How to Paint Realistic Fur in Acrylics

1. Introduction: Hi, my name is Charlotte Jordan. I am self-taught surreal animal artist based in Florida. I have always chosen animals as we're subject to paints. I love them, especially cats, as you can see behind me, when it came to learning how to paint that, I picked up a few tricks and techniques over the years of painting them, and that is what I'm going to share with you today. So in this class we are going to be learning a variety of different first, learning how to paint black, white folks for, and a variety of different style. So I hope you enjoyed this class and stick around to the end to leave me a review, it's always helpful to know what you guys are looking for in classes and what you'd like to know next. So let's jump into the classes them. 2. Supplies: So for this first little class here, I'm gonna be talking a little bit about the paints I will be using, which is acrylic, and some of the supplies and what I will be demonstrating pretty much. So I'm just going to be painting all of these techniques in their sketchbook here is technically watercolor paper, but it can handle acrylic paints pretty well. You may be wondering what are acrylic paints? Acrylic paint is basically that in between oil and water color, if you like. That's what I like to think that acrylic paint is basically pick them by suspended in a emulsion and is water-based. Once it drives, that paint, then solidifies and then it becomes water resistant. So that is pretty much the basics of what acrylic paint is. Now, you're going to want to have some supplies. You can prefer to work on acrylic paper. You can walk on water color people Occam as well. Or you can use a canvas if you would prefer to do that as well. Obviously have some water nearby, have your palate. I have mine here and I always recommend having a couple of clean sheets of paper towel or some kind of napkin that you prefer to use and obviously your paint. But let me just run through the brushes that I use real quick. These are just some of the brushes that I use to create 3D textures. You don't have to have the specific ones I have. Even if you just have a simple angled brush than that is more than sufficient to create some of the text plus here. So this one here is known as a Rick brush or even sometimes it's called a wisp brush. And this is honestly one of my most favorite brushes to use for third textures, simply because it has that nice spacing in between each bristle. So it creates that natural look. I even have one that I made myself. I just took a flat brush and then cut in between some sections to create my own little rake brush. And I actually quite like this one as well, simply because it is shorter and the bristles are bit more stiff, then the west brush. So it does create a bit more of a shorter third technique, which is good to use. I also have a angled brush or a flat brush with me so that I can lay down those base layers and there's really basic shades before a even go into the detailing of. And then, as I mentioned earlier, and angled brush is also really good to use if you don't have a wisp brush or a reg brush, simply because you can create those individual strokes with it without being too details or so. And then finally, I do have a little tiny detail brush, which is really good for those individual wisps that we will create later on. So that is pretty much the supplies. And going through here, we're gonna be creating a range of different third textures, going from white to black, to further has markings or scrapes and, and it should be relatively easy to do. You'll notice a passion throughout all of them. And we will just get straight into the claw system. 3. Lesson 1: Red Fur: So for this first class, we're actually going to be painting something similar to Fox fur or read for. And I'm first using this large flat angle brush to blot in the basic shadows of the face. And I'm just using a burnt umber for this just to keep it really dark. It didn't mix a tiny bit of black into it just to keep it really, really dark there. And remember when you're painting for, you want to keep in the direction that the forest going. So for this particular painting, it's pointing down towards me. And now I'm going in with a burnt sienna and i'm filling in all those gaps, mobile whites with this color, just to give me a nice base layer to work author. Normally when I would do paintings of animals, you may want to lay down a thin wash of this color all over the canvas just so you are not working from the stock. White. Here I have a spray bottle if your paint, those start to dry out just because paper tends to be a little more absorbent, then you can use a spray bottle to keep your paints wet. Now I'm going back in with that doc, an amber color, just filling in some of the dark areas and redefining them. And I'm going to switch to this rake brush now. And I'm going to start putting in some basic details. And I'm actually using it first to sort of smudge out and soften some of the shadows and create some texture with that. So I'm just going in dry brushing over the top of the wet paint and smudging out some of those colors. And then using a time at a white, mixing it in with that burnt sienna. And I'm going to create the first detailed layer here. And with a break brush, if your paint gets to go lobby or too much paint is on that Brush, you're gonna end up getting huge blobs of paint instead of those fine detailed streaks that you want. So just wipe off your brush a few times on, thin