Hero Adult Coloring BooksSource: Blue Star Press

Best Adult Coloring Book TechnoBuffalo 2021

There's nothing like a good coloring session to clear the mind and relieve stress. If you haven't tried it since adulthood kicked in, you'll want to buy one of the books on this list and give it a go next time you're feeling overburdened or overwhelmed. When it comes to choosing the right coloring book, our choice would be the Animal Designs book because the wildly inspired illustrations are gorgeous once they are all filled in with color. Here we've listed out the best adult coloring books money can buy, as well as some of the pros and cons of each to help you make this momentous decision.

Best Overall: Adult Coloring Book: Animal Designs

Animal Designs HeroSource: Blue Star Press

Animal lovers rejoice! These detailed illustrations of our favorite furred, scaled, and feathered beasts will keep you coloring for hours on end. Since the patterns of the images are so intricate, coloring them is time-intensive, but the final result is extraordinary. There is no end to the colorful ways you can bring these animals to life. You may want to add an extra sheet of paper in-between illustrations while coloring, however. The pages are rather thin and may bleed through.

Pros:

  • Beautiful animal illustrations
  • Detailed images result in lovely colorful patterns when finished
  • Metallic accents on the animals make for an eye-popping combination with colors

Cons:

  • Time-intensive
  • Some buyers complain that the paper is too thin

Best Overall

Adult Coloring Book: Animal Designs

Color the wild side

This highly-detailed coloring book offers beautiful animal illustrations that will appeal to animal lovers of any age.

Best Value: Adult Coloring Book: Designs

Designs HeroSource: Pxhere

You can't beat the price of this simple yet fulfilling coloring book. The Designs book is full of eye-catching mandalas and geometric shapes that transform into lovely works of art once you apply color. The designs are intricate and detailed, but the printing quality is not the best. For the price, however, this is a great coloring book for adults.

Pros:

  • Very inexpensive!
  • Attractive mandalas and geometric shapes
  • Over 48 unique designs

Cons:

  • Lower-quality print
  • Thin paper

Best Value

Adult Coloring Book: Designs

Satisfyingly cheap

Get your color on with this inexpensive book of 48 simple - yet intricate - designs like mandalas and geometric shapes.

Best Vibes: Good Vibes Coloring Book

If you love positive affirmations and uplifting messages, this is the coloring book for you. Each page represents a unique message that is sure to cheer you up and fill you with positive energy. In fact, after coloring your favorite messages, you can easily take them out and hang them in your space as a daily reminder of positivity. This is not the most challenging of adult coloring books, but it is perfect for a beginner or teenager.

Pros:

  • Positive, uplifting messages
  • Thick, high-quality paper
  • Perforated pages for easy removal

Cons:

  • Illustrations are not very challenging to color
  • Simple designs may be better suited to older kids or teenagers

Best Vibes

Good Vibes Coloring Book

Dose of happy

Get your happy here! Good Vibes is filled with just that - positive, uplifting messages just waiting for you to apply the color.

Best for Literature Buffs: Classic Coloring: Jane Austen

Jane Austin HeroSource: Abrams Books

Romantic literature lovers will get a kick out of this niche coloring book that's comprised wholly of scenes out of Jane Austen's books. Although the illustrations are not the highly-detailed, intricate works you will see in some other adult coloring books, the drawings are attractive and subtle, much like the novels they quote from. With thick, perforated paper and a Jane Austen excerpt on every page, the quality and sophistication of this coloring book is spot-on.

Pros:

  • Every page is taken straight from a Jane Austen novel!
  • Pretty, tasteful illustrations
  • Thick, high-quality paper

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Simply illustrations are not very challenging

Best for Literature Buffs

Classic Coloring: Jane Austen

A literary adventure

Bookworms and romantics will enjoy coloring in scenes and quotes from Jane Austen's most famous written works.

Best Throwback: The Splat: Coloring the '90s

The Splat HeroSource: The Curiously Creative

Hello 90s kids, here's the coloring book you never knew you needed. Remember Tommy Pickles, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy? Well, they're back! Now you can color in your favorite characters from all the 1990s Nickelodeon shows we knew and loved.

Pros:

  • Nostalgic for 90s kids!
  • Good paper does not leak through to the next page
  • Fun quotes from our favorite 90s shows

Cons:

  • Pages can be pulled out easily when coloring
  • It's not the most affordable option

Best Throwback

The Splat: Coloring the '90s

90s throwback

Relive your favorite 90s Nickelodeon TV shows with this detailed coloring book, full of our favorite Nicktoons characters.

Bottom line

Whether you're just getting started or consider yourself a coloring connoisseur, there's a coloring book on this list for you. You'll want to consider your own line of interests as well as your skill level before making a decision. For example, if you are an expert artist with the best in gel pens, you may want to consider a highly-detailed book with extra-thick paper, while beginners with color pencils may prefer a simpler coloring book.

Our overall favorite is the Animal Designs coloring book. When it comes to the sheer beauty and variety of illustrations, this book has the most to offer. Every detailed drawing is a work of art, and the animals are depicted in a creative and lovely way. This book is also detailed enough to challenge even very experienced artists. Take a look at each choice before you decide which color book best fits you.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Jaclyn Kilani Jaclyn is a content writer at TechnoBuffalo. She has a flair for creating (written works, design, photos; you name it!) on her devices. When she's not churning out new things, Jaclyn loves exploring the world, playing with her children, and good old-fashioned baking.

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