Creating Coloring Pages on Day 19

Feb 10, 2019

I still believe that every person loves to color using either crayons or pencil crayons. I know as a child, it was one of my favorite things to do. I even got into the paint-by-numbers fad. I think my mom was tired of having so many oil paintings on canvas and velvet that she directed me to other things to make. I do remember the countless hours of fun as the painting emerged in front of my eyes as I added lots of color to that flat numbered piece of paper.

And here we are today with coloring books for adults still selling well, although the peak of the passion seems to have wained a bit. Those of us who love art and creating, still love those coloring books and the ideas they bring to us for other pieces of art.

I found that creating a coloring page was a simple idea that soon turned into something soothing and relaxing as the designs started to pop out from the page. It was actually a doodle that became a page of lines which in turn became a piece of art which would fit into any coloring book. Who said black and white does not cut it?

We all start drawing with an outline of black and the color often comes much later. Almost every artist I know starts with a sketch. I have sketched many outlines for almost all of my makes and projects. So having said that, the basic outline is where the coloring page all started.

From the outline, other elements come into play. Using circles and curves is the key to making the page transform from an outline to a true coloring page.

The project I am displaying today is a sugar skull created for printing on various surfaces - the design has been added to a T-shirt and hand painted from there.

Here are a few photos of the coloring process with acrylics.