Someone shared her colored-in picture of a cat in a Facebook group that was so fantastic I had to follow through to the source. Turns out it was from this coloring book, “Beautiful Creatures” by Nicole Stocker.
Greyscale Coloring Book Advantages
This book takes beautiful nature photography to greyscale which magically makes your buddy colorist skills improve tremendously because the shading and highlighting are already done for you. Take a look at this image that shows the originals with different people’s ideas of how to color it in.
After seeing this I want the book to help me learn to shade, shadow, highlight, and the eyes! I also plan on taking photos of my own pets, pulling the photos into a software program to convert them to black and white.. printing on nice paper and then coloring in my own fur kids.
How to color a crocodile in Nicole Stocker’s Coloring Book above and coloring the tabby cat below.
Here’s what Amazon Says about this greyscale coloring book:
Color over the gray to bring your images to life in this unique and elegantly simple adult coloring book.
Immerse yourself in the space between black and white and explore the many shades of your imagination. Unique in its sophisticated grayscale format, Beautiful Creatures is deceivingly simple. Using the gray as your guide, you will quickly learn to shade like a professional artist, bringing depth to each image and creating lifelike artwork that is uniquely yours. Take a moment of solitude to rediscover your creativity, and replenish your calm.
Grey Scale Coloring Video Tutorials
Coloring in a Basenji dog with Faber Castell Classic Colored Pencils in Nicole Stockers Beautiful Creatures Coloring book.
Optimized for coloring, each image is printed on acid-free, archival quality paper, perforated and watermarked for framing. Simply select your palette and color over the gray, letting the depth of shading guide your choices as you bring this thoughtfully curated collection of 48 striking images to life. Feel the thrill of artistic accomplishment that comes from creation, and the pride of seeing your work framed and displayed. Where the simplicity of coloring meets a refined aesthetic, Beautiful Creatures opens the door to artistic expression and all the joys that come with it.
This video coloring tutorial shows a time lapse of the cat in the book. About the artist/author : As a young girl, Nicole Stocker was enchanted by a black and white photograph hanging in her parents’ summer cabin, wishing she could bring it to life with color. An artist at heart, Nicole imagined a collection of coloring books filled with inspiring, carefully curated photographs. The first in a series, Beautiful Creatures marks her publishing debut. A mother of two young children, Nicole treasures any moment to lose herself in color and creation in her Vancouver home. Source: Amazon
Artist / Colorist Joanna Lynn Flores reviewed Beautiful Creatures after being sent a sample to color in and is the person showing you how to color in these greyscale animals.
“Coloring a grayscale image is like creating magic and turning a page into a colorful reality. At first I thought it was very complex but the moment I started coloring, I just couldn’t stop. The gray tones served as a guide for my instinct and artistry to decide what color to apply. It also liberated me to create an alternate reality of an image. It was very relaxing, extremely fun and it sharpened my coloring skills. I absolutely enjoyed how my imagination and reality merged in the final colored image. “
Several members of our Facebook group enjoy coloring in Alena Lazareva’s greyscale coloring book Enchanted Art.
Enchanted Art Gray-scale coloring book by Alena Lazareva
42 images to color (38 Enchanted Art plus 4 bonus pages)
Pages printed on one side only
Full-size paper, 8.5×11
Pure white, 60 lb paper, acid-free for long art life
A Fantasy Grayscale Coloring Book for Adults: Flower Fairies, and Celestial Fairies by Molly Harrison Fantasy Art
Note: Greyscale vs Grayscale coloring. These are both correct spellings and depend on whether you are in the UK or US… just like colouring and coloring. They are both correct.
I know, you have just finally figured out how to make shiny leaves and flowers, how to make fur on your fox hidden in the brush and how to highlight an eye on your fairy coloring. You thought you were at the end of your learning process but then you see that those other colorists, you know the ones… whose gorgeous products always make you feel like yours isn’t finished… it’s the background. I too am still learning techniques on how to do backgrounds but having the right background coloring supplies does help.
