Christmas Coloring Pages

Below are some Christmas Coloring Pages.  They are from last year and the year before.  I DO plan on doing a new and  better Nativity drawing this year.   I also have met a Santa and I plan on drawing him this year as well.   These drawings are or will be avilailabe to print by clicking on one of the buttons up top. . . labeled. . . . . All Printables. . . or . . . . Holidays.

Santa in the Snow

Santa and Mrs. Claus by a Christmas Tree

Mary and Baby Jesus with Stone Manger

  

Mary and Baby Jesus

Nativity Scene

Turkey Cartoon to Color

Turkey Cartoon to Color

I know I know... Turkeys don't wear boots and a hat.   But I was inspired by the decorations and floats I saw today at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  We were not in New York City. . . we were watching the parade on TV.  Sometimes I just like to draw a fun, simple drawing. . . and cartoon or comic drawings are fun to do.   

Find this drawing, in printabler form, by clicking on the button labeled . . . . Holidays. . . .. It will also be in . . . All Printables. . . . . 

Thanksgiving

Tom Turkey in the Wild

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Above is a drawing I did tonight of a Tom Turkey.  I have seen wild turkeys up near Midway, Utah.  They are actually very beautiful birds.  Males have feathers that are green, red, purple, bronze, and copper. . . as well as black and shades of  brown.  A wild Tom Turkey (the males) can get up to 37 lbs in weight. . . that is about 17 kg.  Most are closer to 20 lbs or 9 kg.  A crazy fact is that a large male turkey . . . or Tom Turkey, has between 5000 and 6000 feathers!

NOTE:  I am also posting below a couple of older drawings for you and/or your little ones to color for Thanksgiving.  These can be found, in printable form... under the Holidays button up top.  Scroll down to the Thanksgiving section of the drop down menu.  The above drawing of the Tom Turkey will be found in the same place.   It will also be under the button labeled  . . . . Animals.  ... ALL the drawings can be found under the  button labeled . . . All Printables. . . .

Wannapanoag Man and Woman

This is the tribe from the first Thanksgiving

.

Pilgrim with Native American Friend
I think that there is a message from the first Thanksgiving.  We sometimes forget that the Navive Americans and the Pilgrims from Plymouth Colony were great examples of people from different races and different cultures working together in friendship.  We should all remember this.  

Stream Fairy with a Robin

Stream Fairy with a Robin

It is very wintery weather here in Utah this week. . . so I drew a more summer-like scene to help me feel warm.  This is a Stream Fairy.  She has transformed from Fairy size to mortal size and is talking with her friend, a robin.  In fact this friend is named Robin.  Of course I have an affinity for robins, since I am Robin.  Stream Fairies are very similar to River Fairies, although Stream Fairies rarely have webbed feet and hands.

A funny thing happened to this drawing.  I spilled eggnog on it.  My wife figured out a way to save the drawing.   

Look for the printable version under .....All Printables. . . . or . . . Fantasy Myths and Circus..... That is the  buttons up top.   Have fun. . . Stay warm, all of you who like me, live in the temperate climate of the Northern Hemisphere.   We have ANOTHER  big storm coming in tomorrow.   It is supposed ot last 4 days.   

Thanksgiving and Cretaceous Comics

My sister sent me this first comic today.  So, it gave me the idea for the second comic, so I drew it.

Turkey Temperature Comic

(Mr. Turkey will be in the oven.) 

T. rex Temperature Comic

The day before the Meteorite hit the Yucatan Penninsula

That meteorite wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. 

NOTE:  The second comic can be found in printable form by clicking on the buttons up top labeled either . . . .. Paleontology. . . . . or . . . . . All Printables.   The below drawing is from an older post. . . it shows a T. rex fleeing the pyroclastic cloud from the meteorite hit.  There is no way to know the exact temperature of the pyroclastic cloud from the Yucatan meteorite strike.  .   .  but it would have been very hot!   Scroll down to the bottom for newer drawings.  Older drawings are further up the list in the drop down menu.  By the way, you might notice that the below T. rex has some feathers.  That is a theory proposed by some paleontologists. . . that T. rex may have had feathers.   

