Crane Wading In A Misty Marsh At Sunrise Coloring Page

A crane stands in shallow water at the middle of this page, seen from the side, its neck drawn up in a long shallow curve and its bill held level. Behind it a large sun disc rests on the horizon, crossed by a few flat cloud lines, with low hills running off to the right. Reeds and cattails rise on both sides of the bird, lily pads drift across the foreground, and short dashes in the water suggest a reflection beneath its legs. The frame is unusual and worth noticing before you start. Heavy floral scrollwork fills the top two corners and meets in a crest at the top edge, then simply stops. There is no border down the sides or along the bottom, so the marsh runs out into white paper. That asymmetry hands you a free hand below and a fixed job above. A good order of work is scrollwork first in two strong colors, the sun disc next as a flat wash, then the crane, then the water last so you can judge how dark it needs to be. The wing feathers are long overlapping strips that suit a graded treatment from the shoulder back.