Soft Pastel for Adult Coloring Book Backgrounds
The easiest way to put a background in is with soft pastels. They come in several different forms and price points. Questions to ask yourself are do you care if your area is messy because playing with chalk pastels is messy! Do they need to be lightfast, aka do you care if your pictures fade over time. The first set I bought is this inexpensive one that has LOTS of pretty colors because I had no idea what I’d want.
The first set I tried were these Mungyo Soft Pastels in 64 colors. Each stick is a little over an inch long but for backgrounds, you don’t use much. I take my fingernail, a pocket knife, these artist knives that are specifically for this purpose or anything handy and scrape a tiny big on the area where I want the color and using either my fingers or a makeup applicator or q-tip I carefully fill in the background. (See Peta Hewitt’s Tutorial Video’s Below) You can layer and blend colors really easily for a sunset effect for instance or a soft glow around the moon. These are light
My next experiment was a bit more expensive and I still don’t think I’m using them right! I bought these Derwent soft chalk pastel pencils. I don’t like using them at all, first off the sound and feel of using them on the paper is a bit like fingernails on a chalkboard, so maybe I should try sharpening them onto a paper plate and using them with an applicator like the Mungyo’s above. After reading the reviews on Amazon, I guess I should try them again. I think 24 colors is plenty if you are going to use them for backgrounds. If you would use them for other art projects, the 72 color set in the wooden box looks pretty awesome and only a couple more bucks than the tin which we all know are frustrating to use at best.
I would like to give these Faber-Castell pastels a try just to see the difference between the budget brand above and the mid-range artist quality of these FC’s. Pastels, however, can go up in price from here, these iridescent 24 color Sennelier set of chalk pastels are tempting and the reviews are glowing and are the top of the line for artists.
Pebbles Soft Pastels are great! I particularly love the applicator and little cotton buds that come with these sets of colors that come in 15 colors with 2 shades of each color for 30 different options.
The creme de la creme when it comes to pastels for coloring books. They are quite lightfast and low dust. PanPastels used to be hard to find but with the onset of colorists all over the world, they are now quite easy to find on Amazon in both single colors, small and large sets.
This one even has pearl colors and it says easy to blend so perfect for your pages.
Eye Shadow – yes, eye shadow. Do you have eye shadow from when you were in high school that you never threw away? perfect! Use them just as you would soft pastels. Once you start using them for coloring don’t use them for your eyes anymore, you wouldn’t’ want to use that bacteria in your eyes. You can also just go to the dollar store of the after Christmas makeup kits on half price. This is a fantastic set with 120 bright colors
Do NOT buy Oil Pastels for Coloring Books, they are completely different and will make a smeary mess of your coloring book. You are looking for soft pastels also sometimes called chalk pastels.
Do not BLOW the pastel dust off of your work, gently tap it into the trash can, you can accidentally breathe the dust in which can cause issues. You can also use a fixitive.
Soft Pastel Fixatives
Chalk is by nature dusty and messy and you don’t want that spreading all over the rest of your coloring pages and books in your collection so a spray fixative is necessary. You need to get a workable fixative so that you can go over the chalk with gel pens, pencils or marker and be sure to spray the fixative BEFORE using gel pens or markers as it can make them bleed through the paper or smear. This should be done outdoors of course.
Cotton Swabs or Q-Tips of all types are great for tiny detail work. I like these with the precision tips because I use them to fix my nails when I mess them up so dual-purpose products are always great.
Cotton Rounds for large background areas. These give you a smoother application than regular cotton balls, but those work too so use what is handy.
Erasers
Coloring and pastel backgrounds are a precise endeavor so you are going to need an eraser no matter how careful you are. These erasers will serve double duty for your colored pencils and your soft pastels.
Kneadable erasers – I remember discovering these in junior high art class and have always been fascinated with them. You can fold them to be the exact shape you need and then fold them together and the color disappears into it.. they are kinda magical. This Faber-Castell 2 pack is my go-to and the best value.
Pen style erasers get into those tiny corners and are easy to keep track of in your pencil storage.
Triangular Prismacolor Eraser – I really like this one too, it’s got one big flat side as well as lots of tiny detail area.