T. rex runs from the Pyroclastic Flow

Velociraptor and Huge New Pterosaur from the Gobi Desert

Velociraptor and Huge Pterosaur from Gobi Desert

Velociraptor is quute well known, probably because it was front and center in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies.  The animators and model builders and puppet builders did a great job in making their Velociraptor seem real.  However... there is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that Velociraptor was more of a feathered dinosaur and looked more like a 6 foot long roadrunner bird.  The larger Velociraptor in Jurassic Park movies and the Jurassic World movies was the size of a Utahraptor.  So raptors DID get big.  There were even some larger than that.  Also, these raptors lived in the Cretaceous Period... AFTER the Jurassic Period ended.  

A new discovery from the Gobi Desert... where Velociraptor lived... was the a new gigantic Pterosaur or flying reptile.  These animals did not have feathers, but it is thought that they did have a type of fuzzy covering on their bodies.  The new Pterosaur. . . not yet named . . . had a wingspan of around 36 feet or 11 meters.  They stood around 18 feet or 5.5 meters tall.  That is as tall as a large bull giraffe gets.  Both these animals lived around 70 million years ago in what is now the Gobi Desert and it was a desert back then too.  This huge Pterosaur was bigger than the great majority of dinos living in the area so it very likely preyed on dinosaus. . . or maybe it preyed on their babies and eggs.  

Printable versiosn of this drawing found by clicking on top buttons labeled either. . . .  . 

 . . . . All Printables . . . . or . . . . . . Paleontology. . . . Remember to scroll down to the correct drawing.  New drawings are found at the bottom of the correct lists.   

Jeholornis and a Dragon

Jeholornis from China... one of the First  Birds

Jeholornis was one of the first birds to live on the Earth.  It still had teeth so you might call it a Dinobird.  It was as big as a modern turkey, which makes it one of the biggest avian flyers of the day.  It is thought that Jeholornis probably ate Ginkgo biloba fruit.  That is, the fruit of the ginkgo tree.  

Jeholornis was 2.5 feet or 70 cm long.  It had an exceptionally long tail.  It weighed around 20 lbs.  That is about 44 kg.  By the way, the fruit of the ginkgo tree smells terrible.  But the nut inside is edible.  

This dinobird lived in the Cretaceous Period.  It had some teeth but was probably an herbivore. . . or maybe an omnivore.  That means that it may have eaten both plants and animals.  If it ate animals it probably ate small animals like insects and lizards.  

Short Neck Dragon

Many cultures around the world have stories of dragons.  These stories are possibly originated from people finding fossilized bones of animals like Jeholornis.  Of course ancient people could have found fossilized skeletons of Pterosaurs, Dinosaurs, and Marine Reptiles.  China is one country with a strong dragon tradition.  Some Chinese dragons look almost like they are part snake.  

My drawing of the above Short Neck Dragon is one way I envision dragons.  Know that there are some very smart scientists who have theories of why dragons could fly, and why dragons could breathe fire...  Dragons could be breaking down food into methane and breathing the very flamable methane out.  Maybe they could click their teeth and make a spark just as they expelled a high speed burp of CH4.  CH4 is methane.  Methane is Naturl Gas.  Natural Gas is a molecule with an atomic mass of 16 amu.  The atomic mass of air is around 28.96 amu. So that makes the methane filling a big dragon tummy less dense than air. . . so Dragons CAN fly.  

NOTE:  You might notice that the dragon is not inked in.  It was done only in pencil.  This is a different way to draw a coloring page.  The above drawings... in printable form... are found by clicking on the top buttons. . . either. . .  . . . . . All Printables. . . . . .  or . . . . . . . Fantasy Myths and Circus  . . . or . . .  Paleontology.   Remember that older drawings are further up the correct list.
Be sure to scroll down to find new drawings.  I am also posting some older posts of Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs, and Marine Reptiles. . . all of which may have left fossils that were mistaken for dragons.

Tyrannosaurus rex with Blood Python Pattern

Tylosaurus with Tail Fluke

Tylosaurus with Snake-like Tail

Pteranoson fishing over a Tylosaurus

Baryonyx the Spinosaur

Diminutive Wood Elves with their Friend the Dragon

Diminutive Wood Elves and Friendly Dragon

Brother and Sister Diminutive-Wood-Elf Lookouts are seen here the Forest, by a River, with their Pet Dragon.  Not all dragons are deadly terrors and some smaller species are friendly with Elves.  These dragons are even helpful in keeping the Elves' forest home safe.  The smaller species of dragon are particularly friendly with smaller species of Elves.   

