Time-lapse video taken using an iPad Air 2 in natural light.

Monique submitted a time lapse video and summary of her coloring experience to ColoringFaith.com. Monique is in the mental health field and enjoys growing in grounding- and mindfulness-techniques.

She enjoyed finding the free downloadable coloring sheets and had some fun with the video portion of her coloring session.

Adult Christian Coloring Experience, Monique from Crestline, CA

Monique’s Coloring Stats

Source: Free downloadable sheets from Amazing Grace

Materials: Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Time: 2 hours

No. of Sessions: 1

Starting Mood: Preoccupied/Frazzled

Ending Mood: Calm/Energized

Monique’s Coloring Experience

What materials did you use to color?

I used colored pencils (Prismacolor brand pencils). I thought about going back to my drawing and adding some marker to make it look a little different than the original after the video was finished. It’s always fun to take what you thought was done, and just keep adding different details– the drawing is ever-changing with each embellishment! Maybe that will be next…

How long did it take you to color this page?

It took me a couple hours to complete. I planned to sit and color for 20 minutes, but got carried away. I kept going and telling myself, “I’ll stop after I finish this part.” After about 45 minutes, I gave in to coloring without time limits. The drawing ended up being done in one sitting.

What effect did your coloring session(s) have on you?

As a therapist, I have been practicing and teaching mindfulness exercises with clients. Coloring is the perfect mindfulness tool as it allows a person to become present with their drawing with little conscious effort, can be done in group settings without distraction, and is helpful for people who have ADHD, anxiety, and social anxiety. The added creativity is also a bonus. Coloring was a nice way to utilize a therapeutic tool and experience the benefits for myself.

Overall my time coloring was calming, relaxing. I thought 20 minutes would be enough to feel relaxed and able to move on with my day. It could’ve been enough, but the creative moment kept me going. The decision to not get preoccupied with my to-do list and life was freeing. My thoughts, prayers, and focus were held in that moment and it was too good to let go. So I colored!

Anything it made you think about? Especially spiritually?

I thought about my favorite Psalm and wrote that at the bottom. This Psalm says:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not whither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

(Psalm 1:3, ESV)

This has been my favorite Psalm for over a decade now. It’s a reminder that I am always growing, changing, and yielding fruit at specified times- even when it doesn’t appear evident in life. Especially when the fruit isn’t there, I am still a work in progress. I reflected and prayed about this verse while coloring and appreciated the moment in a new way. It was different from my typical devotional routine. Coloring was physically and emotionally calming, grounding. I was able to simply reflect on my favorite verse and go with those thoughts and prayers. Sometimes I feel self-inflicted pressure to read a certain amount or move on from my Bible reading quickly instead of pausing, sitting, and focusing on less words and more meat. The funny part is, I honestly had not intended to make this a devotional time- it just happened!

Any rhyme or reason behind your color choices?

Typically I pick out colors beforehand and the experience can become more about perfectionism than creativity. For this drawing, I purposely didn’t pick all of my colors before starting. I just picked out a few colors for the tree before beginning and then went for it. The colors I picked for the tree trunk looked very 70s, so I went with that theme throughout the picture.


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