Finding a color theme for your coloring page should be a fun, creative adventure. There are no shortages of sources to set you off in a beautiful direction. But you need to know what to look for. You also need to know how to use photos or artwork as a starting point for your coloring. In this blog post, I will show you how. It’s an easy process.
Use Pinterest as your image library
Pinterest is a gigantic source of beautiful images for color inspiration. Too many choices make for confusion, so you need to narrow your focus. For this coloring page, I searched among butterflies, insects, and geckos. Nature’s own brush strokes have painted these stunning creatures. I have curated extensive collections on my Pinterest boards:
Make a collage
Right-click the Pinterest images you love and save on your computer. When you’re done, make a collage. This will give you a good overview. Select the best images and upload them to this free online COLLAGE tool. It is simple to use. Play around with the different grid options.
I created an orderly collage of 9 images. There are more free collage tools out there, but this one is very user friendly.
How to select colors
As you can see, I haven’t made any attempt to color exactly what I see in these photos. Instead, I used them as a kind of launchpad. Even though I collected several butterflies, the little yellow one caught my imagination. I set off with the yellow gradient as my starting point. Next, I borrowed some bright pink from the other butterflies. Keep looking at your collage as you color. Once the colors in the collage get you started, the rest will flow. That’s what makes coloring so rewarding, relaxing, and fun.
Now for the gecko illustration. I collected various striped insects to match the stripy design. All three bugs to the right have a strong and a weak color. I love the two shades of blue with the black accent. But then again, I also love the green gecko with red spots. I ended up with light and dark green stripes with yellow and red accents.
In the second butterfly version, I took inspiration from the bug to the left.
Now it’s your turn. Happy coloring!
