Art Nouveau Owl Perched Among Ivy Coloring Page

An owl sits square on a branch at the center of this sheet, framed by a ring of ivy that loops up and around behind it. The bird is drawn in rows of overlapping scalloped feathers that get smaller as they climb toward the face, and the face itself is built from fine radiating lines around two wide open eyes. Ivy fills nearly every remaining inch, dozens of pointed leaves on thin curling tendrils spilling across the branch and out to all four edges. This is one of the densest pages in the collection and it rewards a slow approach. Do the owl before the ivy, because once the leaves are colored it is hard to judge how dark the bird should go. Rows of feathers look best when you shift tone slightly from one row to the next rather than flooding the whole body. Browns and warm grays are natural, but a barred owl in blues works just as well on paper. For the ivy, use two or three greens and scatter them at random instead of coloring leaf by leaf in order.