Prompt #57 - Paint it Black

Or pink or green or yellow

Aug 13, 2023

Hi, I‘m Lorena and welcome to The Stress Less Pencil. We use art as a tool to boost our mental health and wellbeing. The weekly prompts are designed for total beginners and experienced artists alike, so welcome.

gray leaves — Photo by Brennan Burling on Unsplash

I love colouring. But, unfortunately, I'm not quite patient enough to really get into the super-intricate, multiple-sessions adult colouring books. But a nice 1-2 hour colouring project is the perfect way for me to shut up my brain and get into Flow - that wonderful state where you get so immersed in what you do that you forget everything around you and lose all sense of time. Because of that, Flow is a fantastic way to decrease stress and anxiety.

Colouring is already a low-stress process, because the drawing part is already done for us. So we don't have to worry about what to draw and how it looks. But for those of us with the superpower to worry about everything, it can still invite some pressure that can get in the way of our Flow. Which colours to use? How to combine them, layer them, shade them? Will I be able to make it look like what I imagine?

So today, we want to get rid of any last bit of stress our colouring project could invoke, so we can create the optimal Flow experience.

The Activity: Colouring in Monochrome

We are colouring a picture with (some different shades of) the same colour. I recommend using markers or coloured pencils.

Step 1 - Find something to colour

Maybe you already have a colouring book, or you can borrow one from your kids. You can also find tons of free colouring pages online. I have a bunch to download for free on my other website here.

It doesn't really matter much what the image is. Choose something that you'll like spending some time with, and that is the right level of detail for your to not lose interest in it.

Step 2 - Choose a colour

Choose your base colour. True to the title of this prompt, I think black is a fun idea. Also, because most colouring pages are meant to be filled with bright colours. But of course, feel free to choose any colour you like. Maybe pink is more your vibe.

a cat sitting inside of a pink kitty box — Photo by Reba Spike on Unsplash

Don't get me wrong. I loved everything about the Barbie movie.

Once you've chosen your colour, pick one or two shades very close to it. Slightly lighter and slightly darker, for example. We're aiming for 2-3 shades of grey here, not 50!

Step 3 - Start colouring

Start colouring your picture using your super limited monochrome palette. It might feel a little restrictive at first, but you'll soon find that there's a lot of freedom in not having many choices.

Just allow your mind to go blank and enjoy the process.

My Example

I have a little mandala colouring book that is perfect for this activity. I started off with black, plus two shades of grey. I really wanted to do the whole thing in black and grey, but there were these little hearts that I just couldn't resist colouring them red.

Once I finished this one, I wanted to try one with only two shades. So I did another one in pastel purples. And then another one, in two very similar shades of green.