it down with water to get that thinner and more detailed appearance. Also when you are doing for, you want to clump for and have them going in different directions. And that if we were doing very short and straight for, then you want to keep the direction of the for. Pretty much similar. But since we're doing slightly longer for we are kind of adding some whispers in there, having them pointing in different directions slightly, obviously keep them pointing down. So you have a cohesive piece. Here. I'm just adding a few spots of cadmium orange on top, just to add that orange glow. I'm not too worried about the color right now simply because we can do glazing later on. I've mixed a little bit of black in with my paints hint my really dark brown and I'm just going to go in and redefine some of those shadows again, just so we can find them clearly later on. And so now I've mixed a tiny bit more white into my burnt sienna that we used before. And I'm going in now, start to add in the highlights of the firm. And the lighter you go will the more highlights that you add to, for the less that you want to add. You want to distribute it less and less so that the shadows really stand out when the highlights will really POC. And this will make your pieces look more alive. So you can see on one side of the first here, in particular, I'm adding a lot more of that whitish brown color. And then on the other side, completely not. So this is a glazing medium that we're using and I've tinted a glaze with a tiny amount of orange pigments and I'm quoting the entire painting in this color. Glazing is basically taking a tiny amount of pigment and a dollop of the glaze and then just covering painting, tempting it or giving a saturation boost. And I'm also mixed to several colors into my glaze slave gone here for a purple to deepen up the shadows, I find that purples are a really good tone to use for shadows. You can also use blues and things like that. But seeing as the firmware painting, it's orange and purple goes really nicely with that. And I'm also using a little bit of brown in there just to deepen up those shadows a bit further. So now I'm going back to my rake brush and we're going to start adding in pretty much the final highlights to this. Again, don't overdo the highlights. Otherwise, it won't look natural or at all realistic. So I'm really, really lightly adding in some highlights here just to make some of the areas and the 3D pop out more. And then I'm finally going in with this tiny little detail brush to add in a few wispy strands of for just to give the first of interests and change them in different directions. Have some thick, have some thin. And these will add to your painting. Again, only having a few sparing uses of these little strands of white. And that's pretty much everything for this red for. Now, you can layer as much as you want with for its literary Up to you. Here I'm just showing you, I am saving my masking tape and I would recommend you do this just because you can get multiple uses out of masking tape, as I will show you in the future classes. So I am just holding onto those for the next class and gently peeling away the tape. Just a little trick for peeling away masking tape. You want to peel it a direct angle as you can see that so that it peels nicely and doesn't lift up any of the fibers of the paper. And that's red fox. Go write that. And we will move on to the next class, where I'll be demonstrating how to paint white fur. 4. Lesson 2: White Fur: Okay, so moving on from the read further that we did earlier when we focusing on painting some white for, for this class. And again, I am going to be reusing the tape that used the previous class simply because you can get multiple uses out of this sort of tape. I just prefer not to waste things. So I'm just lining up my paper here so we can get painting. And as I said before, you may notice a pattern with this sort of class here. It pretty much starting off with your values and then moving to the details later on. And so that's why I'm using a bigger brush for my value painting on the under painting, or just the first layers just simply because I'm not worried about those details. So I mix a warm sort of, I guess, a warm top color here. Because white fur is not completely white, you may look at a photo of a white animal and find that they actually have little bits of color reflecting off of them. White for reflects the environment that's sort of around it. So obviously, if you were doing this animal in a painting, do consider the colors you've used for the background and what the environment that the animal is sitting in. But for demonstration purposes, I'm just using a warmer environment. So I'm starting off with this warm top color laying in the shadows again. And then I'm going in with a very creamy brown color. And I'm just filling up all the areas like before. Completely covering the page here. Again, not worrying if it looks scrappy or rough right now because we're going to be refining it later on. And then I have a sort of a brownie gray color that I mixed with that warm taught color and black. And now I am just filling in those shadows a bit darker. Again, just really, really rough. You may see a few strands of gray hidden there throughout the patches of for, just simply to add a bit of interest and a few little tiny shadows hit. And so now I've mixed a primi top color using a bit of white and that top that we used at the start. And now I'm just going through and I'm starting to add the really basic