You are so right, T! So many excellent points. I struggle with this sometimes, especially when it comes to social media. It's easy to scroll and scroll through all these images of amazing colored pages and just start to feel your confidence sinking. 😢 Such a trap. I'm glad you made this video, we need to hear it. ❤

You can feel downhearted when u see the pages by professional colourists. But it is important to remember that everyone is unique and we all shine in our own way ❤🎉

I get overwhelmed by the channels showing all the pages they completed in a month.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist/worry about ruining the pages person, so I'm extremely slow.   Channels showing 20, or 30+ pages done in a month - and I'm thinking HOW?  If I complete 3 or 4 pages a month it feels like a win.

I loved this video soooo much!! Comparison is the thief of joy and that’s a fact. I’m happiest at my art desk whether I’m coloring, art journaling, scrapbooking ~ and letting my brain veg out. Usually I get results I like, sometimes not, but if I’m relaxed and happy then mission accomplished ❤

Thisssss!!! ❤🙏 exactly why I force myself to post pics of my work I like even if it has errors.

So love your message and it needed to be said, especially coming from someone so many enjoy and look up to. My ardent wish is that more of us will focus on self-expression and not so much trying to keep up with the latest techniques or achieve more realism. Nothing wrong with those things, but too much focus on them can stifle creativity in my opinion. Relax and loosen up, try new crazy things just for the fun of it. Think outside the box. Whatever brings you joy. It's just a coloring book.

Right now I am working in color by number books. They take the stress of choosing colors and making sure everything works together. For me it’s very relaxing and fun. I’m also hoping the more I work in them the more I’ll understand color theory and be able to let go and and do a “real” coloring page.

Thank you! 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 I agree with you 100%. This message should go viral. Everyone hype this video.
I have been coloring since I was 4 years old, never stopped. Like you, I colored in kids books until I found my first adult coloring book in the early 2000s.

Coloring has always been fun for me and as an adult, it is calming, relaxing & still fun. Besides, I always have walked to the beat of my own drum even as a child. And when it came to coloring, I did the same. I would color the sky green or water purple and frogs pink, or the whole page black with only the whites of the eyes showing through and or white hands showing. etc. simply creating my own world.

In college, not an art major, but in a required art history class, I learned about Dali, Picasso Magritte and other surrealists, artists with styles that were outside the box. I had found my tribe. I started seeking out other outside the box visual artists like Basquiat, Ernie Barnes, Jacob Lawrence, Tim Burton, Kriev, Chelle Barbour, etc.

So since childhood, my vastly different colorings, drawings, concepts & love for anything wacky, whimsical, fantastical and quirky was just as right as all the other stuff.
just me doing something in a way and vision that pleased me.
I learned any problem anyone else had with it was their problem, not mine & not to let them make it mine.

The first time I started watching colorist on social media and saw some of the comments and even some of the colorists themselves being so  judgmental, it was disconcerting.

In fact, one new colorist was practically having anxiety trying to figure out a color palette and beating themselves up about one thing or another and saying, this colorist did this or that was trying to replicate one colorist or another. I thought she will drive herself to an anxiety attack or worse.
I didn’t understand it, but I learned most were doing this for money, sponsors and  free supplies.
One professional commercial artist, now an online colorist that I like, admitted that she can spin up to 5-6 hours a day for 2 or 3 days on one illustration. So, just like you said a lot of these online colorists are professional illustrators and artists who have turned to coloring as a means to display their artistic vision and make money.

I am not trying to make money from what I do. I am not looking to showcase my coloring activities or anything online or sell, it is what it has always been, a fun, relaxing activity to calm my nerves and to create my own worlds with color, which for me is fun.

I do appreciate all the colorists online who do fantastic work and share their work, techniques and tutorials. I have learned a few things here and there.
I only share my stuff with my in-person coloring & paint & sip club. We meet twice a month at the community center or park.

Even though, I am retired now, I can never spin hours upon hours for days on just coloring. I have other hobbies and activities that I love equally which all compete for my time, energy and money. (e.g. reading, writing, drawing, painting, crafting, journaling, traveling, community theatre, & costuming for cosplaying characters from the various books from our book club.)

