Thanks to adult coloring books, you don’t even need to be an artist to turn line drawings into colorful works of art.  And since most high-quality coloring books for adults have single-sided pages, you can easily turn a finished project into an artful wall-hanging — if only to remind you to take time out for yourself. To help with that, here are the 33 best adult coloring books for your enjoyment and stress relief. 

What Are Adult Coloring Books

If you’ve ever seen a child totally engrossed in their coloring — or begging for a new coloring book — you know how a simple thing like a collection of line drawings and a handful of crayons or markers can restore peace to the realm.  With adult coloring books, of course, the line drawings are made with adults in mind and tend to be more detailed or intricate. Some unique adult coloring books present comics that might address workplace humor, comics with adult language, or human anatomy. And the best coloring tools are usually sharpened color pencils, though fine-tipped markers will work, too. 

Benefits of Adult Coloring Books

You know it’s a good thing to spend some time each day on something that relaxes you. But what can coloring specifically do for you? And what makes it more restorative than simply binge-watching your favorite shows? Now that you know the benefits of spending time with an adult coloring book, time to check out our 33 favorites. 

Best Adult Coloring Books

Mandala Adult Coloring Books

The mandala is an intricate, symmetrical design that helps you destress and heal as you create stunning works of art. Originating in India, the mandala makes it easier to go into a meditative state while coloring. And the end result is stunning.  The best mandala coloring books use high-quality art paper and give each mandala its own sheet, to avoid bleed-through and to preserve the integrity of each finished design.

1. Mandala Coloring Book For Adults With Thick Artist Quality Paper, Hardback Covers, and Spiral Binding

2. Mandala Coloring Book For Adult Relaxation: Coloring Pages For Meditation And Happiness

3. The Art of Mandala: Adult Coloring Book Featuring Beautiful Mandalas Designed to Soothe the Soul

Adult Coloring Books Stress Relieving Patterns

If you prefer some variety, publishers have titles with multiple adult coloring book designs meant to reduce your mental pressure. Mandalas might be included in the stress-relieving category, but you’ll also find botanical designs, landscapes, abstract geometrical constructions, and joyful images. These books usually have coloring pages of varying degrees of difficulty. You can select an easy and fast page when you want some quick stress relief or work on more intricate pictures when you have more time for yourself.

4. Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns

Adult coloring books with swear words reassure you that you’re doing an adult activity. They also entertain with irreverent jokes. They combine the relaxation that inherently arises when you’re coloring with permission to be rude, critical, sassy, or simply blow off steam. Coloring pages might feature cartoons, animals, or anything else you might expect in a coloring book. Swear word adult coloring books sometimes sneak inappropriate words into typically heart-warming designs of flowers, teddy bears, or hearts. These books are a great choice for people who love to poke fun at mainstream sentimentality. Once you’ve finished a page, consider the following uses for it:

7. Calm the F*ck Down: An Irreverent Adult Coloring Book (Irreverent Book Series)

8. Swear Word Coloring Book: Hilarious Sweary Coloring book For Fun and Stress Relief | New Collections

9. F*ing Adorable – Cute Critters With Foul Mouths

Cats Adult Coloring Books

For those who love and obey their cats, each page of these cats coloring books draws you into a world of feline details. Select the colors for their eyes, bodies, whiskers, and tails. You’ll add your own creative twist to the final results as you color cute cats, sassy cats, and funny cats. Many pictures include small designs within the cat that require you to increase your focus and leave the concerns of the world behind.

10. Adult Coloring Creative Kittens Coloring Book

11. Teacup Kittens Coloring Book (Design Originals) 32 Adorable Expressive-Eyed Cat Designs from Illustrator Kayomi Harai on High-Quality, Extra-Thick Perforated Pages that Resist Bleed Through

12. Coloring Book For Adults: Adorable Cats: Cats Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Designs for Adults Relaxation

Dog Adult Coloring Books

Publishers recognize that dog lovers want to see their preferred pets in adult coloring books. You’ll encounter drawings of dogs that display their many charming characteristics. Happy dogs, guilty dogs, and playful dogs will cheer you up with images from the emotional world of our best animal friends. Dog designs typically present you with some complexity so that you can apply different shades and tints of color and build a colorful and dazzling dog image from a black-and-white page.

13. Dog Shaming: The Official Adult Coloring Book

14. Lovable Dogs Coloring Book: An Adult Coloring Book Featuring Fun and Relaxing Dog Designs

15. Doodle Dogs Coloring Book for Adults

Adult Coloring Books for Women

Women might gravitate to the adult coloring books in this category when they want inspiration and validation. Spending time with subject matter important to you will reinforce your beliefs and increase motivation. Coloring pages with encouraging messages could direct your mental energy away from negative thoughts. As a result, you might shift your internal script toward a narrative that nurtures your soul. Aside from emotionally or spiritually uplifting content, some titles aimed at women focus on the natural world to help you reconnect with essential life values.

