Dreamy Unicorn Complimentary Coloring Page

I have a fresh coloring page for you that you won't find in any published book! Click below to start the download.

I recently offered this illustration to my Facebook group (you really should join if you haven't already), and members have created beautiful artwork from this page. The gorgeous example shown is by Nicole Ziobro. Each week we have a "color-along", and for this illustration I offered tips for coloring it. I hope this sparks some ideas for your Dreamy Unicorn.

Choose your own “dreamy” color palette to color the Unicorn artwork using any technique(s) you want. Think about what evokes fantasy or dreamlike colors to you. We often think of pale blues, violets, and other pastels to create a dreamy atmosphere. Disney used dark blue for the skies in his fairytales. Colors in rainbow sequence (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) in backgrounds or on flowers add a dreamy accent. Rainbow colors can be pale versions (pink, peach, yellow, mint, light blue, lavender). Unnatural colors, such as blue daffodils or yellow skies give a dreamy feeling. Use whatever colors feel dreamy to you. Use any art materials — colored pencils, markers, gel pens, paint, glitter pens, and more.

Many Coloring Book Projects Lined Up

I haven't made a blog post in a while, only because I've been super-busy with more coloring book projects that I hope you'll enjoy. I just delivered the finished line art for Fanciful Sea Life, which will be published in February, next year. Now I'm putting the finishing touches on the four color illustrations that will appear in the book. Right behind that are three more coloring books to be announced.

"Tropical Fish" will appear in Fanciful Sea Life in February 2018.

Featured Artists

I'm honored that the October 2017 issue of “Pen World” magazine features me and Johanna Basford as coloring book artists who find Staedtler products to be essential tools in our work.

I love color and texture and layering detail in my artwork. Since reviewing Staedtler pens last year, I’ve used them exclusively for a variety of techniques because they’re so versatile. You can read about how I use triplus fineliners and pigment liners in my artwork, and how Johanna depends on Staedtler products in the story, "Triple Threat."

I'll have more to share with you very soon. In the meantime, thank you for your support of my artwork.

Color your days in positive ways!

---

The Power of Contrast

High Contrast Creates Drama and Commands Attention

Contrast in a composition refers to its darks and lights, regardless of its colors. For example, the color blue can be so dark it appears almost black or so light it appears almost white. In art, the degree of darkness or lightness of a color is called its value. A color can be any degree of dark to light. There are many values between the darkest dark and the lightest light.

Black and white create the highest contrast of values because they show extreme dark against extreme light (or extreme light against extreme dark.). Any dark color against any light color has high contrast, too.

Use contrast to create drama and command attention in a work of art. The eye is immediately drawn to areas of high contrast, so you can use that to your advantage by deciding what your center of interest is to be. In addition, within the cat figures, I employed high contrast in the eyes by placing the only pure white in the highlights against the black pupils.

[READERS NOTE: At the end of this post learn how you could be eligible to win a Staedtler triplus fineliner Pen Set! ]

Are You a "Night" Person? Introducing the Midnight Edition of Elegant Elephants

LEARN MORE >

I created this special Elegant Elephants Midnight Edition Adult Coloring Book so that you can color the images with the extra drama of black backgrounds. The contrast of color against the black will make your colors seem to glow and pop off the page! The elephant subjects comes to life and become the focus, and the background becomes illuminated.

The illustrations are the "same" as the original "daytime" edition of Elegant Elephants but their background transformation makes them totally different in appearance and provides a distinctive coloring experience. 

Elegant Elephants Midnight Edition has 34 illustrations with finished borders on every page. The designs are printed on one side only on medium weight paper.

AFRICAN DRUMS – From Elegant Elephants Midnight Edition.  ©Marjorie Sarnat.

Staedtler triplus fineliner Giveaway

To introduce you to this dramatic "Midnight Edition" of Elegant Elephants we are offering a Giveaway of a set of 20 Staedtler's triplus fineliner Pens. I used these pens to color the "African Drum" illustration shown. The fine lines and vibrant colors are perfect for a midnight-style coloring book. Go here for an in depth review.

The Staedtler triplus fineliner 20 pen set comes in this denim pouch.

