Japanese Lantern with a Ninja Coloring Page

Print this japanese lantern coloring page for a festival table or a classroom wall. A round ribbed lantern hangs from a cord at the top of the sheet, its middle band carrying five symbols in a row, with a tasselled cord dropping from the base. Below it, a small ninja stands looking up, headband tied at the left. A free printable sheet for ages 5 to 10, with more fine work in it than most of the ninja set.

How this coloring page was created

For this page we entered the concept: "A round paper lantern with a patterned band and a tassel hanging high on the page, held up by a cute little ninja below" on Colorin AI and generated a print ready coloring page in seconds.

"Patterned band" is the request that made this page worth printing. A paper lantern on its own is a striped ball, and a striped ball is a dull thing to color. Asking for a patterned band across its middle gave the generator a reason to invent decoration, and it filled the band with five separate symbols instead of a repeating motif. The concept also said the ninja holds the lantern; in the drawing it hangs from a cord and he simply stands beneath it.

What's in this japanese lantern coloring page

The five symbols across the middle band are the reason to choose this sheet over another lantern. They are not a repeated pattern. Each one is a different shape, so the band gives five small decisions rather than one long stripe.

That suits a child who has outgrown the big kawaii pages but is not ready for a dense scene. The lantern body is wide and forgiving, the ribs are easy, and the difficulty is concentrated in one strip across the middle that can be skipped or taken slowly.

Counting the drawing: the lantern is crossed by about fourteen horizontal ribs, six above the middle band and eight below, all curving with the ball. The band itself holds five symbols in a row from left to right: a crescent moon, a four pointed star, a five petalled flower with a round middle, a second four pointed star and a plain diamond. A capped fitting sits at the top with a straight cord running off the page, and a ring at the base holds a tassel drawn as a cap and about nine strands. The ninja below has a headband with one tail at the left, two round eyes, two blush ovals, a crossed jacket, a knotted sash and two rounded boots.

Coloring Ideas and Techniques

Color the five symbols and leave the lantern body pale. The band is the only detail on a very large shape, and it stands out most when the paper around it stays light.

Alternate the ribs if the lantern looks flat. Two close shades of red taken band by band down the ball gives it a curve that a single flat fill cannot, and there are enough ribs to make the effect obvious.

The tassel strands want a pencil worked from the top down, lifting as you go. Fading them toward the tips makes the cord look like thread. A flat fill turns it into a brush.