Chivonne Campbell

Introduction

Seems like it was only yesterday when discovered that adult colouring was a ‘thing’. I’ve always enjoyed colouring, even well into my teenaged years. I would go to Chapters (now called Inidigo) and buy anatomy ring workbooks. After a while I got tired of colouring parts of a cell and circulatory systems and so I had to accept the fact that I would either have to colour large spaces meant for children, or give up colouring and find a more challenging hobby. I gave up.

All of this was before the glorious age of online shopping and the internet where you’re only source of shopping was your local stores and you only knew the kids at your school. November 2024 while doom scrolling on social media, I hear of something I thought was really cool; alcohol markers.

Alcohol Markers

I knew Copic markers existed because on mangaka, but these weren’t the expensive $10 per marker I never glanced twice at, these were…cool! These markers didn’t leave streaks in your art and had a brush tip that made you feel like a real life artist.

I bought my first set of 24 Ohuhu Alcohol markers on Dec 6th with a few colouring books and immediately spent all my free time colouring. Then I got to a Halloween image with a few pumpkins and realised I made a horrible mistake.

My 24 set of markers did not have orange. On Dec 11th I ran back and dove off the deep end buying the biggest and boldest 320 Ohuhu marker set! What is incredibly expensive? Yes. Did I have the money to buy it? No. I used Affirm to get it in my hands right away.

The Numbers: Time and Money Spent

• Total hours spent colouring this year: 200-400 hours
• Average per week/month: 15-30 hours per month
• Total money spent: $1 398.98
  • 38 Books: $523.96
  • Supplies (coloured pencils, markers, crayons): $659.97
  • Extras (organizers, pencil cases, containers): $215.05
• Reflections: Was it worth the cost and time? Um….. yes?

I’m not going to lie, I would have thought that I spent maybe $700 on this hobby since December. To add everything up and see $1400 is pretty crazy. Not the dollar amount in itself, but how easy it is to lose track of how much you are spending when you are spending $11 here and there on a book or a box of pencil crayons.

The Types of Colouring Books I Tried

I find that I prefer different types of books depending on what medium I’ll be using. For bold and easy colouring books I like using crayons and alcohol markers. For more detailed books, I prefer coloured pencils and for pixel art or colour by number with small squares I prefer to use just the regular water based markers.

I don’t have a favourite artist, but looking at my purchase history most of my books are from Bogiki Publishing. The bold and easy style is very relaxing and its my go-to after a long day to relax and unwind.

My Supplies

• 320 Ohuhu Alcohol Markers
• 150 PRISMACOLOR Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils
• 24 Crayola Colors of The World Skin Tone Broad Line Markers
• 40 Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Markers, Broad Line Markers
• 16 Crayola Pip-Squeaks Broad Line Washable Markers
• 24 Crayola Colors of The World Skin Tone Coloured Pencils
• 100 Crayola Super Tips Washable Markers

• 100 Crayola Coloured Pencils
• 10 Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Markers, Broad Line Markers (6)
• 24 Crayola Washable Fine Line Markers (5)
• 24 Crayola Coloured Pencils (4)
• 8 Crayola Limited Edition Crayons (5)
• 8 Crayola Limited Edition Coloured Pencils (2)
• 288 Assorted Crayola Crayons
• 24 Crayola Colors of The World Skin Tone Crayons
• 38 Colouring books

Colouring & Social Media

I don’t really participate much on social media or follow people that colour, but I do know there is a growing community and lots of controversy with AI generated colouring books and over consumption. I stay clear of those videos or reels when they pop up. I just want to enjoy my hobby and create my own version of peace within myself.

Benefits & Challenges

Colouring has been extremely beneficial for my mental health. It got me to refocus on my physical health and diet by clearing my brain fog.

My kids see me colouring and want to join in. We often all colour together and its amazing to have a shared hobby with them.

It’s great having a creative outlet free of judgement and expectations.

I’ve noticed I’m not someone who benefits from a large colour selection. I find myself browsing my 320 set for the perfect marker or my 150 Prismacolour pencil crayons for the perfect pencil and I don’t want to put myself through that torment again.

For markers I think the 100-200 set will be more than enough and for coloured pencils 50-100 is fine.

Goals for Next Year (Dec 2025–Dec 2026)

1. I’ve only completed 7 out of the 38 books I’ve purchase this year. Next year I want to complete 12 more for a total of at least 19 out of the 38 unfinished books I have.
2. Spend less than $400 ($33 a month). Let’s be real, I don’t need anything else. I might use up some of my alcohol markers that will need replacements. Outside of that I don’t see a need to purchase anything else.
3. Experiment with colour pallettes. I try to keep my colouring very relaxed and so I don’t shade, use glitter pens etc. I’m not completing for a beautiful portrait, but I think that exploring some colour theory could be fun!

Conclusion

This is a great hobby to get into and I recommend it for everyone. You absolutely don’t need to spend anywhere near what I’ve spent. I’ve purchased $3 Crayola colouring books and crayons and have had just as much fun as my more expensive books and markers.

It’s great for every budget and the benefits outweigh any cons.

I’m posting this just a little before the one year mark. I don’t plan on purchasing anymore for the year. If anything changes I will come back and update the post.

Do you enjoy colouring? What are you favourite/least favourite supplies? Am I missing anything? Let me know in the comments.