I’m starting to see colorists using various mixed media supplies to do special effects on their backgrounds and one of the things is the use of stencils. Usually using a repetitive type stencil gives you the best results since you want the background to be just that, a backdrop to your beautiful colored-in picture. Martha Stewart has an entire line of stencils suitable for backgrounds, you could use the soft look of pastels using a q-tip type of applicator or lay down a smooth chalk background and go back in with the simple stencils using a more precise method with your colored pencils.
I’ve successfully used my Faber Castell Pitt Pens for backgrounds and they work great. A little streaky if you look up close and use that critical eye we turn on ourselves, but step back a few inches and it looks flawless. My recommendation is to use the smaller detail Pitt Pen around the design and for tight spaces. Then the Big Brush pen in the matching color for the larger areas. If you are using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for your drawing then you will immediately notice that the Pitt Pens match the colors exactly so that makes for a very cohesive look for your project.
Posca Paint Pens – I’ve seen artists raving about these pens and like them over Pitt Pens, so far my experience hasn’t been great. They are the type of paint pen where you have to prime them and when I do that paint gushes out all over the place. I’m going to say try them at your own risk and look up some YouTubes on how to use them. This is the set I bought with the bigger nibs, maybe I should have bought the fine points to try first. At any rate, if you love these lets us know your tips on how to use them, I’m sure in my case it’s user error.
Gel Pens – These are tricky to use for backgrounds because of the smearing that happens inevitably if you are an impatient colorist but particularly using metallics or glitter effects, you can get a really wonderful piece of art. My favorite one is the skull from Magical Jungle where I used the silver metallic gel pen to do quite a bit of fill-in work along with the black Pitt Pen for the full background using only blue colored pencils.
If you have become a true Coloring Book Addict by now you are sure to have quite the collection of colored pencils, pens, markers and more and NOW you need to organize your art supplies.
There are so many options that I will just be sharing several that might meet your artistic needs, we colorists are all so uniquely individual.
ROLLING CARTS
I honestly don’t know how I lived before I recently discovered the RASKOG rolling cart. Once you have one you might want more. I’ve watched numerous video reviews on Rakog versus the Michaels Brand and Costco brand and everyone agrees that the RASKOG is da bombdiggity in all sorts of art supply storage. What I love most about it is how sturdy it is AND that I can store ALL of my colored pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and books all in one spot and then roll it away when company comes. You can also clip an LED light on the edge of it in case you need more light in your family room which is where I always end up coloring.
If you have an IKEA store nearby then go buy one. I promise you won’t be sorry. They no longer have the aqua blue color (BOO!) so I bought the cream and if I get really ambitious I’ll spray paint it. However, I don’t think I can live long enough without it to do that.. so I may just wait for them to bring out a blue again. They are super easy to put together and SO sturdy. The middle shelf can be moved up or down but I just left mine right in the middle.
The other alternative that is almost as good is the one at Michaels, it looks pretty identical but isn’t quite as sturdy. It’s part of Michaels Everyday Value selection so you can’t use your 40% off coupon on which makes it pretty reasonable. The advantage is that they DO have lots of color selections.
Some people like to keep their pencils in the original tins but I find these less than satisfactory. I find I like to color all over the place, in front of the TV, our library coloring events and on the patio at Starbucks so I want my pencils to be easy to transport. I have been lusting after these cute pencil rolls on Amazon that hold 72 sticks of color and on Amazon Prime Day they went on sale so I snagged 3 of them.
These are made by Creoogo and the price is right. The price for the 36, and 48 are the same as for the 72 pack so I’d get the largest one. You can also fit your gel pens and watercolor pencils easily in these bags and there are extra-wide slots at each end to hold your eraser, water brush or other coloring tools.
These BTSKY Leather Colored Pencil Cases are FANTASTIC
They come in 2 sizes, 72 pencils or 160 pencils. I’d opt for the big one even if you only have 72 pencils for now, you will likely get more or it can also hold your gel pens or markers.