texturing to the for. And I'm pretty much going to be covering the entire painting in this, again, try to avoid overdoing the shadows, but because he want those shadows to show through. So I'm just gonna go ahead and do that right here. Now, even though the for or the further we're painting right now is sort of a basic detailing layer. Remember to keep the for in a random sort of clumped look so that it has a better natural appearance to it. So I'm just mixing some new colors now. Now I'm actually gonna go in with a light brown. So I'm just mixing some burnt sienna here with a lot of white to give it that creamy look. And I'm just doing in and I'm sort of adding these to the area where the shading is just to give it another color. So it gives it this reflection almost like the environment around it is reflecting off of the firm. And I'm also doing this whilst the layer underneath is still slightly wet, so it does have a nice blend into that creamy color that we just laid down before this. And then again, putting a few random strokes of the fur throughout. And now I'm switching to a yellow ochre and I'm only going to be putting this in a few select areas. I'm trying to keep one side of this particular painting here a darker like it's more in shadow than the other. So just a few little hints of yellow just to give it a look. And going in with a tiny amount of Brown does to help blend the things here, I'm just using a raw number that's kind of washed out. And then just to give a tiny strands of texture in there won't matter too much because we will be going over the next stage, which is the liaising again. And this time I want to using that same torque color that we used at the very start to lay in the shadows. And I'm glazing over at the entire painting with this. Again, make sure you're painting is somewhat dry because you don't want the colors to get too muddy here. You'll notice that I leave that pretty much the, the upper left corner of this painting glaze free from that color, just to give it a bit more of a highlight. And again, as before we did with the Redfern, I'm going in with a purple and also glazing where the shadows set. And this is really going to help bring out the depth in those shadows. Purple is such a great color to use for shadows. I was really avoid using black for shadows and less you are mixing black into a paint or doing the absolute darkest areas on a painting. So here I'm taking the rake brush finally and adding that final sort of layer of detailing of phi. Again, the more highlights you add, the scarcer you want them to be. And you can see I'm concentrating those highlighted first strokes near the top corner there where I want the lightest part of my painting to be. And again, make sure to diversify the brushstrokes have them pointing in a few different directions, have some wavy lines, have some straight aligns, have some clumps. And now adding the final touches with a small detail brush adding those, that few strands of wispy hair just carrying in different directions a thick to thin lines and concentrating them more in the top left corner. And that is pretty much white fur. Done. Again, I'm gonna be reusing this tape because I don't like to waste it, so it will be in the next class. And that is how you create white for. Now, just remember, white fur does reflect the environment that it's around. So consider the colors that you're using when you go to paint a white animal. But other than that, WiFi has colors within it in my hand, carry through some of those skin tones of the animal. So just bad those little tips in mind and you should be fine with painting fat. So that'll be everything. And we're going to move on to the next class where I'll be showing you how I go pound painting lack CFA. 5. Lesson 3: Black Fur: All right, so moving on from the white forgiving into its direct contrast, which is black for now, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, black is not going to be completely black. And they have some highlights in it. And this time we'll be working sort of in the opposite direction if you'd like. Here I'm just laying down the tape, again, reusing the previous tape that I've used the classes just because I don't like to waste things and it's just still useful. So I'm just gonna lay down my tape. They're all nice and smooth on the paper. If you are reusing tape, just make sure the edges are smoothed out on the tape here, I had to get a fresh piece for the site because at one of my kittens decided to chew on the end of the other tape. So I can't really use that anymore. But moving on to the firm. But now we're going to be starting with our docs again, I know pretty obvious right? At this point. This time though I am not using a straight black, only a tiny bit of black and mixed in with a burnt umber. And I've also mixed in with that at some ultramarine blue and violet. And what this does is that black on its own can be very flat and kind of boring. And so I like to add some depth into my piece by adding in these colors here to give it that lifelike look. And now I'm adding some white to that mixture as well to give this grayish tone for our highlighted areas. Again, keeping in the direction that you want to be going. So for this particular little painting, we're gonna be creating some patches are much like we did with the red for at the start of this class. And then I'll be taking some more of that dark color again and just going back in with it to deepen up some of the shadows and the dark areas on the painting