Anna Grossnickle Hines                                   Home    Guide

Coloring Pages!


Read the Hints below or go directly to

Choose a Picture

Before I put any color on my pictures I do the drawings in line.  I use a pencil, erasing and tracing over my work until I get all the lines just the way I want them.  Then I trace the lines onto my good paper and put on the colors.
You might want to try coloring these pages in different ways.
          Watercolor

You can paint on the printed paper, or try tracing the lines onto watercolor paper to paint it. A good way to trace is to hold your paper up against a window.  Flying Firefighters, Moon's Wish, and The Greatest Picnic in the World are all illustrated with watercolor.

Colored pencils

Sometimes I color lightly letting the pencil strokes and texture of the paper show.  That's what I did in Big Like Me.  Sometimes I press harder and go over and over to get a very solid color as I did in Moompa, Toby and Bomp.

Aquarelle Pencils
I used aquarelles for the pictures in Grandma Gets Grumpy. They are special colored pencils. First you draw with them. Then a little water on a paint brush turns them to watercolors.

Watercolor and colored pencils

 This is a fun thing to do. I used this technique in It's Just Me Emily and Big Help!.

Felt markers and colored pencils
This is what I used for Gramma's Walk, with light colored marker underneath. I used it for What Joe Saw, too, with brighter colors under neath that show through more.
Acrylic paints
I did the illustrations for Miss Emma's Wild Garden with acrylic paints. I like the nice bright colors and the way I could paint all those flowers and plants more freely than the way I usually work.
Colored pencil on colored paper

I did the pictures for When the Goblins Came Knocking on black paper. It is a fun way to think about drawing the light shining on things.

To transfer the lines onto dark paper, color the back of the printed sheet with light chalk or pastel.  Shake it off a little bit, then tape it right side up on top of the dark paper.  Trace all the lines.  Check to be sure you got them all before you take the tape off.  The lines will rub off easily, so you have to be careful not to rub them off as you color.
Crayons with watercolor on top
I've never done a book this way, but I've sure used it for lots of drawings.  The waxy crayon doesn't let the water color stick.  That's called wax resist.
Collage
You could use different papers, magazine pictures, fabric and other interesting textures for a background and color, cut, and paste the objects in my drawings on top of them.
Pen and colored inks

I've only used this on one book, Jackie's Lunch Box, but Susan Jeffers uses to make really beautiful books.  The color is put on with fine lines.  I used a sharply pointed drawing pen dipped into different colored inks.  You might try fine line markers.
Good old Crayons or felt marker
I loved using these as a kid. Use your imagination to think of different ways to add color to these pictures, and to your own drawings, too.
Here are the rules:

Don't worry if everything you try doesn't turn out fantastic.  Artists spend a lot of time experimenting to see what works and what they like to use. Then they practice a lot until they can do it better and better.

Have fun!

Now go to one of the books below and choose a picture.
Select "print" on your browser menu.
Click the "back" button to return to this page.

Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts

Not Without Bear
These are "make your own pop-up pages". 
Print them out, then follow the directions to fold and glue.

 Daddy Makes The Best Spaghetti
Miss Emma's Wild Garden
Gramma's Walk

Flying Firefighters
Bean Books
Bouncing On The Bed
 
Top of Page
Guide
Home