I recently started adding Mixed Media pieces into my coloring books and stumbled upon this bag that one of the people in my class had. I fell instantly in love with it. SO many supplies will fit in this bag and all the zippers keep things nice and organized.
The BTSKY Pencil organizers are great! They are sturdy canvas and zip closed. They also come in dozens of colors & patterns and capacities from 72 – 200.
This zippered canvas bag opens to reveal all 72 of your colored pencils and received rave reviews from verified purchases (Not the “I got this for free” folks) One reviewer even said he got all 150 of his Prismacolors in with room to spare.
Click to order Amazon US – Amazon UK – Amazon Canada (Canada & the UK seem to have a different seller but the case looks identical)
Finally, a zippered canvas bag that fits all your Prismacolors in one place. This one comes in several colors too. 150 elastic spots for pencils or pens + 10 extra spots for blenders, your Gelly Roll Clear Glitter Pen, White Gel Pen for highlighting, Eraser pencils and whatever else your essential tools are.
I originally purchased the Derwent Canvas bag that holds quite a few supplies along with 132 pencils and it also has extra sleeves available for even more pencil storage. The zippered pockets also hold erasers, sharpeners, and other supplies for you in this nice sturdy bag with a shoulder strap.
Two pencils fit in each space on the 3 dividers that fit on the binder rings and you can buy more of these if you have more than 132 pencils. Pens also fit nicely in this bag but it’s not big enough to stick a full-size coloring book into but the postcards and portable books fit nicely in the inside or the outside pocket. There is a zipper pocket inside for your erasers and sharpeners. The shoulder strap is removable. I have had this for about 9 months now and it is still in perfect condition. I did buy an additional set of sleeves and there is still room spare. Amazon USAmazon UKAmazon Canada
Coloring Supply Storage Ideas
(You might already have 1 (or 50) 31 bags in your closet already and any of those with lots of pockets are perfect.
That top blue part is removable too which is what I did and then I used that little bin to store my erasers and sharpers and other ephemera. This is where I store my markers since they are to be stored horizontally versus vertical.
I have used these workhorses for years in my craft room, books in the bottom, pens, pencils. and whatnot in the top two drawers. You can wheel it out to your TV room or bedroom while you are working, and put it away the rest of the time.
(Note: mine is pretty much always out unless we have company!)
Colored Pencil & Marker Storage Drawers
Wooden Storage Drawers are quite popular for those folks who have a dedicated area to color in.
These pencil drawer storage units are very popular, be sure to read the reviews for the one you are buying as some manufacturers are better than others. If you have a collection like I do you will probably need more than 1.
2 Drawer Storage can organize about 90 pencils or a set of 72 with blenders erasers & a few Gelly Rolls. Click to Order Amazon US
If you prefer to see all your colors at once you might like these upright colored pencil holders like this one I found on Etsy. It holds 50 pencils so you might need more than one, or if you have a handy person around, get them to make one for you.
If you can’t get enough Disney, this mid-size bag is just adorable!
You can fit about 140 pencils, about 3 books or several coloring pages, it comes with a generous zipper pencil case for odd-sized and larger items. Click here to Order the Coloring Beach Bag
Here are some great DIY ideas for how to organize your coloring supplies on Pinterest
I have a bit of a mason jar obsession, if you need a storage solution for everything in your home, this is my go to. For you Kawaii lovers, this is perfect for you, or just leave them without the faces like I have done.
I think I like this idea better for organizing with toilet paper rolls. The one above isn’t nearly big enough for my pencil collection from 20 free ways to organize. She has a bunch of other great ideas for organization too.
Check out this DIY idea with full instructions on YouTube.
We would love to see your storage ideas on our social media accounts. Please tag us anytime..
Always test any markers or gel pens you use on a page in the back or the cover page to check to see if it bleeds through or leaves a shadow, particularly if the book has double-sided pages.
Slip a piece of paper behind the page you are coloring just to protect the pages behind from denting them if you have a heavy hand or bleed-through issues.
Sharpen your pencil more than you think you need to.
Slow down – you aren’t selling these pages. Enjoy yourself and you will be happier with your colorings.
