A horse crosses a meadow at full gallop, mane and tail streaming in the wind, wildflowers blurring around its hooves. This horse coloring page is all about movement, and it makes you think about how color shifts when light slides over a muscular body. It is a natural pick for anyone who dreams of riding.
The horse fills most of the paper and is seen from the side, legs off the ground in the middle of its stride. Muscles in the neck, chest and hindquarters are traced with soft lines, and the mane forms long strands that float backward. Below, a meadow of flowers in many sizes gives you a chance to pair bright colors with the calmer tones of the animal.
It works well from ten to fourteen. Coloring a horse takes a little observation, because proportions and muscles matter more than on other animals, but the outlines guide you nicely. It is a common choice for kids who ride or are curious about horses, and for anyone who wants to practice showing motion in a picture.
Download the Letter or A4 PDF and send it to print at one hundred percent. Most home printers handle it well in standard quality. If you are going to color with markers, use heavier paper and slide a spare sheet underneath so ink cannot stain the table.
Real coats offer plenty to choose from: a bay with a dark mane, a dappled gray, a coppery chestnut or a pinto with big white patches. Try coloring each strand of the mane in a slightly different shade to suggest wind. Muscles stand out when you darken the edges a little and keep the center lighter.
The trick horse painters use is deciding where the light comes from. If you picture the sun high on the left, the back and neck get more light, while the belly and the right-side legs fall into shadow. First color the whole surface in the base tone, then add the dark tone with long strokes that follow the shape of each muscle. A touch of warm color inside the shadows keeps the animal from looking like plastic.
Common ones are bay, with a brown body and black mane, chestnut, a coppery red, gray, which can look nearly white, and black. There are also palominos, golden with a pale mane, and pintos with large white patches.
Use long, curved strokes in one direction for the mane and tail, and keep the legs a little darker. A few light streaks across the meadow that follow the run help reinforce the feeling of speed.
Anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on detail. If you plan to shade, split the job: first the body, then the mane and tail, and finally the meadow and flowers.