Btw, I just completed a long scenic Amtrak trip where I marveled at the scenery during the day & at night, drew, journaled & even colored a couple of pages with (gasp) flat coloring & with (gasp again) OMG, Crayola Colored Pencils, oh my! Call the coloring police.

All that to say I LOVE YOUR MESSAGE.  I hope it helps a lot of people out there to stop putting unwarranted pressure on themselves and know they can dance to the beat of their own drum. And if they post it and others trip in the comments, know that is their problem, don’t let them make it yours. 😊 Just do you!
Wow, didn’t realize how long this was.

Such a beautiful message. I’m so glad you put this out there. People should be nicer to themselves. A lot of us are harder on ourselves than the standards we hold other people to.

I belong to a coloring group that meets once a week. Now I've been coloring for about 9 years and still consider myself an amateur. I have my good pages and I have my fails and yes they are more than I'd like but it is what it is. Will I ever be a Chris Cheng?  No. Would I like to be?  Yes, but I understand that I if I color the best way that I can I'm happy. And then there was the interest I took in it. I watched a lot of coloring videos and tried to learn the various techniques. And yes, I have improved significantly. Anyway, a few of the people in my group have told me they feel ashamed of their work when they see mine and I keep telling them it's not a competition. I tell them I've been coloring for 9 years compared to their 1 or 2 years and that I have my fails. No what I won't do is color in a coloring book.  I have to have single pages. I felt that if I spoil a page that I really want its gone. But I agree don't compare it with someone else's. Now there is a woman who uses markers and does beautiful work. Me?  Forget about it, I can't stop them from streaking so I won't touch them. No you are so right. Never compare your work to others.

Yessss!!! Exactly what I been thinking, sometimes it almost makes you wonder why I color different than others, when I was at high school and college I took art classes, all my teachers always said that my art was a mix of surrealist and cubism , seeing everyone colored their books in a different style than mine sometimes discourages me from keeping up with my hobby

Hii T! Everything you said is so true 👌🏼 like my mom says “every mind is a different world”.

You make a lot of sense.  Thanks for the video.  I enjoy coloring but I know I'm not that good at it.  However, you're right in that it's better than it was, and that should be good enough.  No one else sees it except my husband anyway, and he hates it when I say it turned out badly.  So I need to listen to you guys who are smarter than me about this.  So thanks again!

Compare your self to yourself!  🥰🥰 Your coloring is good enough! 🥰🥰so true!!  Celebrate your achievements!  DO YOU BOO!!! Amazing supportive video!!

I loved this video! I needed the reminder not to compare, it's so important. And I am proud of my progress! The difference between my coloring a year ago and now is astronomical, and that's a more important comparison then looking at artists online and going, "oh, my coloring is nowhere near that."

Great reminders T ❤ Jackie

SO well said!! I don't really have anything extra to add. Maybe just don't be disappointed if something you tried, that someone else did, doesn't turn out the same. I've tried a few tricks Maia shared to her member's only videos and they turned out AWFUL! BUT the experiment was and experience of trying was a lot of fun. I picked pages I didn't really care about and just had a great time making a huge mess. I was excited to see if it worked and I WILL try it again. Never know, just maybe my first time was just a mess because it was my FIRST time. lol. HAPPY COLORING!!1

Love .  It... this  i have learned  to try to not color like others..  i dont like about social media is the perfection..or trying to copy or everybody doing the same techniques instead of having fun and experimenting for your self.

Great video and message T! 🩷

Hey T. Everything you said makes perfect sense to me, but I still look at my page like what were you thinking sometimes. But it is a hobby and it’s fun. If it starts stressing me out, I move on. I’m still going to share the good, the bad, and the ugly because it may help someone else feel comfortable with sharing. I look at some pages and think that I wish I could color like that, but I can only work at my skill level and try to level up. I’ve never had any artistic skill but I like coloring and it’s now a lifelong hobby. It better be with all these books on my shelves.