Pelican Diving Into Ocean Waves Coloring Page

This pelican has already committed. Its wings are thrown up and back, the long pouched bill points down into the water, and the swell underneath is a few seconds from taking it. The bird gives you three separate textures to work with: fine parallel lines along every flight feather, a scaled pattern across the chest and belly, and smooth open areas on the head and pouch. The waves are the bigger job. They are built from dozens of combed lines that follow each curl, with crests breaking off the top and loose droplets flying free, and they fill the whole lower half of the sheet. Working them in a single blue flattens everything, so run two or three values across the water and let the palest one sit right under the crests. A plain sun disc hangs in the upper left with nothing inside it, which makes it the easiest place to put a strong warm tone. A scrolled vine border wraps the scene on all four sides and can stay pale so that it does not fight the bird for attention.