Deer With Patterned Antlers and Woodland Flowers Coloring Page

Every surface of this stag has been decorated. Swirls and teardrops wind down the face, scales and fine hatching climb the antlers, and the chest breaks into long curling ribbons that flow toward the bottom of the page. Almost nothing is left plain, which makes it a proper zentangle style sheet rather than an animal portrait with a pattern added. Around the lower half sits a woodland bed: two capped mushrooms with spotted tops and gilled stems on the right, another pair on the left, and open flowers with round centers filling the gaps between tall stems. The flowers repeat enough to establish a rhythm without being identical. Because the pattern is so dense, resist using many colors. Two or three shades repeated across the swirls will read as a design, while a dozen will turn into noise. The mushrooms are the exception and can take something brighter. Fine tipped pens and sharp pencils are the right tools, and this is an evening of work rather than twenty minutes.