For some, picking a color scheme for your coloring pages can feel daunting. Beginners might feel scared they will get their color schemes wrong. Scared to start coloring and scared it won’t be beautiful. Just remember: coloring is for YOU. There is no way wrong way to color!
However, there are free tools available to make your choices easier. Below are a few different ways to start your coloring on the right foot.
Different tools to help you pick your color scheme
Color Calculator
The Color Wheel looks at your chosen color and selects a complementary color that is usually on the opposite side of the color wheel. Knowing which colors are complementary on the color wheel can help you make easier color decisions. For instance, complementary colors can make each other appear brighter, they can be mixed to create effective neutral hues, or they can be blended together for shadows.
When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two colors and is a great start when experimenting with your favourite color schemes. For example, blue and yellow shades when used together well can make both colors stand out while also being a natural color mix that is easy on the eyes.
Free Online Color Generator
Following the concepts of complementary colors, an online color generator can take the work out of finding the different hues or shades within your color scheme. It’s also a fun way to find color combinations you may not have even thought of!
A free online color generator we recommend trying is coolors.co. With coolors, you have the option to explore trending palettes or customise your own.
If you are stuck on what colors to start with, the trending palettes give you a wide range of schemes to choose from. Get inspired by thousands of beautiful color schemes to make something cool.
If there is a range of colors you like, simply press the three dots ‘…’ under the colors and select “Open in the generator”. From there you can view the color scheme you selected or press the spacebar on your keyboard to also random generate new color schemes!
One of the coolest things you can do when you are in the generator is the lock function. Simply roll your mouse over the color or colors that you like in the palette, click the lock button and press space! This will keep the color(s) you locked and find you new colors that will complement them. This is super fun to do and you could spend the whole night just pressing space and finding new color schemes to inspire your next coloring relaxation 😊
Get inspiration from Pinterests
Pinterest is one of the biggest ‘visual’ social media platforms in the world. Unlike Facebook or Instagram that focus on news and updates, Pinterest is a creative community of users that focus on content that inspires creativity and information through visual boards. A quick search for “color scheme” will show a wide range of ideas to pick from. You can also go into individual pins and look at users who have saved these pins to their boards where you are likely to find more inspiring color ideas based on landscapes and nature 😊
How many colors should I have in my scheme?
Ideally, a good color scheme has between 5 – 12 colors. For more complex schemes, look for areas in your coloring page where you could incorporate more than one scheme such as one for the background or outer circles and another for the foreground or inner circles.
For example below incorporating 2 different schemes (colored with markers):
Quick tips:
– Limit Your Color Palette to 5 – 12 colors. Sometimes less is more when you are using strong complementary colors!
– Try including one neutral color (cream/brown/gray/black/white) to help make your other colors stand out and pop!
– Select either all warm colors (yellow, orange, red, pink) or all cool colors (blue, green, purple) when you are starting to easily match colors that will go well together
– Before coloring, create a quick color swatch with your chosen colors by coloring a small square on a blank paper to make sure you really like them
– If you are planning to use that color palette again, use a rubber band to group your pencils or markers to easily access for your next session
