10 Best Tools for Adult Coloring Sheets

Adult coloring has moved from a fun activity to a much-needed way of releasing stress and unleashing creativity. The art allows you to transform simple black-and-white designs into exciting masterpieces while enjoying a controlled meditative flow. However, creating the perfect outcome starts with choosing the right coloring tools.

Using the right coloring supplies enhances your experience and turns your simple pastime into a satisfying art form. From colored pencils to digital supplies, here are the ten best tools for adult coloring sheets.

1. Colored Pencils

Colored pencils are among the most popular coloring tools due to their precision and control benefits. They allow you to shade within a single spot on the sheet by making one side darker and the other lighter. You can also easily add fine details to the design using colored pencils.

Colored pencils are available in a wide range of high-quality colors that allow smooth layering, blending, and shading. Popular picks include the Prismacolor Premier and Faber-Castel Polychromos colored pencils. Both options will enable you to control your coloring and achieve detailed, soft designs with blendable textures.

2. Markers

Markers are also must-have supplies to create bold colors and intense pigments in your coloring. They also come in handy when making a base color, on which you can add fine layers using coloring pencils. You can use water- or alcohol-based markers depending on the surface or your coloring sheet.

Alcohol-based markers are the most preferred for coloring, although they are more expensive than water-based markers. They offer cold, saturated colors and blend seamlessly. Most alcohol-based markers also have dual-tip designs, with a broad chisel tip on one end and a fine point on the other, allowing the creation of detailed and broad artwork. Examples of alcohol-based markers include Copic Sketch and Ohuhu markers.

3. Gel Pens

Gel pens are ideal for adding flair or highlighting a section of your designs to create eye-catching accents. They are available in different finishes, including glitter, metallic, neon, and pastel. They also glide smoothly on the coloring sheet, creating a unique texture and dimensions that coloring pencils or markers cannot achieve.

Gel pens are cheap and easy to use. However, they can easily smudge if you do not allow them to dry thoroughly. They may also not work well with some coloring sheets, so it is vital to test before using them on your sheet. Moreover, gel pens get used up quickly, and you may need to replace them more often. Popular examples include Sakura Gelly Roll and Fiskars Gel Pens.

4. Watercolor pencils

Watercolor pencils function like traditional colored pencils, but the color must interact with water to create the desired watercolor effect. When used on a dry surface, watercolor pencils can shade, blend, and layer like colored pencils. However, adding water or exposing the pigments to moisture allows you to achieve a beautiful color effect that is impossible with a regular colored pencil.

The only drawback with watercolor pencils is that the wet ink can bleed to the subsequent sheets when coloring. Therefore, it is recommended that you protect the following pages by putting a piece of paper between the sheets. Popular watercolor pencils include Derwent Inktense and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer.

5. Pastels (oil and chalk)

Although considered childish or chic, pastels have become a part of any colorist, whether it is through an abstract, content, or construction design. These coloring supplies offer soft and muted finishes in 12 primary colors. The pastel coloring wheel is also divided into four categories: warm (yellow, peach, pink, orange, and red); cool (blues, teals, aquas, purples, and green); muted (taupe and grey); and bright (hot pink, lime green, and neon blue).

Depending on your coloring preferences, you can use oil or chalk pastels. Oil pastels, such as Sennelier and Caran d’Ache Neopastel, are buttery and blend easily to create smooth finishes. On the other hand, chalk pastels provide soft, velvety finishes, making them perfect for layering and shading. However, both variations add rich, creamy textures to your designs, which brings a sense of elegance and sophistication to your artwork.

6. Crayons

Crayons are drawing or coloring sticks containing colored wax, charcoal, chalk, oil, or other material. They were initially meant for children to prevent them from hurting themselves or minimizing the mess caused during drawing and coloring. However, today’s crayons are ideal for all ages, including students and adult professionals who want to add a textured look to their artwork.

Crayons are easy to use and can layer large areas of color quickly. They are also ideal for colorists who prefer less precise, more free-flowing styles. Crayons are available in over 200 colors and categorized into different assortments, including fluorescent, fabric, metallic, silver, gem tones, glow-in-the-dark, and magic scent crayons. Popular crayon brands include Crayola, Dixon Ticonderoga, and Rose Art Industries.

7. Micron pens

Micron pens are a must-have for precision and fine details in your designs. They are ideal for adding intricate details and emphasizing specific sections of your coloring sheets. Their fine tips also give clean lines that won’t fade or smudge, even with other coloring materials like markers or watercolor pencils.

Besides coloring specific areas, you can use micro pens in archival journals, sketching with watercolors, rubber stamping, freehand drawing, and cartoons or manga. Popular micron pens for coloring include Sakura Pigma Micron and Micron PN (Plastic Nib) Pens. Sakura Pigma Micron pens are available in six sizes, from 005 to 08, and are ideal for archiving and scrapbooking, calligraphy and lettering, drawing, coloring, and note-taking.

8. Paints

Coloring paints can take your designs to another level, depending on your chosen type and how you use it. They come in various types, including acrylic, oil, gouache, watercolor, and encaustic. These varieties differ in final styles and properties, although most create soft, translucent, or opaque finishes.

Acrylic paints are versatile and ideal for brushwork, glazing, staining, and other water media techniques. Oil-based paints are durable, dry slowly, and provide a glossy finish, while watercolor paints contain pigment and binder that hold the paint together, preventing flaking. Lastly, gouache paints are water-soluble and opaque, preventing the paper’s white surface from showing through, while encaustic paints are wax-based with an intense color pigment.

9. Highlighters

Highlighters are fun yet essential tools to add neon accents and bright color pops to your designs. They are often used for note-taking, although you can use them to emphasize specific areas or create a wide range of neon and pastel shades with striking finishes. They are available in over nine types: gel, pastel, glitter, jumbo, mini, erasable, and eco-friendly highlighters.

Most highlighters allow for smooth application with no bleed-through. They are also ideal for creating glowing accents and bold highlights. Top picks include Stabilo Boss Original, Zebra Mildliners, and BIC Brite Liner Highlighters.

10. Digital Coloring

Digital coloring involves using computer software such as Adobe Photoshop with a graphics tablet and stylus pen to create digital artwork with various brushes, textures, and effects. With this coloring form, you operate a stylus pen like a brush or pencil to execute illustrations and painting techniques within the software using a computer screen as your digital canvas. This allows you to color and edit your design faster than traditional coloring, making it suitable for fast-paced projects.

Digital coloring has many benefits, including increased flexibility and convenience, easy collaboration, and productivity. You can also experiment with different color combinations easily and undo mistakes instantly. Popular digital coloring tools include Procreate, Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter, and Krita.

Final thoughts on the best tools for adult coloring sheets

Choosing the right tools for your coloring projects depends primarily on your desired outcome and the texture of your coloring sheet. For instance, watercolors are ideal for heavy coloring sheets, while highlighters and gel pens are ideal for lighter sheets.

You can also choose coloring supplies depending on how delicate you want your design to look. The point is always to choose what fits your preferences without compromising the fun part of the project.