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Pick a subject you actually like
You know what you are into, so start there. If you like machines, the mech is the big one, drawn from ground level with armor plates and a glowing chest core. The space battle ship pushes through a field of asteroids toward a ringed planet. The sports car jump catches a wedge shaped car in midair with dust blowing out behind it.
If you like animals, the howling wolf throws its head back in front of a giant moon. The tiger face stares straight at you, and its stripes are already inked in black, so the hard part is done and you can focus on the orange. The fire breathing dragon has a neck full of scales and a blast of flame that runs down to the corner of the sheet.
Music and sports have their place too. The electric guitar cuts across the page with flames on its body and sound rings behind it. The skateboarder grabs the board high above a concrete ramp, and the astronaut jumps over craters with Earth huge in the black sky. For cold air or warm water, there is snowboarding and surfing. Both are a bit lighter in style, and both have plenty of energy.
Cool coloring pages by skill
Age matters less than patience here. Use this list as a rough guide.
- Ages 5 to 8: The monster truck and the T rex have the biggest shapes. They are good picks for a younger brother or sister who wants to sit with you.
- Ages 6 to 12: Surfing, snowboarding and the dragon on its rocky crag have clear shapes and fun color choices.
- Ages 8 to 12: Try the tiger, the car jump or the skateboarder. They need a plan, but no single spot is too small.
- Ages 10 and up: The robot, the race bike, the space ship and the scaled dragon have the most small parts. Expect to spend more than one sitting on them.
How to make it look good
Metal. Metal is mostly contrast. On the robot, the bike or the ship, lay down a light gray, then add dark bands right next to bare white paper. That hard jump from dark to white is what reads as shine. Do not blend it smooth.
Fire. Work from hot to cool. Leave the center of the flame nearly white, go to yellow, then orange, then red at the outer edge. The fire breathing dragon gives you three layers of flame to follow. The flames on the guitar work the same way.
Fur. Pull short strokes in the direction the hair grows. The wolf's mane looks far better built up in layers of gray, blue and white than filled in with one flat color. Keep your pencil sharp and let some paper show through.
Water. The shark's spray is mostly white paper. Color the sea dark near the bottom and lighter close to the splash, so the water seems to jump up. Keep the shark gray on top and pale on its belly.
Night skies. The moon page, the wolf and the space ship all use a big dark area. Cover it with several light layers of pencil, turning the paper as you go, and you will get a smoother finish than one heavy pass. Leave small dots bare for stars, or add them at the end with a white gel pen.
Scales. The neck of the fire breathing dragon can look flat if every scale is the same green. Put a darker green along one edge of each scale and leave the center lighter. Work one row at a time, and take a break before your hand gets sloppy.
Speed. On the car and the race bike, the short ink lines already show motion. Run your pencil in the same direction as those lines. Keep the ground light close to the wheels, so the machine stays the sharpest thing on the page.
One last habit helps on all of these. Pick a main color and one strong accent before you start, then test both on scrap paper.
Paper, pencils and printing
Press PDF on any card to save one sheet. Press Download all at the top of the page for one file with every drawing. Pages fit US Letter paper, and on A4 you should choose Fit to page. Colored pencils give you the most control on these designs. If you use alcohol markers, print on heavier paper or put a spare sheet under the page, because ink will soak through. A black fine liner can bring back any lines you lost. To skip the printer, press Color and work on a phone, tablet or computer.
Make a band poster or album cover
The electric guitar already looks like a poster, with flames on its body and sound rings spreading out behind it. Make up a band name and letter it across the top in block capitals. Add a town and a tour date, then pick a look. Red and black feels loud. Blue and silver feels cold and strange.
The howling wolf and the astronaut on the moon work as album covers, since both have a big sky with room for a title. Keep that sky dark and the letters pale, so the words stand out from across a room.
Versus cards for you and your friends
Two pages can start a long argument. Who wins, the great white shark or the fire breathing dragon? Would the giant mech beat the T rex? Color both, cut them out and glue each one to a piece of card. On the back, give each fighter a made up score for speed, power and armor. Trade cards with a friend and play by the highest score, or argue it out and take a vote.
A comic book finish with black ink
Comic artists often get a bold look by filling the darkest shadows with solid black. Try it with a fine liner or a black marker. On the tiger face, add black under the chin and between the leaves. On the space battle ship, fill the shadow side of each asteroid, then color what is left in flat, bright shades. Stop before you lose the small lines. It is a fast way to rescue a page that feels too pale, and it works well on the racing motorcycle too.
Things to do with a finished page
Set yourself a limit. Pick three colors plus black and finish a full page with only those. Limits force better choices, and a tiger in blue and purple can look better than the real thing. Then try the same page again with a different set and compare.
Trade with a friend. Each of you starts a page, stops halfway and swaps. You can also frame your best one or tape it inside a locker.
Parents and teachers can print these for free. Art teachers can use the metal or fire steps as a short lesson on light and shadow, or hand the pages out as early finisher work. Ask students to write a few lines about why they chose their colors. Our free use license covers home and class use. Want more? Browse our coloring pages for teens, or try the space coloring pages next.
Questions
Are these cool coloring pages free?
Yes. You can print them or color them online for free at home, at school or in a library.
Can I download all the cool coloring pages at once?
Yes. Press Download all at the top of the page to get every drawing in one PDF, with one drawing on each sheet.
Are these pages too hard for a 7 year old?
Some are. Start with the monster truck or the T rex, then try the surfing or snowboarding page.
What should I color these with?
Colored pencils give the most control on small parts. Markers work too, but use heavier paper or a spare sheet underneath.
Which page is the hardest?
The robot, the race bike, the space ship and the scaled fire breathing dragon have the most small parts.
