The 10 Best Adult Coloring Tutorials for Beginners

New to adult coloring books?

Adult coloring books are a great way to relax and reconnect with your creative side. But with so much advice on the internet – from adult coloring tutorials to choosing the right colors – it can be intimidating for a beginner colorist to find and learn the basic coloring skills and pencil techniques for adult coloring pages.

So in this post, I’ve gathered 10 adult coloring tutorial videos that are the perfect place for a beginner to get started with adult coloring books (or for anyone to refresh and improve their coloring skills!).

Here’s a quick run down of what these videos cover. You can click on one to skip ahead, or keep scrolling to watch them all in a 2-hour Netflix-style binge session – Most of these videos are under 10 minutes and will cover all the basics of adult coloring.

1. 7 Adult Coloring Tips For Every Beginner Colorist
2. 12 Simple Colored Pencil Techniques
3. How to Blend with Pencils (7 Blending Methods)
4.  7 Colored Pencil Mistakes That Beginners Make
5. How to Choose a Color Palette and Create a Cheat Sheet
6. How to Blend and Shade with Markers
7. How to Shade with Markers That Don’t Blend (Using Textures)
8. 10 Different Techniques for Coloring Backgrounds
9. How to Color with Markers and Pencils Together
10. How to Color with Gel Pens and Pencils Together

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can move onto some of my other coloring tutorials and video collections:

1. 10 Simple Techniques to Turn Your Coloring Page into a Masterpiece
2. How to Color Skin Tones with Pencils or Markers (3-part series)
3. Getting Started with Copic Markers: A Beginner’s Guide
4. How to Draw Gemstones With Colored Pencils
5. How to Create a Galaxy Background with Colored Pencils
6. How to Add White Pen Highlights to Your Coloring Pages
7. How to Find the Perfect Color Palette Using The Color Catalog

Let’s jump in! Don’t forget to save this post for later using the Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter buttons at the left of your screen!

Note: This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase (at no cost to you).

1. 7 Adult Coloring Tips For Every Beginner Colorist

This video by PencilStash is a great place to start when it comes to learning the basics of adult coloring techniques. She covers all the basic tips to get you started – from choosing the right page and testing your pencils, to using different techniques and finding colors that work well together.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

2. 12 Simple Colored Pencil Techniques

In this video from Mr. Otter Art Studio, you’ll learn the importance of pencil pressure and see the difference that light or heavy pressure can make. You’ll also learn some basic colored pencil techniques such as hatching and burnishing.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

3. How to Blend with Pencils (7 Blending Methods)

Further on the topic of coloring with pencils, this video by Unmask Art will run through 7 different methods of blending colored pencils that any beginner can pick up. This includes colored pencil layering, blending, using a colorless blender, using solvents and more.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

4. 7 Colored Pencil Mistakes That Beginners Make

To finish off our colored pencil tutorials, this video by Lachri covers 7 colored pencil mistakes to avoid, including some tips on layering, pressure, keeping your pencils sharp and choosing the right paper.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

Grab some free coloring pages to practice your new pencil coloring techniques:

• Free Color Combination Chart
• 20+ Free Coloring Pages for Adults
• The Ultimate List of Free Coloring Pages

5. How to Choose a Color Palette and Create a Cheat Sheet

PencilStash have created this helpful tutorial on using color palettes from Pinterest, matching your pencils and creating a simple cheat sheet for future reference. You can also check out my range of color palettes on my blog and in The Color Catalog.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

6. How to Blend and Shade with Markers

Now that we’ve covered pencils, it’s time to learn some marker coloring techniques! This video by Coloring Bliss shows us some basic blending techniques using 1, 2 or 3 Sharpie markers. This technique would work for any types of alcohol markers and is part of a series of videos she has created on using Sharpies.

Time required: Under 10 minutes

7. How to Shade with Markers That Don’t Blend (Using Textures)

So what if you don’t own alcohol markers (or you don’t know the difference)? This video by Shayda Campbell covers some beginner tips + tricks to help you shade with ANY type of marker. She covers some different coloring techniques you may not have tried – such as scribbling, creating textures or other blending effects to create effective shadows and depth with markers that don’t blend easily.

Time required: 14 minutes

Want to know what markers and pencils I personally use? Check out my Amazon page for my recommendations!

8. 10 Different Techniques for Coloring Backgrounds

This video from CherTheFire is a bit longer than our other videos, but well worth watching! She compares 10 different ways you can color the backgrounds of your coloring pencils (many of which I’d never thought of!) with pencils, pastels, eyeshadow, pens, and more.

Time required: 38 minutes

9. How to Color with Markers and Pencils Together

This is another video from Coloring Bliss’s series on coloring with Sharpies. In this video, she shows us how to layer markers and pencils together – using Sharpies as a base layer to get the beautiful bold colors, and pencils for shading and intricate details. This is a very effective method, especially if you have a limited range of colors to work with.

Time required: 4 minutes

10. How to Color with Gel Pens and Pencils Together

Let’s not forget gel pens! This final video by CherTheFire shows us several non-traditional methods of coloring with gel pens. She shows us how to combine gel pens with pencils, how to use gel pens with water and a brush, and how to blend gel pens together.

Time required: 25 minutes

Once you’ve mastered the techniques in these videos, you’ll be able to take your coloring to a whole new level and create beautifully colored pages!

From here, you can try some of my other coloring tutorials and more advanced techniques:

1. 10 Simple Techniques to Turn Your Coloring Page into a Masterpiece
2. How to Color Skin Tones with Pencils or Markers (3-part series)
3. Getting Started with Copic Markers: A Beginner’s Guide
4. How to Draw Gemstones With Colored Pencils
5. How to Create a Galaxy Background with Colored Pencils
6. How to Add White Pen Highlights to Your Coloring Pages
7. How to Find the Perfect Color Palette Using The Color Catalog

Adult coloring books and free coloring pages

Let’s put these techniques into action! Browse my range of coloring books, adult coloring pages and free printables in my shop. Here are a few of my readers’ favorites:

Tell me in the comments – what’s your favorite coloring technique?

Did you learn something new from these videos? Or do you have another technique I haven’t mentioned? Please share!