again, adding some little wisps here and there. I'm also then drying off my angle brush the flat one I've been using and I'm actually whilst the paint is still wet, going back over everything in a sort of softening out the edges so it's not so harsh. I'm taking my angle brush again and loading up some of that light gray paint. And you just sort of going back over the highlights with it this time, again, I'm roughly putting in the clumps or strands with this, not being too careful, just put it in and don't worry about it. You can always soften the edges with the angle brush like I'm doing right here. And just keep doing that whilst it's wet. And then you're going to want to let that dry. And then you can move on to the rake brush again and start putting in the highlighted layer. So again, with highlights, used them as more and more sparingly as you go because you don't want to overload the painting with the highlights. And also don't forget to clump and have them going in other directions for long Arthur as well. So black fur is actually quite easy to create compared to white fur because it literally is such a simple process is pretty much the same process we've been doing. Again, there is a pattern to this, but it just seems like there are less layers that you would need to do with black fur for achieved the look you're going for. And again, I softened out those edges and now I'm just going back and again, just to add some texture within the shadows, using the rate brush to get color back into the areas where I'd lost them. Painting is all about layering. So it's really, really simple once you get the hang of how to layer your paintings, Think of it this way. First, you do a base coat, then you do your values, and then you do your details. Really, really simple. And now I'm going to be going in and doing a can. My favorite thing to do, which is the liaising. And I'm actually going to be using a couple of different colours to glaze. I'm gonna be using that dark ultramarine blue to glaze over the entire thing. And then we taking that purple, I know my favorite purple. And I'm gonna be going over the shadows with bat to deepen them up and give them some life. So you can really see that the for is starting to come to life here with this. And I'm also going to add some dark, burnt umber to the shadows to give it that tinge of different color that isn't quite black. If you look at a lot of black animals, for example, a black cat, if you look at them in certain light, you'll actually see that there for has a brownie color, has all these different colors inside of it that really make it look lifelike. And so that's what we're trying to achieve with this lock here. So adding in the brown right now really helped to deepen it up and give it that depth that you're looking for. And then finally you step, moving on to the final highlights on black fur. And we're not going to be needing to use a detail brush in this, just the rake brush because I'm not actually going to include those whispers in this first because I think it looks much nicer without. So just as you've done in the previous classes, adding those final little strands of face with the brush, again, concentrating them on the highlights and using them sparingly. And it will give a much more realistic look. And because we've blazed on that previous layer, those colors are really showing through and it really gives that depth that you want to go for. And that is pretty much how you paint black fur. So it's pretty straightforward. Nothing too fancy, really only about four to five layers of paint actually used here. And I'm sure the more you practice this, the molar pattern is going to become more easier to you to use for you. So in the next class, we're going to figure out how to incorporate stripes into your paintings. 6. Lesson 4: Striped Fur: Okay, so now moving on to striped offer with markings. And for this particular demonstration, I'm going to be doing sort of a Tigers for us. So we'll be using a lot of the same colors that I used for the Foxconn. And again, reusing my tape and making sure the edges ought family stuck down. Now, when you're doing markings, you want to use those things first or put them in first, I should say. And you can look at reference photo for this or you can just sort of make it up as you go along. But I'm doing stripes as in a tiger stripes. So you want to paint in with your flat angle brush. Again, this is similar to what we've been doing in all the previous classes. Just Blotting in the basic values and shapes of things. And you'll notice, again, I'm not using straight black. I'm using a very, very dark brown for this. And then I am going in with a burnt sienna again. And I am going to kind of go along the edge of every stripe and to give it sort of a darker border, if you like. So just pretty much filling in where the stripes sit. Not completely because we do want to leave some gaps for some Lisa Color. And then I will be going in with a cadmium orange that's mixed in with that CNET right there, just to give it a lighter, more orangey luck that we're going for. And we're filling in the rest of the gaps or where the stripes on not on the highlights, if you'd like. So just keep on filling Latin. And then I'm gonna go in with my angle brush again and I'm going to blot in basic, basic rough for detail. It's not really a detail, it's just Blotting in the fur texture here just to get it started. And I'm using a lighter orange brown. I've just mixing some white with orange and burnt sienna we