Because I had nothing better to do on my break — discounting the pile of homework that I was definitely not thinking about — I decided to do some coloring.
Nothing relaxes me more than some old-fashion elementary school fun. The only problem was, my house had an overabundance of coloring utensils. Markers, crayons, colored pencils, even glitter — I wasn’t sure which mode would make me happier (hint: it’s all four).
So I decided to try them all.
And, like a true nerd, I decided to use the scientific method to definitively answer my question: Between colored pencils, crayons and markers, which method produces the prettiest picture and calms me down from thinking about those midterms I have yet to take oh my god why didn’t my professors assign the test before fall break?
True to the scientific process, I tried to make my “experiments” as similar as possible.
Using one coloring book and sheets of similar thickness, I picked out three Disney Princesses pages to color.
I also made sure to pick out similar primary colors to use for the markers, crayons and colored pencils. No “purple mountain majesty” or “mint-leaf aquamarine”.
First up, the markers.
Needless to say, poor Belle got the shortest end of the stick. Not only were my markers streaky, but they also bled through the paper. So I ruined a picture of Belle and the Beast building a snowman and Ariel decorating a clam.
Next, I tried the crayons.
While the results were infinitely better than the markers, the crayons left a waxy residue that got on my hands, stuck to my wrist and decorated my bed sheet with annoying little crumbs of crayon turds.
When you’re a kid, you might think it’s fun to play with the little shreds of wax crayons leave all over the place. Not so much anymore.
Lastly, the colored pencils.
It’s not perfect but it is better than the rest (and yes I know I got Flounder's coloring wrong, shut up).
Neither the markers nor the crayons allowed for much precision drawing, leaving me coloring outside the lines more often than not.
The colored pencils — when sharpened properly — kept me inside the lines more often than not.
Plus, colored pencils allow for blending and mixing of colors in a way markers and crayons do not.
Not only did I find colored pencils to leave the prettiest picture, I found the repetitive motion to be the most soothing.
Yes, it took longer than all the rest due to the tiny scrape of color left by every line of the pencil, but I also got more involved in the process.
When I colored with markers, I kept thinking about the streaks left behind.
When I colored with crayons, I couldn’t help but worry about the waxy sheen of the paper. Colored pencils allowed for a soothing repetitive motion and a (relatively) pretty picture.
And then because I found some glitter at the bottom of my craft drawer . . .
This was by far the messiest process.
It wasn’t that soothing either as I sprinkled glitter over the page while worrying about the errant flakes burying themselves in my carpet. But it was the most fun!
The moral of the story here is don’t discount coloring.
This project took my mind off my homework and gave me something fun to do that didn’t involve a Netflix movie marathon or an Etsy splurging spree — not that there’s anything wrong with either of those things.
If you like crayons more than colored pencils, color with crayons!
If you like markers over crayons, color with markers! Whatever relaxes you, helps you, or makes you happy, go for it and maybe you’ll have a picture pretty enough to pin on your refrigerator.
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