by Anna Gamboa
Why many people—especially those in the creative industry—love the coloring book app.
MANILA – You’ve probably seen Marlon Rivera’s interesting executions of mandalas on his Facebook feed, or Leah Besa-Jimenez’s strongly-colored cat-themed artwork. As coloring books for adults have gained more mainstream acceptance, iOS and Android apps have surfaced, making it easier for users to choose from various palettes, redo color schemes, and share the finished work on social media. Woo Consulting’s Lawrence Tan says he got hooked when “I saw it online and decided to download it while stuck in massive traffic – it is quite addictive but at the same time also stress relieving!”
Monch Herce shares her take on the phenomenon, affirming the app’s stress-relieving properties: “Colorfy is indeed a stress buster! [W]hen I saw [Mitzi Mapa] post [her] ‘masterpiece’ on her FB wall, I immediately downloaded the app! I was always in search of an artsy app that would allow me to come up with something visually impressive, but alas, I only have the gift of gab. Hahaha! I don’t have an artists hand. So when I downloaded the app, the drawings were in place and all you have to do is to tap on the space and then it gets filled with colors! I think its therapeutic in that sense, because you have control over the colors that you choose. No one can say that how you rendered it was wrong. The app allows you to become an ‘artist’ without trying too hard. Although that’s probably the flipside of things, but in truth, it’s a more sophisticated form of distraction that’s not like a video game or app game like Candy Crush.”
Inquirer’s Charmaine Bautista Pamintuan was already into adult coloring books when her hubby mentioned Colorfy. “I am into adult coloring books, the actual manual stuff of coloring that includes shading, blending and burnishing. But a project takes several days to do. Then my husband told me that his officemate was into colorfy… I downloaded the app and had fun doing it. It was a quick fix to my adult coloring book hobby. Adult coloring [is] stress relieving and the Colorfy app is a quick stress relieving app to get your mind off work. Take a short break, breathe and then work again. A pattern in Colorfy takes about 5 mins to do. Just enough time to take a break and then work again.” Charmaine adds that it’s very easy to revise a piece, and change color combinations, with many designs to choose from.
Corporate trainor Gege Cruz Sugue, a Colorfy enthusiast, thinks that the app provides a short, practical and refreshing artsy break from work. She explains: “It’s a free alternative to those expensive real coloring books. Plus you don’t have to buy and deal with the mess of coloring materials. You can also reuse the images when you’re done saving them. Lastly, it’s so much easier to share online.”
Shading a bit of vibrancy into their everyday routines, these Colorfy hobbyists elevate stress-relief above painting by numbers.