NOTE:  I want to give credit for my inspiration for this drawing.  It was a Jack-O-Lantern at the Pumpkin Walk in Logan, Utah this Halloween season.  The pumpkin was labeled as "Gelflings With Shard."  I have never seen the movie, The Dark Crystal, so I can't tell you much about Gelflings... but they are an elf-like race.  I modified my drawing and I am calling these two (brother and Sister) Diminutive-Wood-Elves. 

The drawing can be found in printable form by clicking on one of the correct  buttons up top and scrolling down to the bottom of the drop down list of drawings.  New drawings are found at the bottom of the list.  The correct buttons to find this drawing are. . . . . All Printables. . . . . or. . . . 

 . . . . . . Fantasy, Myths, and Circus.

Gelflings on Jack-O-Lantern

Samwise and Rosie at their Hobbit Wedding

Samwise and Rosie at their Hobbit Wedding

If you read the Lord Of The Rings books . . . or even saw the movies. . . then you know that Fodo had to leave and go to the Undying Elf Lands across the sea.  Samwise, Frodo's gardener,  would go on to marry Rosie and raise a family.  He was given Frodo's home (called Bag End) when Frodo left with the Elves.  Notice that both were barefooted.  .   . and there is hair on their feet.  Hobbits rarely wore shoes and so I imagine that they would be barefooted at their weddings as well.   

This drawing is my version of Sam and Rosie.  It is not super detailed.  Printable versions of this drawing are found by clicking on one of two buttons.... either.......All Printables. . . . or . . . . 

. . . . . . . Fantasy, Myths, and Circus.   Scroll down to the bottom for new drawings.  

Jesus Christ

Drawings of Jesus Christ  are found below the written message. 

Jesus Christ is our Savior.  In fact he is my personal Savior.  This is how it works.  We all fall short of the Glory of God.   In other words, we all commit sins.  The only person to never commit sin was Jesis.  In our premortal life we watched as Jesus volunteere to be our Savior.  Let me explain a little more clearly. . . 

When we sin we have incurred an eternal punishment.  We can never return to live with our Heavenly Parents.  This eternal punishment is something we can do nothing about.  If we pay the price for our sins via suffering somehow that is not enough . . .  or maybe going through the punishment changes us. . . I don't know.  

But our Father in Heaven knew we would sin.  He knew we would mess up.  He is the Father of our Spirits.  We lived with Him and our Heavenly Mother in the Premortal Life billions of years ago.  Heavenly Father asked for a volunteer to pay the eternal price for our sins.  Jesus Christ, our elder brother volunteered.  He made it possible for us to go through the process of repentance so that we can be forgiven and return to our Heavenly Parents one day.  

Jesus, under the direction of Heavenly Father, as a Spirit and as a God, created this planet and probably millions more.  When we are born our Spirit body goes into our little baby mortal body.  My mom used to say that it must be a challenge to get our full grown Spirit body into that little tiny baby mortal body.   

One more thing.   Jesus suffered so much in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross that He knows how we feel when we suffer.  He knows how we feel from suffering caused by our own sins and how we feel when we are suffering and it is not our own fault.  In fact it has been suggested that on the cross and in Gethsemane that Jesus felt all the pain and sorrow that every person on Earth and that ever did or will live on Earth ever did or will feel.  So He knows how to succor or comfort us in our trials.   

When we die our Spirit leaves our body.  Our Spirit goes into the Spirit World, which is located here on Earth in a different dimension.  If we took advantage of the opportunity to repent then we go to Paradise and thoses who are wicked and never repented go to what is called Spirit Prison.  In Spirit Prison the Spirits pay the price for their sins.  They suffer terribly.  In Paradise the righteous Spirits go on missions to teach the other Spirits about the Plan of Salvation.  