Buy books one at a time so you can see which ones you really like to color in. (I have wasted way too much money buying books I really don’t enjoy)
If you color in public, another tip is to take an extra book (maybe one of those you don’t particularly like) your friend will walk in and want to join in when they see what you are doing.
Go to the biggest art store in town to check which pencils you like the feel of. Playing with pencils is so great and they will usually have them available to buy one at a time. The prices on Amazon are always cheaper but that way you can test them all. I bought a few of each kind and brought them home. Plus you can never have too many pencils!! That’s a rule!
Buy the biggest selection of colors that you can afford. It ends up being cheaper than buying a small box of 12 or 24 and then filling in with singles. I find 36 colors is a minimum number as those sets usually have 3 of each color so you can have a base color + shading and highlighting colors.
Print out free to color pages you find online. I have a huge list of them here.
Join a Colouring / Coloring Book Facebook page to learn and get support. There are dozens! If you join one that’s drama-filled.. leave and look for another. Most of them are lovely and are how I’ve learned a ton of my tips and technique. Join the Coloring Book Addicts here.
Search YouTube for tutorials – there are thousands. Some of my favorites are here.
Look for local coloring groups. Check Meetup and your local library or art club. I am helping to start one in my area with the Library in my town. I can’t wait to meet other coloring book addicts!
Have fun and color outside the lines.. it’s ok!
I had to add one more because when I received this book it is perfect for new colorists and I had to let everyone know about it!
This book has everything you ever wanted to know about coloring in adult coloring books but didn’t know how to ask. From basic blending, shading and highlighting techniques to complex color theory, ideas for things to do with your colorings and advice on supplies. The amount of knowledge in the coloring book bible will blow you away. It is published by Design Originals and the editors of DO Magazine.
I haven’t gotten to see this book in person yet but from the rave reviews, I’m going to recommend it anyway. I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting “paid for” type reviews and these are not that type.
Rachel Reinert has also created two coloring books so included in this instruction book are 20 designs for you to follow her directions step by step to create your own masterpieces. She teaching how to shade and highlight hair, feathers, flowers, and leaves, how to add backgrounds, water droplets, and auras. She explores each type of supply both wet and dry mediums. If you are just starting out, I’d recommend getting one of these two books. From the things included in this one, it may be a bit more advanced than the one by Design Originals.
I STRONGLY recommend downloading the Hobby Lobby & Michaels App to your smartphone. That way you always have the coupons with you. Being the clumsy person I am.. I ALWAY forget the coupons at home or in the other car or the other purse.. you get me.. right?
AMAZON PRIME – If you aren’t a member you should look into it.
Which white pencil, pen, crayon, mark-making device should I use to make areas of my project white? That’s one of the most asked questions in our Facebook group so I figured I should give you all my favorite white methods.
White Pencils
Of course, you have a white pencil in your set so one way if you want a large area to stay white is to color it first with the white pencil. You can also use your white pencil to blend other colors and to soften or lighten them up a shade. This doesn’t really work if you have already colored something in so let’s move on to another method. The Luminance White Pencil by Caran D’Ache is really the best white pencil to use for making things white as it is the most vibrant and you can buy it individually. It’s a softer method than those below but can be quite effective.
There are a couple that we love and it just depends on your uses. Hands down my favorite are the Uniball Signo White Gel Pens This is a 3 pack of the broad point and it just keeps out performing other pens and it dries quite quickly. It works over all types of colored pencils and even watercolors & some acrylic paint. The picture I colored above shows you how well the Uniball pens show up even on light pastel type colors.
The next in line is the Gelly Roll White Gel Pen, this one can fade into the pencils a little more than the Uniball but it’s a great choice if you can’t find my favorite.
White Paint Pens
White paint pens are the trickiest of these 3 options but give you the most reliable coverage over your colored pencils. You have to shake them each time you use them and prime them the first use by pressing on a piece of paper with the tip LIGHTLY until the ink flows.. do NOT do this ON your coloring book!! (I may have done that and ruined a page… OOPS!) .