16. An Inspirational Colouring Book For Everyone: Be Fearless In The Pursuit Of What Sets Your Soul On Fire

17. Adult Coloring Book for Good Vibes: Live Laugh Love Motivational and Inspirational Sayings Coloring Book for Adults

18. Coloring Book for Adults: Hummingbirds: Stress Relieving Designs for Adults Relaxation

Adult Coloring Books for Men

Some men might prefer coloring books oriented to subjects more often appreciated by men. They offer the same relaxation benefits but present designs related to things like vehicles, geography, architecture, travel, or dragons. Even if you haven’t colored a picture since grade school, the books in this category will allow you to improve your fine motor skills. Designs grow in complexity from filling in larger areas to working on finely detailed images. If it’s been a while since you made something with your hands, an artistic hobby like coloring could boost your pride and self-esteem.

19. American Muscle Cars Coloring Book

20. ColorIt – Around The World In 50 Pages

21. Tattoo Coloring Book: An Adult Coloring Book with Awesome, Sexy, and Relaxing Tattoo Designs for Men and Women

Adult Coloring Books Flowers

Our human intellect gives us the capacity to appreciate everything about flowers as we slip away into a world of color and beauty. Flowers share some of the geometric characteristics of mandalas that soothe away worries and reconnect you with higher levels of universal energy. They also possess an organic elegance that shrugs off the rigid rules of the mechanical world. If you’ve never used an adult coloring book before, then you can’t go wrong by starting out with flowers.

22. Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book (For Adults, mindfulness coloring)

23. Stained Glass Coloring Book: Flower Designs

24. Flowers Coloring Book: An Adult Coloring Book with Flower Collection, Stress Relieving Flower Designs for Relaxation

Fashion Adult Coloring Books

In a world of T-shirts and flip flops, some people still appreciate the artistry and style of fashion. Coloring books focused on clothing fashion designs invite you to return to a world of fabric and tailoring. You can revisit different eras in time and explore the clothing that you only see in old movies now. Or, you can indulge your love affair with modern fashion and study the visions of world-famous designers.

25. Adult Coloring Book Creative Haven Fabulous Fashions of the 1950s Coloring Book

26. FASHION Coloring Book. Grayscale: Coloring Book for Adults

27. Adult Coloring Book Vintage Series: The Masters of Fashion Illustration

Fantasy Adult Coloring Books

Folklore and mythology have no shortage of beings, creatures, and monsters to excite your imagination. Maybe you had to give up that unicorn folder you loved so much in school, but now there’s nothing to stop you from coloring every sort of fantasy being and beast. With any of these fantasy adult coloring books, you can entertain yourself with thoughts of meeting mermaids, flying with fairies, learning the secrets of the elves, or battling fierce dragons.

28. Fantasia Anti-Stress Adult Coloring Book – 3rd US Edition – Single Sided

29. Mystical Fantasy Coloring Book: Coloring for Adults – Beautiful Fairies, Dragons, Unicorns, Mermaids and More!

30. Myth & Magic: An Enchanted Fantasy Coloring Book

Mini Adult Coloring Books

Do you travel a great deal for work? Are you a caregiver who spends hours in medical waiting rooms? Do you have limited personal space in a crowded home? Publishers of mini adult coloring books solve these challenges with books small enough to fit in a purse or pocket. You can keep a mini-book on your person along with a small kit of colored pencils or markers. Even if you can only sneak in a few minutes of coloring every day, you’ll feel a rush of satisfaction and pride every time you complete a picture.

31. Pocket Size Color For Calm: Mini Adult Coloring Book (Adult Coloring Patterns)

32. Traveling Mandalas Adult Coloring Book – Features 30 Original Hand Drawn Designs Printed on Artist Quality Paper, Hardback Covers, Spiral Binding, Perforated Pages, Bonus Blotter

33. “Cups of Joy” Pocket Edition Inspirational Adult Coloring Book

60 Hobbies For Women That Are Actually Fun And Healthy 17 Of The Best Marriage Counseling Books Did you find the best adult coloring books for your needs? Now that you’ve perused our list of the 33 best adult coloring books, which ones stood out for you the most? Or which ones made you think of someone in your life who could use a relaxing hobby?  I hope you can see yourself sitting comfortably with the coloring book of your choice and some sharpened color pencils (or fine-tipped markers) and slipping into a calm, meditative state.  Even if you don’t feel the need to remove any of your finished pages and hang them up or send them to someone, you’ll have proof that you made time for yourself. You prioritized your mental health and nurtured your flair for the creative. We could all use some time with a creative project that helps us practice mindfulness while it both sharpens and relaxes our minds. Multi-tasking at its best. Multi-bless yourself and someone else today.

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