Chattahoochee RiverLands coloring page

The brief
Trust for Public Land contacted me to illustrate a coloring page for children visiting the Chattahoochee RiverLands. The page would be given out on site, so it had to work as line art for a young audience and print cleanly in black and white.

The Chattahoochee RiverLands is the organisation’s planned 100 mile outdoor destination along the river in Georgia, stretching across seven counties from Buford Dam to Chattahoochee Bend State Park.

The process
I sent sketched concepts, the team came back with notes, and I took the chosen direction through to final artwork.

The exploration stage covered more than one layout. I sketched a vertical composition and a horizontal alternative, then worked up the individual elements separately so the cast could be agreed before committing to a full page.

The final page introduces the whole river experience on one sheet: paddlers in a kayak, a child learning to fish with an adult, a cyclist on the trail, someone walking a dog, birdwatching, and a reader on a bench, with the wildlife you might actually spot there. The client’s own words sit across the top under the Chattahoochee RiverLands and Trust for Public Land logos.

I drew it as clean line art with confident outlines, no shading, and shapes simple enough for a child to fill in without getting lost. Everything is contained in a bordered composition so it prints and photocopies well. I also produced a coloured version of the same page and an animated version for digital use.

This one was personal: I love that area and the river, and I am from Georgia.