White Sharpie
The most economical choice is the Sharpie WATERBASED White Paint Pen. ( I can’t find these locally but maybe your store carries them. Just be sure it doesn’t say OIL on the packaging) These come in Bold, Medium, Fine & Extra Fine.
I confess, these just came out and I bought this set with black and white paint pens in it but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I love the other Dylusions products and these other two options are often hard to find so hopefully they are filling a niche that is needed in the art supply section. Click to order Dyan Reaveley’s Dylusions Paint Pens in Black & White.
If you are new to coloring or just want to dive in a little deeper be sure to read our expansive supply recommendations along with our tips and tricks articles.
There are so many uses for white in your coloring, the obvious things like snowflakes or highlights in the eyes, but you can also use them for detailing as I show in the picture at the top of the page. You can also use any of these three options to soften color that’s gotten too strong where you want it highlighted, the pencils you use by blending but both the gel pens and the paint pens are liquid when you apply them so you can take a damp paintbrush or your finger (Yes.. my fingers always have colors on them) and smudge it in to get the effect you are looking for.
Most people either prefer markers or colored pencils to work within their coloring books for adults but both of those groups also like to supplement their work with gel pens, particularly if you want to highlight an area with a glitter or metallic effect. ALL gel pens will smear if you don’t give them time to dry so be sure to work left to right for right-handed colorists and the opposite for lefties. For the lift of markers, you should store them horizontally so the ink stays evenly distributed and has a consistent flow. Gel pens are exceptions and should be stored vertically with tips pointing up.* Always store pens and markers with their caps on.
These gel pens have to HUGE plus’s that I’ve never seen in a gel pen before. They are numbered and have color names. PLUS… they come in a great storage case. I have more gel pens than anyone should have but I’ve never seen either of those selling points for a gel pen. They dry quickly and they have refills available so they are a tiny bit more eco-friendly than the rest of the field.
The Color-it gel pens come in a few varieties. The combo pack has 48 Artist Quality Coloring Pens: 24 Glitter, 12 Metallic, 12 Neon Plus 48 Matching Refills For 96 Total Pieces.
Yes, it’s a problem. For me the more glitter I can get on my coloring book pages the happier I am, so for those of you always looking for more colors of glitter gel pens, here you go! This pack of Color-it comes with 48 glitter gel pens and a set of 48 refills.
This set also comes with the storage case and each pen is numbered and named.
If you can’t decide which one you want more, you are in luck, Color-it also has a combo pack so you can get all 96 pens plus 96 refills and two carrying cases.
This set comes with 120 different colors including 41 glitters, 3 rainbow, 13 standard, 24 metallic, 17 neon, 18 pastel and 4 swirl. The swirl & rainbow pens aren’t really too useful for coloring but you can give those to the kids or find another use for them. They come in a plastic case.
240 Gel Pens Set 120 Colored Gel Pen plus 120 Refills including Glitter, Metallic, Neon, Pastel, Fluorescent, Dye Colors, Rainbow, Standard. These gel pens also have numbers so you can keep track of the colors you’ve used.
Gelly Rolls have been around for a couple of decades and continue to be favorites with colorists and crafters alike. You may even have a few tucked into your scrapbooking or stamping supplies. Our favorite Gelly rolls are the starlight glitter pens and metallic pens. These pens have a visible sheen and glitter effects and bright colors that really accentuate areas in your coloring such as using metallic ones for a padlock on an old door in the elf’s cottage or the crowns sprinkled throughout Hanna Karlzon’sDagdrommar / DayDreams & Sommernatt / Summer Nights Coloring Books. They are the priciest but a favorite none the less. I just wish they came in more colors but I find myself looking for them when I have a special project.
Sakura’s Gelly Roll Pens come in several different types of Gel Pens for Coloring
Clear Glitter Gelly Roll Pens – Perhaps our favorite of them all is the clear glitter because you can apply it over the top of the pencil and some markers to get any color of glitter you want. Very effective for fairy wings or crystals.
We aren’t fans of their Shadow Pens where gold or silver are mixed with other color pens, they just make a muddy uninteresting shade that’s not well suited for coloring although it probably has other purposes.