used earlier. And then going in with the rake brush and starting to add in those at these hailed individual clumps of four, again, varying the direction they go in and still keeping them in a similar direction. Now, don't worry if your stripes get a little bit covered. Start because they will kinda disappear under the layers. We will be going back in, in just a moment with that Doc Brown and sort of read, fluffing those markings out. And you really, really want to paint back in the stripes on one side, as in the flow is coming from that stripe. Cuz you wanna make it look hot of the tiger or part of the for in this case. And have it kinda fluffy on one side. And just continue doing that until you are happy with the darkness of it and the shapes. And then going in with an even lighter, almost a creamy white, mixing a lot of white with that. Like hello, we put down and again, covering the areas on the taiga being almost bearing a lot too worried about it at this point. And now at this point you may be thinking, well, my tiger for is looking very washed out. It's looking very bright and it's not got much color to it. Don't worry about that because we will be blazing. What I'm doing here is I'm softening one end of each clump. So I'm just really softening it out with a dry angle brush that I'm using. And it'll create a nice soft effect. And then again, going in with my glazing and a tiny bit of orange, just to bring back that saturation. And we will actually be doing this sort of twice or three times, actually, simply because we won't build up the layers for this. I'm then going to be going in with the right brush and some burnt umber two add in some more of that darker shading, but it's not so dark that it leaves almost the shadow. Makes any sense. So I am putting down that brown color to give it a bit more depth to almost like the stripes are creating their own shadows and away. And then going back over with that darker color again. And now I'm with my rake brush again, going over with that creamy light color. He yet again creating all those detailed clumps in the direction of the flow. And this time you wanna make sure you're paying is completely dry. And then we can glaze once more. Really get that color in that. And this time I'm gonna be putting in some purple as well, just to really boost those shadows and boost the markings and gift them a bit of depth. And we putting down the purple and try to keep it on one side, almost like each clump or marking has for overlaid onto it. And you can really see the reflection right there with the purple creates a nice depth to the far itself. I also used a tiny bit of brown in there just to deepen up some of the areas. So nice brown glazed. And then finally, as we've done before, taking your rate brush and going over with those final streaks. Detailing and highlights. Again, use it sparingly. Try to find your lights and darks where you want the light to be hitting the further most and be sparing with it. I tried to concentrate the highlights more towards one edge, as you can see, the edges of forming where the stripes. And this really helps to give it that striped look or a deliberate striped look. And now I'm just softening the other end of the stripe. Clumps, clumps me for clumps with my angle brush, describe rushing that again. Adding a few last minute highlights here and there. And then we're gonna do one more layer of glazing with orange. This time I'm not going to cover the entire thing with it. I'm actually only going to do the bottom half with the glaze just so it looks like my highlights are more concentrated at the top of the painting. So only keeping a few of those brightest details. And that is your Titus stripes. And you can do the same thing, the exact same process with spots and snow leopard for and jaguar and set brush stripes and all sorts of other animals as well. So now we are going to move on to three smaller paintings wronged me on the same page. We're going to be focusing on long form. First, then curly, and then short. So let's get on with that. 8. Lesson 6: Curly Fur: All right, now moving on to this middle bar right here, we're starting out as normal by blocking in our shadows or are darker areas first. This time, I'm sort of manipulating the brush a little differently. I am using a very dark brown again, not straight black. And instead of sort of doing strokes, motions with the brush, I'm sort of almost wiggling it in a way. And, and then I'm doing the same thing with a lighter Louis grayish color that has a hint of brown. And just to add in the basic values of the highlights and adding a few layers of apps to really get that on that. Then over to my rake brush. And then adding in some very dark, very dark brown, not just black or very dark brown shadows to really make them stand out a bit. And again, I am moving my brush differently this time I'm kind of making these circular wiggly motions with the brush. It's a little hard to describe, but I'm not keeping it straight. I'm not just making fluffy firm mocks that sit a wire restyle hair. So it is going to need a different technique. And then going in with the lighter colors for the, for all the details. And adding in those with earache brush. Just like every other firm before we're working our way from all values to odd details. Just building up the layers here with those lights. Then I'm actually going in with a detail brush and just adding in some individual wisps. Again, curling that brush around rather than doing straight brushstrokes to add some