Of course when Jesus died on the cross His Spirit went to the Spirit World and he started this preaching of the Gospel to the Spirits in the Spirit World.  Jesus also was resurrected in three days after his execution.  He made it possible for all of us to be resurrected one day.  If we do our best to keep His commandments, and we repent when we don't. . ..ad we receive the ordinances of Salvation such as baptism. . . our Temple endowment. . . and Eternal Marriage. . .  then one day we can return to live with our Heavenly Parents (along with our spouse and family) for all eternity.  So people who never had a chance to marry in this life. . . or people who never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this life. . . will have those chances offered to them in the Eternities.  God is VERY fair.  The Eternities is the great equalizer.  But as mortals we tend to not think about the Eternities.  But we should because this life is only a short part of our existence.  We lived as our Heavenly Parents Spirit Children for eons. . . and we will live for eternity after this life.   

These are three rather recent . . . and not previously posted drawings I did of our Savior.  I draw pictures of Him while at church.  It keeps my ADHD mind focused so that I can pay attention to the talks.  The drawings after these first three drawings are from previous posts.   I picture Jesus as having larger than average kind eyes.   .    . but when He must his eyes can be intimidating.  He is the Creator of the Earth, and a God, after all.  The printable versions of these drawings are found by clicking on the buttons up top that are labeled. . . . Religious. . . . or . . . . All Printables.
I am working on how to draw eyes better.  So these first three drawings are my attempts at drawing eyes better.   I'm not sure how well I did.  Look at the earlier ones down below.   Maybe I'm trying too hard.   

Jesus on the Beach by the Sea of Galilee

Jesus, after His resurrection. among the Flowers
(Probably near the tomb.)

Jesus in the Celestial Kingdom

(We are resurrected in perfect form.  Perhaps Jesus was resurrected with His 

scars to remind us of who He is and what He did for us.) 

Jesus as a Young Man near Jerusalem

Jesus by the Jordan River

Jesus at Sea of Galilee with Fishing Boat

Jesus portrait outside the walls of Jerusalem

Jesus in the Clouds

New Dinosaur Tratayenia with claws like Wolverine.

Tratayenia rosalesi

Tratayenia rosalesi is a new mega-raptor dinosaur.  Well, it is newly discovered.  It lived in the mid-Cretaceous Period  between 95-85 million years ago.  It lived in South America and was probably the top predator of its day.  It was kind of like a giant Velociraptor, only its killer claws were on its hands instead of its feet.  It had particularly long first finger claws.  Those two claws were 12 inches long.  That would be 30.5 cm.  This dinosaur also had strong and large arms.  So it did NOT have relatively small arms and claws like a T. rex.  It had large claws on the other fingers, but not as large as those scythe shaped first finger claws.  In fact, those claws made it like a saurian Wolverine.

We don't know, but it may be that ALL raptors had feathers or at least protofeathers.  So I drew Tratayenia with those protofeathers.  It may have been covered only with scales, but raptor dinos have been found where there were feather impressions in the rock around the fossilized bones.

Tratayenia had a rather long flattened snout compared to T. rex or Allosaurus.  It may have been related to the other largeer Theropod dinos that appeared later in South America, like Gigonatosaurus or maybe Carcharodontosuarus.  But Tratayenia was much smaller than these later killers.  Still, at 2425 lbs or 1100 kg . . .  and with a length of 30 feet or 9 meters. . . Tratayenia was not a small animal.

The teeth of Tratayenia were serrated and there were a lot of them.  The bones were hollow like modern bird bones.  This made the dinosaur lighter that it would have been with solid bones.

NOTE:  Printable version of drawing found by clicking on buttons up top labeled either.....
. . . . All Printables. . . .. or. . . . . . Paleontology. . . . . then scroll down to the bottom for this new drawing.  I am posting a couple of drawings from former posts of the other animals mentioned in the above description. 

Velociraptor in the Gobi Desert

Gigonatosaurus on the Prowl

Carcharodontosaurus

Clavelita the Carnation Flower Fairy

Clavelita the Carnation Fairy

Clavelita is a tiny Flower Fairy.  She is a uniquely adapted Fairy in that she likes to live among the carnation flowers at flower farms.  These types of Fairies are of great benefit to Mankind.  They are great pollinators and also help pollenate crops such as apples, cherries, plums, etc.  But they prefer to be near ornamental flowers and carnations in particular.  

