I started coloring full moons because I could not sit still through a phone call. Hands needed something. So I printed a big round moon, no shading, just the outline, and filled it in with a gray pencil while my landlord explained the radiator for the third time. Calmest I’d been in weeks.
The thing about full moon art is that it goes one of two ways. Either it’s a quiet circle that makes a wall feel finished, or it’s a glowing yellow disc that screams craft-fair table. Cheap glow effects, too much yolk in the color, a halo that’s trying. You know the second you hold the proof to the light.
These are the ones I kept. Some I framed. Some I colored in and gave away, some are still pinned crooked over the kettle. I print everything flat at the print desk on Carrow because my home printer chokes on anything thicker than 24lb. A few links below are affiliate links, so if you grab one it sends a little back my way. Doesn’t cost you a cent.
A few links below are affiliate links. If you grab a print through one, it sends a little something my way at no extra cost to you.
A moon and a sun that finally agree on a wall
I’d been hunting for a pair that didn’t look like a tarot deck threw up. This one is calm. A full moon face and a sun, clean line, the kind you can print at 8×10 and not feel embarrassed about. I ran two and hung them side by side in the hallway where the light switch lives.
What won me over was the line weight. Thin enough to feel drawn, thick enough that it doesn’t vanish when you print small. My niece colored the sun in highlighter orange and it still held up.
One gripe. The faces have a lot of tiny detail, so if you go below 5×7 it starts to muddy. Stay big and you’re fine.
The witchy one I keep above the spice shelf
This is the moody set. Old-book feel, a full moon sitting in among symbols and stars, the sort of thing that looks like it fell out of a thrifted almanac. I printed one on cream stock and it reads vintage without trying to.
I gave the second print to a coworker who decorates her whole apartment in dark green and brass. She framed it that same week. Said it looked like it cost more than it did, which is the entire point.
Catch is the contrast. On bright white paper it goes a little harsh. Run it on something warm or off-white and the whole thing softens.
Where the full moon meets a field of weeds
Moon and wildflowers. I was skeptical, it sounds like a candle label. But the flowers are loose and a bit wild, not the stiff botanical kind, and they wrap a full moon in a way that feels grown, not bought.
I did this one at 11×14 for the bedroom and colored the flowers in muddy purples while a storm sat over the block all afternoon. Took me two evenings. Worth every minute.
The one snag is the file is busy. If you hand it to a kid expecting tidy coloring lines, they’ll get lost. It’s an adult-patience page.
Crystals stacked under a full moon, for the patient colorer
This started as a phase chart and turned into my favorite thing to color when I can’t sleep. Crystals, a full moon up top, sharp clean facets. I print it on plain paper and shade the gems with the cheap colored pencils my nephew left behind.
Framed in black at 8×10 it looks intentional next to the moon-and-sun pair. Did not plan that. Happy accident.
Fair warning, the crystal facets are fiddly. Lovely once you’re done, but budget an hour and good light or your gray smears into the lines.
Two hands cradling the whole cycle
Hands holding the moon through its phases. I almost scrolled past it. Then I printed it and it became the page I hand to friends who say they can’t draw and want to color something that isn’t a mandala.
I did a run at 5×7, colored the full moon in soft silver and left the hands plain. Pinned it over the kettle. It’s been there since a wet Wednesday in March and I keep not framing it.
The gripe is the hands. They want a steady palm to color cleanly, the fingers are slim. Slow down on those and the rest is easy.
A little set for when you want three, not thirty
A mini-set, which is exactly what I needed for the gap above my desk. Small moon-and-flower pieces, enough to make a tidy row without committing to a whole gallery wall. I printed all three at 5×7 in an afternoon.
My cousin’s kid colored one in for me as a birthday thing, full moon in screaming pink, and honestly it’s the best of the three. Hangs in the kitchen now.
Downside, the pieces are small by design, so don’t try to blow one up to poster size. It’ll go soft. Keep them little and they sing.
The quiet filler that ties a moon wall together
Not a full moon hero piece, more the connective tissue. Crescents, scattered stars, little dots. I print these small and tuck them between the bigger prints so the wall doesn’t feel like a row of lonely circles.
I colored the dots in at the kitchen table one slow Sunday with tea going cold beside me. Takes no thought, which is the appeal. Pure background hum.
One catch. The dots are tiny. If you’re coloring rather than just printing the silhouette, you’ll want a fine tip or you’ll color over half of them. I did. Twice.
Questions I Get About These
Are full moon printables free to download?
Some are, a lot aren’t, and the free ones are usually the ones that look free. Thin lines, a watermark you have to crop, a single size. The sets I keep are the paid ones because they come in clean files I can print at any size without the moon going pixelated.
If you just want something to color for an afternoon, a free outline is fine. If you want to frame it and forget it, pay the few dollars and skip the headache.
What is the full moon symbol used in art?
Usually a plain filled circle, sometimes with a soft face or a ring of stars around it. The full moon tends to stand for completion, a cycle closing, things coming round. That’s why it lands so calmly on a wall.
In the sets here you’ll see it both ways, a flat disc for the minimal pieces and a detailed face for the witchy and vintage ones. Same idea, different mood.
Before You Tape Anything Up
I didn’t expect coloring full moons to become the thing that gets me off my phone, but here we are. The kettle wall is half outlines I never framed and I’ve stopped apologizing for it. Print one flat, color it badly the first time, live with it for a week.
If you grab a set from the links above, you’ve helped me keep the print desk on Carrow in business and bought me a coffee. Mostly the coffee. Now go tape something crooked to a wall and leave it there.