Picasso Colors

Thanks so much for your purchase! Our grayscale coloring pages are intentionally different than standard coloring pages. Regular coloring pages can never reproduce famous works of art well, we feel that they always look too simplistic and don't have the life of the original works. These are free flowing artworks with a lot of color variation - they images aren't made from fixed shapes that are filled with one color.

Here's the process that we'd suggest for our grayscale coloring pages to make sure you create frame-worthy works of art.

1. Download this PDF, which shows each original artwork in full color.
2. Pick a section that you'd like to start with and notice the background color in the original artwork. Start with a similar color and begin lightly adding that color over the grayscale lines in the sections you're working on.
3. Next, look at the original artwork and see what shadows and darker accent colors are in that section. For the shadows, simply use heavier pressure with the same color to fill those areas. For the accent colors, use secondary colors to add lines and shapes on top of the background colors.
4. The light background color will go on over the grayscale backgrounds but you'll still be able to see the shapes. The shadows and accent colors will cover the grayscale lines completely so you end up with a result that doesn't look like a coloring page.
5. Don't get hung up on exact color matches, pick the closest match and the reproduction will still work. Some customers even pick extremely different color pallets and have fun results.
6. Think about grayscale coloring differently than coloring traditional pages where you fill shapes one time and you're done. With this process, start light with the background and build color on top of the background with additional layers of colored pencil. Be patient because it may take several layers to start seeing the complex work, but keep at it and it will happen. We chose the colored pencil medium for this because of its ability to layer color so well.

You can see an example of this process in the video at the bottom of this page.

Of course, the actual colors used will vary depending on what piece you're working on but we're happy to help if you have specific questions about one artwork.

And most importantly, remember that you can't "mess up". Many famous artists didn't believe in mistakes. Embrace these ideas and have some fun!

"I don't use the accident - 'cause I deny the accident. There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end." - Jackson Pollock

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” - Scott Adams

"To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Happy exploring and coloring!