Fun fact about me is that I’m obsessed with the outer space. I would spend hours reading about scientific discoveries and wondering whether there’s intelligent life out there. I’ve used this inspiration for the newest coloring tutorial. Read on to learn how to create a galaxy themed background for your coloring pages.
Supplies you’ll need
I’ve used the Everblend Art Markers from Arteza and I can recommend them with my whole heart. They come in many colors and with a blender, the colors mix wonderfully and they are extremely affordable for the high quality. Seriously, it’s a steal! Of course, you can use any alcohol-based markers for this technique, such as Copic Markers or Promarkers. You’ll need at least 5 colors and a blender (colorless marker).
You’ll also need white acrylic paint and a tiny brush for the stars. You could use a white gel pen instead, but I love the texture that acrylic paint created on the paper.
Last, but not least – you’ll need your coloring page! For this tutorial, I’m using this postcard with a floral map of the United States.
First layer
Pick your two darkest colors and create a single layer of ink in two opposite corners. You only need a single layer of ink. Don’t worry if the color doesn’t blend smoothly right away. We’ll work on that later. 🙂
The colors I used are:
Arteza A8272 Denim Blue
Arteza A8273 Royal Purple
Add brighter colors
Going from the darkest to brightest color, work your way into the middle of the coloring page. Make sure there’s at least a small overlap between the colors, but don’t scrub the first layer with the next marker. Again, don’t worry about the blending just yet. Thin layers will do just fine.
I used the following colors for this step:
Arteza A8274 Sapphire Blue
Arteza A8276 Carolina Blue
Arteza A8275 Lavender
Arteza A884 Lilac
Arteza A881 Violet
Start Blending
It’s time for the magical Blender marker! Before you start blending, you’ll need to understand how the blend actually happens. You see, when ink meets moisture it starts wandering. You can observe this happening when you pour a little ink into a glass of water. It starts spreading in slow, dance-like motion. The same thing happens on paper, except it’s an even slower process, because there’s less moisture and so the ink travels slower.
When you keep all of that in mind, you’ll quickly understand that blending markers isn’t about rubbing the paper with the marker tips. All you need to do is apply moisture to the paper and the ink particles will start dancing with each other and moving on their own.
In the above example, I drew one invisible layer over the previous colorful layers and let the card sit for a few minutes. Can you see the colors mixing with each other already? Repeat the process until you’re happy with the blend. Add another layer with the blender, let it sit, add another layer and so on.
It’s also a good moment to add more ink where it’s needed. I decided to make the background much darker, which made the white map really pop.
Add stars
Finally, it’s time to paint the stars onto the sky. Use a thin brush to make tiny paint dots all over the place. Keep in mind that real stars aren’t spaced evenly across the sky. Vary star sizes and spacing for a more realistic look.
That’s it! By now, your coloring page should have the most amazing galaxy-themed background. Do you have any questions? Pop them in the comments box below!
And if you loved this tutorial, but want to see the full curated list of my recommended art supplies for coloring? Look no further 🙂
Happy Coloring!
Anna
I think there is so much to learn from outer space, and who doesn’t love a starry sky
This is timely since I am planning to get new markers. Will take your recommendation and try Arteza. Thank you for the tips and tutorial! This is really nice! The colors look so vibrant.
Wow, what a timing! 😀🙌 Highly recommend these. They now released a set of 120 as well and I’ve been thinking of getting it 😍
This would make a great gift for my friend who is celebrating her birthday soon! I am glad I came across this article!!!
This looks like such a fun tutorial for me to share with my niece! I can’t wait to give this a a try for a fun weekend project!
What a gorgeous design! I love the space theme. I was totally confused by the squares, but it all came out so beautiful in the end! If I were to look into purchasing markers – do you have any suggestions by chance?
This sounds like a really good activity for my son to get him off screens for a little while. It’s also a good option for calming the mind so might be something to try later in the day before bed. He loves to be creative and space so it’s the perfect combination. Thanks for listing the colour shades, it will help us get the same effect when we try this.
My daughter loves exploring activities like this. I will definitely share this article with her. I love how you laid it all out for us, step by step, and as someone not really artistically inclined, I may give it a try! Really awesome!
Yay, I’m so glad you found it achievable, that was exactly my hope ❤️ Complex techniques only seem complex, until you break them down into easy steps.
I’ve always been a little intimidated by galaxy backgrounds, but the way you broke it down made it feel totally doable — and honestly, it was a bit therapeutic? The colour blending tips were super helpful, too. Can’t wait to try this out during my next creative night in!
Hi Sonia, I’m so glad you found this tutorial helpful! Intimidating things are just things that haven’t been broken down into simple steps yet 🙂
This is really cool! I didn’t realize there were “pens” that could be used like this. Very pretty!
Thank you! Highly recommend these! 🙂
This is so fascinating. I had absolutely no idea there was even such a thing as an alcohol based marker. Just…wow!
Thank you, Stacie! I really recommend this type of markers for coloring pages and single-sided coloring books. They’re so fun to work with and blend beautifully!
This would be something my daughter would love; I like how you laid out everything step by step. I need to grab those markers for my daughter; you blended everything so well…the galaxy image looks great!
Thank you, Lisa! Highly recommend these – alcohol based markers are truly fantastic for coloring. 🙂 And for the white stars you can replace the white paint with a white gel pen, it would work just as well.
I love how your tutorial makes such a beautifully ethereal galaxy effect feel totally achievable. Your clear step-by-step approach and blend of explanations really demystify a technique that seems almost magical.
Thank you, Jerry! I’m so glad you found this tutorial helpful 🙂
This is so much fun! It’s fascinating how that gridded layout turned into something so etheral looking.
Thank you, Beth! The first layer can be so confusing, but these markers are great for multi-layering and blending.