Adult coloring books took society by storm recently as a calming way for adults to relax. If you’re tired of coloring and looking for another relaxing activity, you can give scratch art a try instead!
So, what is the best scratch art for adults? The best scratch art for adults comes with all the tools you’ll need, has clean outlines for you to follow, and includes multiple design pages.
Scratch art is a perfect alternative to adult coloring books. It’s an easy, simple activity to put your mind at ease after a long day at work. Read on to find out more about scratch art for adults and how to get the best scratch art kits.
What Is Scratch Art?
Scratch art isn’t all that exciting to look at when you give it a first glance. It either looks like a blank black page, or a black page with a plain grey outline of a picture.
However, once you start scratching away at the paper or the outline, the picture comes to life with beautiful colors or metallic foil underneath!
Scratch art is colorful paper that has been covered with a black film. This black film can be scratched off, much like you would on a scratch-off lottery ticket, to reveal the colorful paper underneath.
When you scratch at the film in a specific design, you can create dynamic images that stand out against the black background of the page.
Scratch Art Kits Vs. DIY Scratch Art
If you want to dive into the world of scratch art, you have two options: free-hand or guided design.
There are tons of scratch art kits, like the ones we list below, where the outline is done for you. All you have to do is scratch in the highlighted areas and you’ll reveal a stunning image.
However, if you want to exercise more of your creative freedom, you can free-hand your own drawings on plain scratch art paper.
Those who choose to get plain scratch art paper to do their own drawings will also need to get a bundle of scratch art tools.
Each of the tools included in scratch art bundles are important for creating detailed images. Whether you use the wooden stylus, the red scraper, or the sharp scratcher tools, they are all important for achieving a beautiful picture.
The brush, though not used for scratching, is incredibly helpful for swiping the scratch dust away as it comes up.
Whether you use a scratch art kit or buy your own scratch art paper and tools, you’ll be able to engage in a relaxing hobby that results in beautiful pictures you can frame and hang around your home.
How To Choose The Best Scratch Art For Adults
Before investing in a scratch art kit online, check out our guide for making sure you get the best scratch art for adults available now.
1. Tools Provided
Most scratch art kits will include all the tools you’ll need to be successful. This includes a wooden stylus, a couple different types of scratching tools (such as a sharp point and a wide scraper), and a brush.
These tools each have their place in creating the detailed scratch art designs printed on the paper. Since these designs are intended for adults, they’re highly detailed and have a lot of little areas that require a tiny tool and a steady hand.
For this reason, you want to avoid getting scratch art that only comes with a wooden stylus. A wooden stylus is often not enough to get the design to look its best, and it will dull as you use it.
If you like the designs offered in a scratch art kit but it only comes with a wooden stylus, be sure to buy a set of your own scratch art tools to supplement.
2. Clean Outlines
We mentioned above that the designs that come in the scratch art for adults are highly detailed and intricate.
Because these designs have so many small details and fine lines, you need to find scratch art kits that have good, clean outlines.
You shouldn’t have to hunt for the areas to scratch, and the areas should have crisp lines around each section to make it easier for you to work with.
If the scratch art design has too many tiny areas close together or fuzzy lines, then it will be hard for you to get a crisp, clean image in the end.
The best scratch art for adults will have outlines that are easy to follow and result in a beautiful image.
3. Multiple Designs
The best scratch art for adults will also come with multiple designs. If you’re someone just starting out and wanting to test if you even enjoy scratch art, then a kit with only 1 or 2 designs will be useful for you.
However, if you enjoy working on your scratch art every evening after work, then it would be better for you to get a kit that includes several designs – at least 8 of them.
This will give you more to work on and keep you occupied for longer before it’s time to buy the next kit! Plus, it’ll give you great gifts that you can create yourself and present to friends and family.
The Best Scratch Art For Adults
When you’re ready to invest in your own scratch art, check out our list of the top best scratch art for adults.
Rank | Product | Key Features |
---|---|---|
1. | Scratch Painting Kits For Adults With (Netherlandish Windmills) | Includes tools, has clean grey and white outlines, includes 1 design |
2. | Scratch Rainbow Painting Art Paper (America Series) | Includes tools, has clean grey outlines, includes 2 designs |
3. | Ameolela Rainbow Scratch Painting Craft Kits (Paris & Louvre) | Includes tools, has clean blue outlines, includes 2 designs |
4. | Scratch Painting Kits for Adults (Eiffel Tower / Big Ben) | Includes tools, has clean grey outlines, includes 2 designs |
5. | Scratch & Sketch Art Night View (Beautiful City) | Includes tools, has clean grey outlines, includes 8 designs |
6. | MIASTAR Scratch Painting Kits (America / Europe) | Includes tools, has clean grey outlines, includes 8 designs |
7. | Scratch Rainbow Painting Art (Animal Series) | Includes tools, has clean grey outlines, includes 8 designs |
8. | Scratch & Sketch Extreme (Trace Along) | Includes wooden stylus, has clean white outlines, includes 20 designs, includes coloring pages |
9. | Mandalas For Meditation: Scratch-Off NightScapes | Includes wooden stylus, has clean grey outlines, includes 36 designs |
1. Scratch Painting Kits For Adults With (Netherlandish Windmills)
Our first recommended product is for those beginners who want to test the waters with a single design.