texture. And I'm trying to clump it as I have done before. So it adds a bit more depth in that and makes it look a little organized in the chaos. So you can see how that's starting to clump a little more with those detail brush strokes. And then of course, switching to our trusty glazing technique. I'm using a purple again, and I also will be going back over with a brown to darken up some of the areas that I am glazing purple in those darkest areas to get that color in that, as well as to make the fur have some depth in it. Back in with some brown incident patches. And then taking my rake brush again with the darker color. And I'm adding back in some of those squiggly lines to make them look Colyer, you want your lines to be more definitive, more like Q mean what you're putting down on paper, if that makes sense. And then switching over to the highlights again and doing the exact same thing. Just regarding the brush like so to create that wiring texture of. Now unfortunately here my brush did and mix a little bit. So it is Medea looking than I would have hoped for it to be. But just make sure you wait for your paints to completely dry before applying layers and things like that. But that is pretty much the basis of the firm. And creating wiring, again, just working your way from new values TO details and just creating those really winery, squiggly looking brushstrokes. And this is great for sheeps, for certain dogs have this wire refers TO due certain cats. And you can create some really interesting effects with it. So that's everything for this little section. And then for the final section, we're gonna be focusing on short fat. 9. Lesson 7: Short Fur: Alright then, so for this final Bobby again, some short here. And as before, I'm starting off with my darkest values and walking up to the light, which is adding in some burnt umber, write that. And then burnt sienna over the white patches. Now, with short firm, you want your brushstrokes to be much, much shorter. And this can be a little tricky once you've been doing longer for, for a while. So to stir that in mind, you do want to keep your brush strokes fairly short, especially towards the end when you're doing your detailing. At the start, it won't matter too much because all you're doing is just laying down those valley colors and those very basic shapes. Also when you're doing short for, the best way to do it is by layering. And I know you layer for before, actually create different clumps and things like that. But it's almost secured warning to paint a line or a layer line of I. If you can understand that from looking at the painting and again, switching to a lighter color, they're using that white with the burnt umber and a little bit of yellow ochre as well. See how I'm keeping my first strokes fairly short. Now, I'm not too worried about the slave because I am going to be brushing it out just to have a softer backdrop and just using the dry brush angle here just to wash out some of this harshness on each of the brushstrokes, just create a hazy layer above that. And now I am going to tint and little bit of an orange glaze over this just because I want this to be a little more of an orangey kind of for server is why I'm doing that. And then going back in with the reg brush and using those lighter colors to create those really short brushstrokes. And again, try to clump buffer, but don't do it too much because this is shorter and shorter for often tends to stand on its own a bit more. Simply because it's short. And then going in with some brown and using the right brush to go in a few places with that, just a few just to add some deeper aspects of the EFA. Keeping it somewhat light, making sure that is completely dry before I move on to the next step because it guess what? We hug glazing again. Again, I am using purple. Purple is just one of my favorite cards to use for glazing. So I'm blazing all of the dark patches that we laid down earlier and the value stage. And we're just gonna go over that very lightly. I am skipping out on the lighter areas with a glaze simply because I want those to show through. And I'm also glazing on some burnt umber as well, just to give it that more rustic all up. And then finally going back in again with the rake brush, creating those really short brushstrokes and that layered effect. And just do that all throughout, keeping it somewhat clumped, but not too much this time because it is short, leaving a few gaps here and there. And then I decided that I wanted to have a few wispy hairs that were a little randomly longer. So I clumped a few them together. I didn't have too many around the painting just because that is the way I wanted it to be. And that is pretty much all you need to do for the shortfall. And that will pretty much conclude our costs as well, just peeling away that satisfying tape heal. And again, I can finally throw this tape that I've been using for the entirety of the class away and a rock really yelling at the screen for that. But once you grasp the techniques of animal fur is relatively easy to create a slug and then transform it into a beautiful animal painting. We could even apply this technique to human hair. If you are struggling to get your human head to look deep and have that depth that does have and have the curls and the highlights, et cetera, et cetera. So do let me know which one was your favorite. Do leave a review for the class if you enjoyed it. I always appreciate those. And stay tuned for more classes in the future. I hope to see you all soon.