Otter Floating On Its Back Holding A Clam Coloring Page

A sea otter lies on its back across the middle of this page, head to the upper right, holding a round clam against its chest in both front paws. The shell is the one smooth object on an otherwise busy animal, ridged with a few curved lines and left wide open inside.

The otter is covered from nose to tail in short repeated fur strokes that follow the direction of the body, denser along the flanks and lighter across the belly. Long whiskers spray out from the muzzle, the nose is a rounded wedge, and the eyes are small and half closed. Both hind feet lift out of the water at the left, webbed and marked with toe pads.

Underneath, broad kelp fronds spread out to both edges like a mat, each blade ruled with long parallel veins. Around all four sides runs a deep ornamental border of layered flowers, curling scrolls and small pointed leaves, with a symmetrical crest at the top and bottom center. The fur and the border are two completely different kinds of work, so it is worth deciding which one to start with rather than drifting between them.