How to Color Dinosaur Scales With Colored Pencils

Start with light, not with green

The easiest way to color dinosaur scales is to decide where the light comes from before choosing every skin color. Pick upper left, upper right, or straight above. Then keep the light-facing scale edges lighter, the belly and underside softer, and the spaces between overlapping scales darker.

Sources were checked on August 21, 2026. Museum sources support careful wording around dinosaur color: pigment evidence is rare, and some color patterns can be inferred only in specific fossils. This tutorial is a coloring workflow, not a scientific reconstruction.

What you need

Use:

• Three colored pencils in one family: light, middle, and dark.
• One neutral shadow pencil: gray, dark brown, indigo, or muted purple.
• A white or cream pencil for softening, if your paper accepts it.
• Scrap paper behind the page if you press hard or test colors.
• A sharp point for tiny scales and a slightly dull point for broad skin.

Skip wet media and solvents unless the book paper has been tested. Colored pencil is the safest default for unknown coloring-book paper because you can build texture gradually.

Step 1: Choose a dinosaur palette

You have two good paths:

Do not worry about perfect accuracy. The Natural History Museum explains that pigment evidence is preserved only rarely, while the American Museum of Natural History describes how melanosomes have helped researchers infer colors for some feathered dinosaurs. That means creative coloring is reasonable unless the page specifically asks for a known scientific reconstruction.

Step 2: Put down a light base

Choose your lightest main color and cover the dinosaur with gentle pressure. Keep the layer even and leave the highlight side a little paler. If the dinosaur has a belly, throat, or underside, make that area lighter or warmer than the back.

Do not fill the tooth of the paper immediately. Prismacolor's blending guidance describes layering and burnishing as ways to blend colors, but heavy pressure can also flatten the paper early. Start light so the page can accept darker texture later.

Step 3: Mark the form shadows

Before drawing every scale, shade the big form first:

• Under the jaw.
• Under the belly.
• Behind legs and arms.
• At the base of the tail.
• Where one limb overlaps another.
• On the side facing away from the light.

Use the middle color first, then add dark brown, dark green, indigo, or gray only where the shadow needs depth. This makes the dinosaur feel round before the scale detail begins.

Step 4: Darken between the scales

If the page already has scale outlines, trace the lower or shadow-side edge of each scale with the darker pencil. Do not outline every scale equally. Put more dark marks in shadow areas and fewer in highlight areas.

If the page has smooth skin, create scale texture with short curved strokes. Make them smaller near the face, fingers, and tail tip. Make them wider along the body and thigh. Follow the body direction so the marks wrap around the form instead of floating on top.

Step 5: Add texture without making mud

Use two stroke types:

1. Tiny C-shaped strokes for individual scales.
2. Short broken hatch marks for rough skin.

Layer the middle color over the base, then touch the darkest color only into creases, wrinkles, and scale gaps. If the whole dinosaur becomes dark, the texture disappears. Keep a few clean light areas on the snout, shoulder, hip, and upper tail.

Step 6: Soften only the broad areas

Use a light pencil, cream pencil, or the original base color to smooth broad body areas. Avoid heavy burnishing over small scale lines too soon because it can blur the texture. If you want a polished look, burnish the large flank or thigh but leave the face and claws crisp.

Clean the tip of any light pencil before using it over dark green or brown. Prismacolor notes that light pencils can pick up darker color during blending, and that can transfer unwanted pigment into highlights.

Step 7: Finish claws, horns, teeth, and eyes

Keep hard parts separate from skin:

• Teeth: cream base, gray or tan shadow, white edge.
• Claws: warm gray base, dark gray underside, small highlight.
• Horns: tan base, brown rings, darker tip.
• Eyes: dark outer ring, bright iris, tiny white highlight.
• Frills or crests: use brighter color if the page feels too flat.

Small accents make the dinosaur read clearly even if the body colors are simple.

What if the dinosaur should have feathers?

Some dinosaur pages include feathers or fuzzy body covering. Treat those areas differently from scales. Use short directional strokes rather than C-shaped scale marks. Keep the feather strokes aligned with the body, then add darker tufts where the wing, tail, or crest turns away from the light.

Avoid saying "this species was definitely this color" unless the coloring page or a reliable paleontology source says so. Museum sources show that some fossil color evidence exists, but it does not cover every dinosaur in every coloring book.

Bottom line

Color dinosaur scales by solving the light first, then the texture. Use a light base, shade the body form, darken scale gaps, add curved strokes, and save the strongest pressure for the finish. Earth tones feel natural, bright accents feel playful, and both are acceptable for coloring pages when exact color evidence is not provided.

Sources

• American Museum of Natural History, "What color were extinct dinosaurs?", checked August 21, 2026: amnh.org
• Natural History Museum, "How to bring a dinosaur to life in technicolour," checked August 21, 2026: nhm.ac.uk
• Prismacolor, "Color Blending Tips," checked August 21, 2026: prismacolor.com
• Crayola, "Colored Pencil Tips & Techniques by Claudia Nice," checked August 21, 2026: crayola.com
• Coloring Book Hub prior guide, "How to Blend Colored Pencils in Coloring Books," checked August 21, 2026: content/articles/2026-07-17/how-to-blend-colored-pencils-in-coloring-books.md