What the
research says.

Reverse coloring is young, and nobody has studied it on its own yet. It joins two older habits that researchers have looked at closely: coloring, and drawing whatever you like.

Coloring for a calmer moment

In a randomized study with 167 university students, coloring before a test, either a mandala or free drawing and coloring, lowered test anxiety and raised mindfulness, while anxiety went up in the group that did not color.1 Among 120 older adults in Taiwan, mandala coloring lowered anxiety more than reading did.2

The effect can last beyond one session. Students who colored for at least ten minutes six times over two weeks reported less stress, anxiety and low mood, and more mindfulness and quality of life.3 A follow-up with nearly 300 students found the same improvements whether they colored on paper or on a screen.4

Your own lines matter

Drawing seems to help most when it takes your mind somewhere else. In experiments with children, drawing something unrelated to a disappointment lifted mood more than drawing the disappointment itself. Copying someone else’s drawing did not have the same effect: the mood boost came from making an image of one’s own.6 Later studies linked that boost to absorption and enjoyment, whether the scene was real or imaginary.7

In adults, 45 minutes of art making lowered levels of cortisol, a hormone tied to stress, regardless of earlier art experience. Participants described the session as relaxing and freeing.8

Seeing shapes in color

Finding a fish in a blue wash is a small act of pareidolia, the habit of seeing familiar forms in ambiguous images. In a study with cloud-like fractal images, people who scored higher on creativity saw recognizable shapes more often and more quickly.9 That does not make anyone more creative by itself, but it shows that looking for shapes in color is a creative way of seeing, and it is exactly what every watercolor in the app invites.

What the research does not say

These are mostly small, short studies, many with students, and some measured people only before and after, without a comparison group.3, 4, 8 Results are not always consistent: in one experiment, unguided mandala coloring changed neither anxiety nor mindfulness, and only coloring with spoken mindfulness guidance reduced anxiety.5 Among older adults, free drawing did not lower anxiety more than reading.2

Color Before the Lines is a creative app, not a treatment, and it has not been tested in any study. If you are struggling with anxiety or low mood, please talk to a doctor or a mental health professional.

References

  1. Carsley D, Heath NL (2019). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based coloring for university students’ test anxiety. Journal of American College Health, 68(5), 518–527. doi:10.1080/07448481.2019.1583239 · PubMed 30908136
  2. Koo M, Chen HP, Yeh YC (2020). Coloring activities for anxiety reduction and mood improvement in Taiwanese community-dwelling older adults: a randomized controlled study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2020, 6964737. doi:10.1155/2020/6964737 · PubMed 32063986
  3. Palmer-Cooper EC, Seneviratne R, Woodford E (2024). Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness?. Arts & Health, online ahead of print. doi:10.1080/17533015.2024.2419921 · PubMed 39450667
  4. Palmer-Cooper EC, Walmsley H, Foster C, Woodford E, Seneviratne R (2026). Designing scalable micro-interventions for student wellbeing in higher education: a comparative study of digital and paper colouring. Journal of Mental Health, online ahead of print. doi:10.1080/09638237.2026.2732896 · PubMed 42755287
  5. Mantzios M, Giannou K (2018). When did coloring books become mindful? Exploring the effectiveness of a novel method of mindfulness-guided instructions for coloring books to increase mindfulness and decrease anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 56. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00056 · PubMed 29441038
  6. Drake JE, Winner E (2013). How children use drawing to regulate their emotions. Cognition & Emotion, 27(3), 512–520. doi:10.1080/02699931.2012.720567 · PubMed 22963448
  7. Drake JE (2021). How drawing to distract improves mood in children. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 622927. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622927 · PubMed 33603704
  8. Kaimal G, Ray K, Muniz J (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants’ responses following art making. Art Therapy, 33(2), 74–80. doi:10.1080/07421656.2016.1166832 · PubMed 27695158
  9. Bellemare-Pepin A, Harel Y, O’Byrne J, Mageau G, Dietrich A, Jerbi K (2022). Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: pareidolia as a sign of creativity. iScience, 25(10), 105103. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105103 · PubMed 36164655

Sources found and checked on PubMed. Last reviewed: 7 October 2026 · Bytelegion OÜ