NOTE:  In my opinion carnations are the most beautiful scent of anything on Earth.  If you want to learn something. . . ask yourself why this Fairy is named Clavelita.  Then look up the Spanish translation for Clavel.  IF you wonder why she is not wearing carnations flowers it is because to have a flower small enough to fint as a flower wreath on her head she had to go with Baby's Breath flowers for her wreath.   Notice though, that the image to the right of the Fairy is part of a carnation flower.     Now, to find the printable versions of this are found by clicking on the top buttons of either. . . . All Printables. .  .. . or . . . . . .Fantasy, Myths, and Circus. . . . . . Remember to scroll to the bottom of the drop down menu to find the new drawings like this one.  

Ferrisaurus the Iron Dinosaur called Buster

Ferrisaurus the Iron Dinosaur

Ferrisaurus was a protoceratopsian dinosaur.  This type of dino evolved before bigger dinos like Styrachosaurus and Triceratops.  It was the size of a bighorn sheep and probably could walk on all fours or on its back legs.  It was nicknamed Buster and it was found far up North in British Columbia, Canada.  It is the only known dinosaur endemic to B.C.  It was named Ferrisaurus because of the old Native American nickname for the railroad the Iron Horse.  The Genus name is Ferrisaurus and the species name is sustutensis.  So Ferrisaurus sustutensis means Iron Lizard fom the Sustut River.  

Let me explain... Fe = Ferris or the element iron.  Fe is the symbol on the periodic table for Iron.  Ferris is the Latin name for Iron.  So you are asking, "What is he talking about?"  I need to tell you that Ferrisaurus was found next to a railroad track . . . way up North in British Columbia.  

The skeleton or I should say the fossilized bones were not a complete skeleton.  But there were enough to determine that this was a protoceratopsian.  That type of dinosaur is also called the Leptoceratopsids.  Estimated size is 1.75 meters long and it weighed around 150 kg.  That is 5 feet 9 inches long and a weight of 330 lbs.  

Ferrisaurus was a plant eater or herbivore with a large parrot-like beak for croping plant matter.  It lived around the time of T. rex and probably was sometimes prey for T. rex.  It lived at the same time as its larger cousins like Triceratops and Pentaceratops so it did not evolve into the big horned dinosaurs. . . it was a contemporary animal species.  It is weird but it was a dinosaur that evolved several million years before the big Ceratopsian horned dinos but it never evolved large size and it also never evolved horns or an impressive huge armored frill.  I guess it DID evolve the two short horn-like projections on the side of its face.  Still, compared to the meter long brow horns of Triceratops... the Ferrsaurus' defenses seem pitiful.  It was small enough that it probably just hid in the bushes when Tyrannosaurus came around. 

By the way, during the late Cretaceous Period there really was an uptick in volcanic activity.  The Pterosaur in the sky is a Pteranodon and they also lived during this time period of life on Earth.

Find the printable version of this drawing by clicking on the top buttons labeled either . . . . . . .

. . . .. . All Printables. . . . . .  or. . . . . . . Paleontology.   .  .   ..  Scroll to the bottom of the drop down menu for new drawings like this one.   

Jessica the Grass Fairy

Jessica the Grass Fairy

Grass Fairies are among the smallest of Fairies.  They love to sun themselves on a mushroom or toadstool during the summer.  Unlike mortals, toadstools are not dangerous for Fairies to eat.  You may also notice that this Grass Fairy, like all Grass Fairies, is quite slender.  The Grass Fairies tend to have wings that mimic butterfly wings.  The swallowtail butterfly type of wings are very common among the Grass Fairies.  

Grass Fairies do have tasks to perform.  They are pollinators of flowers, such as flowers found up in mountain meadows or flowers found on the prarie.  There are very few sightings of Grass Fairies because they use a disguise charm to make us mortals see butterflies.  If you saw Jessica here you would think that you were looking at a Swallowtail Butterfly.   

NOTE:  This drawing is a departure from my usual method of drawing with fine point pen . . . or drawing with pencil and then inking it over with a fine point pen.  This drawing is only done in pencil, but I did make copies of it several times and overdrew on the copy ink lines.  

Printable version of this drawing is found by clicking on the top button labeled either........

. . . . . . All Printables . . . ... or . . . . . . Fantasy, Myths, and Circus. . . . . . . . . .

Scroll down to the bottom of the list for new drawings.  Below are 2 photos of some different kinds of Swallowtail butterflies.  Except for the Wikipedia one, I took these photos.

Swallowtail Butterfly from Wikipedia

The wings in the Grass Fairy are somewhat based on this species. 

