Seven habits that make mosaic pages faster and cleaner

1. Work one colour at a time

The single biggest change you can make. Instead of moving square to square across the page, pick up one pencil and find every square carrying its number. You stop swapping pencils dozens of times a minute, your hand settles into a rhythm, and the page goes noticeably faster.

2. Start from the middle

Subjects usually sit centrally, so the middle squares carry the most information. Starting there means the picture begins resolving sooner, which is more motivating than filling three-quarters of a background before anything appears.

3. Protect the reveal

If you want the mystery to last, do the opposite: fill background colours first — the large blocks of sky, water or shadow. Leave the small-count colours, which almost always belong to the subject, for the end. You will get a much sharper reveal moment.

4. Sharpen more than feels necessary

Mosaic quality lives at the edges between squares. A blunt pencil rounds corners and blurs the grid, which is what makes a finished page look muddy. Sharpen every ten to fifteen minutes, not when the pencil finally stops working.

5. Use a straight edge for long runs

When a colour runs in a long line — a horizon, a wall, a wing edge — lay a ruler or index card along the boundary and colour against it. It costs a second to position and eliminates the creep that otherwise accumulates across a dozen squares.

6. Keep two books going

Different books suit different moods, and forcing yourself through a bright, busy page when you want something quiet is how books get abandoned. Most regular colourists keep one calm title such as Flowers and one high-energy title such as 90s Vibes open at the same time.

7. Stop mid-page on purpose

Counter-intuitive, but effective. Stopping halfway through a colour pass gives you an obvious, low-friction place to restart tomorrow. Finishing a page cleanly means tomorrow starts with a blank grid and a decision, and decisions are what stop people picking the book back up.

Every One Square More book is printed single-sided at 8.5 x 11 inches, so these techniques apply across the catalog. Browse all books →