We’ve listed the Netherlandish Windmills design here, but MIASTAR also offers a variety of designs including Las Vegas, a dog, the Cologne Cathedral, and more.
This set comes with a wooden stylus, scratch pen, and clean brush to help you get all of the details and keep your work clean as you go.
The design is printed nicely on the page in a clean grey and white outline.
2. Scratch Rainbow Painting Art Paper (America Series)
If you’ve tried one scratch art and you’re still not sure how much you love it, but you want to try a couple more, then this kit is perfect for you.
It includes two designs, one of the Bay Bridge and one of Seattle. This is called the American series, though the company BOTEEN offers many other sets of 2 designs such as the China series, European series, and sets of animals such as a dog and cat.
You’ll get 4 tools included in your kit: the wooden stylus, a scratch pen, a red small scraper, and a black brush.
The addition of the red small scraper, missing in the kit above, is incredibly helpful for covering large areas in a shorter amount of time.
3. Ameolela Rainbow Scratch Painting Craft Kits (Paris & Louvre)
Ameolela is another great brand for scratch art for adults. In this kit, you’ll get 2 designs: the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, both of which are in Paris.
Instead of the grey outlines that many of the other kits have, this one has light blue outlines for you to follow.
These blue outlines are clear and crisp to help you achieve all the fine lines of the architecture found in the Eiffel Tower and Louvre.
You can use the included tools of the wooden stylus, scratch pen, red small scraper, and black brush to help you bring the picture to life and keep your paper clean while you work.
4. Scratch Painting Kits for Adults (Eiffel Tower / Big Ben)
MIASTAR has plenty of single-design kits like the first one we listed, but they also have scratch art for adults that include 2 designs, like this one with the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben.
If these designs don’t interest you, you can also check out the sets that include a castle and amusement park, hot air balloons and Chiang Mai, or Mount Fuji and Sakura.
These kits come with the two designs, plus a scratch pen, 2 wooden styluses, and a cleaning brush.
We like this kit because it’s a different take on the Eiffel Tower and has more mature designs compared to some of the others. They’re simple, clean, and easy to do with the right tools.
5. Scratch & Sketch Art Night View (Beautiful City)
When you’ve determined that you enjoy scratch art for adults and you’re ready for more designs, you should check out this kit from Niewalda.
It includes 8 designs of beautiful city landmarks, such as Times Square in New York, the Space Needle in Seattle, and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
These designs offer more of a challenge, so they’re perfect for the person looking to take their scratch art to the next level.
You’ll also get all the tools you need for your all your designs, including a red scraper, a wooden stylus, a scratch pen, and a small brush.
6. MIASTAR Scratch Painting Kits (America / Europe)
Although this kit from MIASTAR may include some familiar designs that come with the kit listed above, it also comes with some unique designs such as a Ferris wheel and a tulip field in the Netherlands.
In total, you’ll get 8 designs, all with clean, grey outlines to help you create sharp, striking images.
We love this kit because not only does it include the wooden stylus, red scraper, scratch pen, and brush included in other kits; you also get a tool bag to store all of your tools, as well as repair fluid in case you scratch outside of the provided outline.
This is the ultimate kit for anyone who loves scratch art and wants to get all the tools they’ll need, plus a bundle of fun designs, for a great price.
7. Scratch Rainbow Painting Art (Animal Series)
If you’re bored of seeing all these designs of famous landmarks and buildings, how about a set that includes cute animals?
This set from BOTEEN is their animal series. You’ll get 8 animal designs, including a deer, flamingo, cheetah, lion, and more.
Each design has a clean grey outline easy for you to follow and ready to be scratched away to reveal a colorful image underneath.
This set includes the wooden stylus, red scraper, scratch pen, and black cleaning brush you need to complete each design and clean your workspace.
8. Scratch & Sketch Extreme (Trace Along)
For those who’ve tried enough scratch art kits that they’ve accumulated all the tools they could ever need, this Scratch and Sketch book is the perfect next step.
It only comes with a wooden stylus, but to make up for the lack of tools, it comes with 20 different designs inside.
Not only are there colorful pages, but there are also pages with glittery, metallic foil underneath to give you a variety.
Next to each scratch art design is the same design, but in a coloring page format. This gives you 40 total activity pages to work on to help you relax after a long day at work.
9. Mandalas For Meditation: Scratch-Off NightScapes
Those who like the idea of a book like the one above but looking for more of a challenge in the designs will love this book of scratch-off mandala designs.
The book is 36 pages long, so you’ll have no shortage of mandala designs to keep you occupied.
The designs for each of the mandalas are done with crisp grey outlines that help you create the sharp, clean lines that mandalas are known for.
Just like the book above, it only comes with a wooden stylus, but you can easily supplement by buying your own bundle of scratch art tools or using ones you received with a different scratch art kit.
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