Gelly Roll Gel pen care
It is very important to put the correct cap on the pen between uses because unlike regular ballpoint pen ink, gel inks need to be kept sealed away from air. Prolonged exposure to air will cause the gel ink to dry out in the tip/ball chamber.
In our Gelly Roll ink system, there is a tiny silicone ball inside the cap that touches the tip and helps prevents any air from drying out the gel in the ball chamber when the cap is on. If this silicone ball is damaged or removed, the pen will eventually dry out and not work.
*Gelly Rolls can be stored horizontally or vertically because of the properties of gel ink. But if you store vertically, just be sure that you don’t drop them into whatever pen holder (like a pencil cup) you’re using. Jarring the pen (i.e. dropping into a cup) can cause air bubbles to form in the gel which will disrupt the ink flow.
The best way to see if a Gelly Roll pen can be revived is to start scribbling in circles and/or firmly tap the tip on a pad of paper. The motion makes the tip (ball) roll and causes the gel ink to be pulled into the ball tip chamber. It might take a few tries, but this might work. There is no guarantee though that this will start the pen again. Heating a Gelly Roll tip or shaking the pen will not correct the problem of a clogged nib. This technique only works for oil-based ballpoint pens.
ECR4Kids Gel Pens This pack of 100 is one of my favorites but right now isn’t available in the US. The bronze, browns, and golds in this set are spectacular to use on metal objects in your coloring and blend really well. I find this wet enough that if you are quick and hold both pens in your hand you can blend them as you work (being VERY careful not to smear of course) They work spectacularly well with the techniques that Cher Kauffman shares in the video at the end of this article for intermediate to advanced gel pen coloring techniques. If you happen to live near a Costco check to see if they are carrying these pens. If they are the price on them can’t be beaten!
One pen I really couldn’t live without anymore is my White Uniball Signo Gel Pen with a broad point. I use it ALL the time for highlights on jewels, to run a line of dots around the edge of a flower petal, the list goes on and on. You will see the dots idea in the Peta Hewitt video at the end of this page. Go ahead and get the 3 pack because you are going to want one in all your coloring bags. Worth another mention is the clear glitter gelly roll. It doesn’t come in any of the packs but it’s such a workhorse and once you use it you will be addicted. Click to Order White Uniball Signo on Amazon USUKCanada Click to Order Clear Glitter Gelly Roll Pen Amazon USUKCanada
How to work with Gel Pens in your Coloring Books
This article had some neat ideas on using gel pens for coloring books that aren’t your basic filling in blank space rather this technique using stippling, cross-hatching, and scribbling. I had never thought to use this method for coloring but love the effect it gives you in their examples below.
Hatching is a series of parallel strokes. It can give your art a very uniform look based on the angle of the hatches. Try some cross-hatching for a different effect as well.
Stippling is basically placing several dots together to create a texture. Uniform dots, non-uniformed ones, the tightness of the pattern and even the use of several different colors can make big changes to your coloring. When you gradually change the density of dots you can make some really fun gradations that will give your coloring a more 3D effect.
Scribbling is just that; making a bunch of scribbles in an area to create that textured look. Again, the tightness of the pattern, different types of scribbles and different colors will make all sorts of interesting coloring. Experiment and see.
Gel Pen Videos
If you have been following us for long you know we are a huge fan of Peta Hewitt. She uses the gel pen techniques that I normally employ in my coloring, that of using gel pens to highlight and fancify my colored pencil work. This video shows her speed coloring a fish from Lost Ocean using gold and white gel pens at the end of the process to enhance her picture. I subscribe to her Youtube channel so I don’t miss anything. Some of her videos run long because she is a fabulous in-depth teacher and you will learn a TON by the end of it. This particular video is a quickie.
Color it has this tutorial on using their gel pens (I’d skip to about 2:40)
I really enjoyed this intermediate tutorial from Cher Kauffman on using Gel Pens with water and other fun effects.
If you are new to coloring or just want to dive in a little deeper be sure to read our expansive supply recommendations along with our tips and tricks articles.
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