We all love to color. It is admittedly something we thought to be a thing of the past since we moved on from childhood. But ever since adult coloring books became a trend, we couldn’t quite get enough of it.

You might even have more coloring pages than your own kids! But that doesn’t matter because adult coloring turned out to be a very relaxing activity that you can do while switching off your mind for a bit. It’s a great way to forget our troubles (without getting drunk or making bad decisions) while clearing our heads (and making space for smarter, more mature actions).

 

Funny how hours pass by while you’re just filling in blank pages full of pre-drawn images. It’s a good hobby, yes, but let’s admit that it can get boring sometimes too. It can get dull and repetitive overtime. But the good news is that you can mix things up a bit to make the results more interesting! You may be wondering how coloring books for adults can get any more exciting, but it’s all a matter of adding depth to those images. Who says you’re supposed to be stuck with a flat drawing every time?

With the right technique, you can be creating more extravagant pieces in no time. And here’s where we help you out. Today, we will learn about some of the best techniques you can use to bring out the depth in your coloring pages! It will not only make your coloring more exciting, it will also give you better looking results.

Bringing to life a piece of paper has always been a challenge, and you’ll have to be patient in order to succeed…so read on to learn three of the simplest techniques that will incorporate “depth” into your coloring!

 

Adult Coloring Technique #1: Stained Glass Effect

 

The key to depth is using anything that eliminates the monochromatic tone on a single, defined space. That means in order to give depth to a drawing of a flower, you’re gonna have to shade the petals with more than just plain red, or yellow. You’re gonna have to use light and dark shades of each color.

One simple way to do that is the so-called “stained glass effect”. Have you ever heard of stained glass? You’re gonna try to achieve that similar effect, except on the intricately-drawn details of your coloring page. To do this, you just have to make the outside edges of each shape darker than the center. It’s easy to do, but it’s great for adding depth. This is perfect for larger areas in your drawing, but if you can do it on the smaller parts, you’ll have a really interesting design.

Another technique involves using gel pens instead of colored pencils. You perform the same stained glass technique, except with the kind of gel pen whose ink doesn’t dry quickly. Take advantage of this by using your finger to wipe the outside shape inward, so that the ink drags into the image.

 

Adult Coloring Technique #2: Add More Designs

 

Adult coloring books are complicated enough. But who says you can’t add more drawings into the final result? Add points of interest to the spaces between the areas by adding your own simple line doodles. Use colored pencils that will contrast the color of the first one you used. This will create some kind of 3D effect on the images.

The point of this technique is to simply break up the flat colors. Other than lines, you can use a series of dots that will contrast the flat color. This simple technique gives a boost to the otherwise boring picture, by adding an illusion of depth to specific parts.

 

Adult Coloring Technique #3: Color the Background

 

One thing that people don’t realize when coloring is that they can color the background too! And that doesn’t just mean the spaces surrounding the subject, you can also fill in the middle spaces that aren’t part of the main design.

Coloring the background lightly will make the subject pop out of the page, especially is you do a good job of adding dark texture to it. Coloring the background first will also generally enhance the outcome of the picture, making it far more interesting than a subject that is lost in an infinitely white space.

Emphasizing the subject will add depth to it and make it more visually appealing. It’s time for you to feel like a true artist!