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly from the Black Hills of South Dakota

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA

Tiger in the Jungle

Tiger in the Jungle

Tigers or Panthera tigris, are the larges species of cat.  They have stripes that are visible even if their hair is shaved.  The makes are much bigger than the females.  A male tiger, counting the tail, can be almost 13 feet long.  That is almost 4 meters long.  A large male can weigh up to 675 lbs or 306 kg. 

Tigers once ranged all over most of Asia.  Now their territory has been reduced by 93%.  It is estimatred that there are about 3,900 tigers in the wild.  That population went up slightly recently.  But there were once tens of thousands of tigers in the wild.  It is estimated that in 1900 there were 100,000 tigers in the world, most in the wild.  

Tigers hunt wild boars, ungulates in general, like deer, and whatever they can catch.  A very few tigers become man eaters.  Most do not.  Most tigers try to avoid man.  Tigers are also unique among cats in that they LIKE water.  Most members of the cat family do not.  

This new drawing is found by clicking on the button labeled . . . . All Printables. . . . or. . . . 

 . . . . .. . . .Animals.    Scroll down to the bottom of the list for new drawings.   I will include some previous posts of drawings of some of the Tiger's nearest relatives.   .    . 

Jaguar attacking a Caimen

Lion Family

Three Nephite Disciples in a den of Jaguars

(See Book of Mormon, Another Witness for Christ 4 Nephi chapter 1 verse 33)

Cougar by a Pine Tree

Bulldozer

Bulldozer

My grandson, who is two years old, loves bulldozers.  Coincidentally we went on a tour of a rock quarry near our community.  It has, as you would excpect, bulldozers.  The rock quarry company is called Geneva Rock.  They have huge bullduzers that have a ripper on the back.  These rippers dig into the ground or rock and break it up.  Then the bulldozer backs up and pushes the broken up rock into a pile. 

If you wonder about what is drawn under the bulldozer, those are rock layers and I drew them in the geologic symbols for:  sandstone, shale, and limestone.  Those layers form on a desert or beach for sandstone.....  in a shallow sea for shale. . .   and in a deeper ocean for limestone.    These rock layers are seen in this pattern if the ocean was drying up there at that spot where the rock layers formed.  

This drawing is found under the buttons labeled either . . .. All Printables. . . or . . . Transportation.  

Scroll down to the bottom for new drawings.   

T. rex Vision and Dark Scales like a Crocodile or Alligator

T. rex with Triceratops in the Distance

Tyrannosaurus was the largest or at least one of the largest land predators ever to live on our planet.  The rather excellent movie, in my opinion, Jurassic Park ... portrayed T. rex as having vision based on movement.  This is probably nonsense.  T. rex's head stood around 18 feet tall.  Those eyes would have been almost the size of a softball.  T. rex had eyes over 3 inches or 8 cm across.  

That means that T. rex could probably see in excellent high definition.  And that height would have helped T. rex to see a long ways.  T. rex eyes faced forward so it also had good depth perception.  No longer should we think of T. rex as having weak eyes.  Those foreward facing eyes would have been an excellent tool for finding and catching prey animals for lunch ... such as the Triceratops you can see in the distance.  

By the way, T. rex also had an incredible sense of smell that was way beyond what a bloodhound can smell.  That is really saying something.  But, back to the eyes and vision of T. rex.  There are two eyes visible in this drawing, but the scale pattern might make it hard to notice the further eye.  

This drawing is done with a pattern of scales similar to what some crocodilians have.  That means some scales are very dark or blackish.

NOTE:  Notice the drawing of crocodilians from older posts.  I am reposting them below so you can see what I was talking about concerning the scale patterns.  The new drawing of the T. rex is found under the "Paleontology" button up top... or under the "All Printables" button.  The new drawings are always at the bottom of the drop down menu so. . . . scroll down.  IF you want to see the crocodilian drawings then you will need to click on the "Animals" button.

Caiman by a River

This drawing does not show darker scales, but you could color it that way. 

Some crocodilians have a bit of a striped pattern with the darker scales being the stripes.

Salt Water Crocodile by a River

You could color these scales with some dark too. 

Saltwater Crocodile in the Outback

This drawing DOES have the scales with darker scales included. 

Alligator

Jaguar attacking a Caiman