A Grayscale Coloring Tutorial for Lifelike Results

Colorist: Ann Reid
Coloring Book: Beautiful Creatures

Today I will be providing you with a step-by-step grayscale coloring tutorial done by a very talented colorist, Ann Reid.

There is a wonderful Facebook coloring group that is focused on coloring pages from the Beautiful Creatures coloring book. It is full of amazing colorists from around the world (join us!) that range from novice to expert colorists. We all share our work and provide each other with tips, tricks and encouragement.

​Ann is part of this group. She inspires all of us because of (among many other wonderful qualities) her incredible talent. Every person in the group looks forward to seeing her next creation. She is able to capture every single detail with such amazing precision. She achieves that hyper realistic result that so many of us are striving for when coloring grayscale. The dog above and the four stages below were all completed by Ann. As you can see, she truly brings the image to life! Amazing!

Colorist: Ann Reid
Coloring Book: Beautiful Creatures

Ann's Grayscale Coloring Tutorial

For the purposes of this tutorial, Ann chose the Basenji dog from the Beautiful Creatures grayscale coloring book.

Step 1: Find reference photos
​To begin, find photos related to the subject of your coloring page. In this case, the Basenji. The breed comes in various shades of brown/ginger & white, sometimes with a wrinkled face. Also study the eyes. Having these reference photos will help you choose colors and get an overall sense of the important physical characteristics of your subject. 

Step 2: Color the background
Ann used yellow and blue chalk pastels for the background. Color in the areas where you want the color and then smudge it around with your finger to spread and smooth it out. 

Step 3: Choose your pencils & do color swatches
Take the time to select your colors in advance. It will make coloring easier. If you've thought out and created swatches of your colors before you start then you'll find your coloring process will go more smoothly because you will have established a good palette of colors to work with. By doing this you won't be scrambling around trying to figure out what color you should be using next, only to discover you have been forced into a color palette you aren't happy with. 

You may not use all of your chosen colors & in hindsight Ann thinks she should not have used Raw Umber or Burnt Ochre on the body because she ended up with more of a “sunny” look than she wanted. However, it's best to at least have a  palette to choose from that you know works together, even if you don't use all the colors.

Step 4: Work your eyes
Some tips for coloring grayscale eyes:

• Use black fineliner (or, if you don't have a fineliner, a black colored pencil) to color the pupils, being sure to leave the highlights.
• Use a black colored pencil to outline the eyes.
  
• Use a white gel pen (or a white colored pencil) for the white highlights.
  
• Use 2-3 gradients of eye color, in this case browns, to get the color for the iris (the area around the pupil). Notice how the iris is a bit darker at the outer edge and the inner edge and then brighter in the middle. Follow the gray's guidance when selecting and laying down your color. 

In Ann's words, "Once these are done, I need to get on with my picture because he is now looking at me..."

Step 5: Coloring the rest of the head and body

• Always try to work from top/furthest side of the picture to keep your hand off the coloring. A sheet of clean paper under your hand works too if needed.
• Firstly cover the area you are about to color with the lightest of the pencils you have chosen. Not only does this take care of the light areas, but it can also make details more evident. In this case, Ann used white.
• For fur – work in small “feather” strokes in the direction of the fur. While stroking away from yourself, work towards yourself so that closer strokes overlap those further away.
• Continue to apply color in light layers using your deeper shades. The grayscale will guide you. The more layers, the more intense your color will become. Black can also help with this.
• Take the time to check your work & add strokes/color where necessary.

Step 6: The whiskers
Add whiskers using very light strokes of your white gel pen (just think about where whiskers begin) & you should be done!

Colorist: Ann Reid
Coloring Book: Beautiful Creatures

Here are more of Ann's amazing creations
The majority of Ann's pictures have been colored with Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils. If you'd like to know exactly what was used for a specific picture then just leave a comment below and I'll find out for you. All of these pictures are from the Beautiful Creatures grayscale coloring book. 

I was only going to include a few of Ann's pictures but it was too hard to pick so you get to see them all. Enjoy!