To be eligible to win, all you have to do is be on my "For Color Lovers" email list. If you are already on the list, there's nothing more you need to do! If you're not, simply fill out the form at the top of this page. You'll get a complimentary downloadable coloring page to boot! See rules below.

[NOTE: CONTEST IS CLOSED]

---

Giveaway Contest Rules: Eligible only for residents of the U.S.A. or Canada. Entrants must have registered or be on my "For Color Lovers" email list by November 26, 2016 at 11:59 p.m.. Winner will be drawn at random on November 27, 2016, and notified by email promptly thereafter. If winner doesn't respond by November 29, 2016 prize will be awarded to an alternate person at my discretion. 

[EDIT: Deadline has been extended to Nov 26 from Nov 22 to give a chance for more people to sign up.]

[You can read my privacy policy here]

How to Color a Bubble

One of the popular drawings from my coloring book, Pampered Pets, is the piggy in a bathtup. (What better way to pamper a pig?). I've seen many different color renditions of the page, and I've received lots of requests asking what is the best way to color a bubble? There isn't one perfect way, but I offer one approach that works well.

How to color a bubble

1) Start with a circle bubble shape. For this step by step, I will use colored pencils and a dash of white paint.

2) Color the inside of your bubble in a medium light color. Keep the edges soft. and leave the outer edges white.

3) Add pastel colors here and there in the outer white area. Keep these colors very light.

4) Add a highlight on the edge of the inner colored area. That's it! You've colored a bubble!

TIP: Keep your strokes curved with the contours of the circle

Here's an example with the highlight already drawn in, such as shown in the piggy in a bathtub illustration.

After you've learned to color a bubble, reward yourself with a relaxing bubble bath!

* * *

If you haven't already signed up for my "For Color Lovers" email list, please fill out the form at the top of this page. When you join, you'll be directed to download a complimentary coloring page for your personal use.

Start a new coloring page with this tried and true approach

Coloring courtesy of Shelly Durham. Notice the "cool" owl surrounded by the "warm" foliage. Illustration from Secret Garden © Johanna Basford

Have you ever faced a clean new coloring page and wondered where to begin?

Some colorists just plunge in and let their intuition be their guide. If you're that colorist, it works just fine. Some of us feel less secure and need some guidelines. Here's a formula you can rely on when you're not sure how to begin. Keep in mind that formulas are only beginnings so let yourself bend the rules as you go.

Whether you feel you need guidelines or not, it's fun to see what color can do.

Warm-Cool Color Harmony

Decide whether your page will be mostly warm or mostly cool and try one of the following two equations:

• ¾ warm colors and ¼ cool colors
• ¾ cool colors and ¼ warm colors

 Proportions are approximate; don't worry about being exact.

Warm colors are the colors of the sun: reds, oranges, yellows.
They tend to produce moods of energy, passion, and optimism.
Cool colors are the colors of water: blues, greens, purples.
They tend to produce moods of calm, contemplation, and peacefulness.

The smaller proportion will attract visual attention. Playing warm against cool (or cool against warm) creates visual contrast and helps all your colors come alive. For example, if you are coloring a cat on a couch, you might consider a yellow cat against a blue couch. The blue couch could be against a blue-green wall.

Or a blue-gray cat against a coral couch. The coral couch could be against a peachy wall.
In either case, the cat will stand out. 

What's amazing is that the warm-cool concept usually follows our natural color sense. Many great masters used this system, either intentionally or intuitively. Look at Shelly Durham's coloring at the top of this post for an example. And refer to the examples below.

Best Advice

Whether following a formula or not, be true to your personal expression. That's what being an artist is about.

"Claude Monet – Impression, Sunrise" Your eyes are drawn to the warm orange sun and reflection becasue they are surrounded by a large amount of cool blue.

"Paul Gauguin - Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)" – The bottom pink is somewhat warm, but the figures against the cool background are a good example (Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

"Edouard Manet - At the Café" – This is a study of both warm and cool as well as contrast. (Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

"The Mummy 1932 Film Poster" – Universal Pictures, attributed to Karoly Grosz. This movie poster is more like half warm and half cool, but notice in particular the woman in the lower right who is bathed in warm light and stands against a cool shadow. (Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

"Into the Light" by Collin Bogle. This beautifully demonstrates the interaction of warm and cool colors. View his photorealistic paintings.