| Introduction
Fur is a very pleasant subject to paint. It's not only beautiful, but simple to render. I don't mean to give you the impression that painting fur is a snap, but in relation to other problems in this series it's one of the least complex. When painting fur you can be free with everything except texture. Accurate drawing isn't a prime concern because fur has no strict outlines. The colors can be a wide range of browns, grays, or even white, and the highlights are simply lighter areas within the fur color. One area to be aware of is your light source. You must maintain shape and form, and you do so with highlighted and shadowed areas. The light in this demonstration is from right to left and its shading effect helps to create the distinct form of the hat and jacket. Another problem is the manner in which you treat these lights and darks. they must blend together without harshness, but not so smoothly that the fur effect is lost. The tones between the lights and darks must be accurately graded, yet brushy enough to retain the quality of fur. All that's needed to overcome the problems of painting fur is some practice. Because of the natural beauty of fur, this practice should be just plain fun! |
| Step 1.
I use underpainting white instead of titanium white on my palette throughout this demo. I begin by outlining the body, head, and hat with a wash of burnt umber and a bit of white. I want to have the proportions correct before painting in the jacket. Next I take the wash and apply it in short strokes all through the jacket area. I paint in this manner to avoid any harshness and to enhance the furlike image I'm seeking. I add a touch more white to my mixture and brush it over the other wash in the same short-stroked brushy manner - more heavily on the right side, where the light is strongest, and less heavily on the left side, which is shadowed. Notice that the original wash is left exposed in horizontal streaks to show where the pelts are joined together. |
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| Step 2.
In this step I want to properly locate various tonal values while constantly maintaining a furry texture. The interior of the hat is filled with a mix of raw umber, burnt sienna, and white. I lightly stroke in the same mixture but more to the umber side, working from left to right, to portray the shadow and provide form. I use all my tones for the jacket, working mainly with the original tone and some darker values to the left and lighter ones to the right. Notice the gradual change of value that takes place as the left blends into the right. This must be subtle, allowing no apparent definitions. One helpful way to do this is to build up the paint with a bristle brush and then to brush and splash the paint outward with a sable brush. Notice that my strokes follow the direction of the fur instead of being random. I want to create an effect of fur - not wild fuzz. |
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| Step 3.
I'm adding ultramarine blue, Venetian red, and yellow ochre to my palette. The background color is a combination of ultramarine blue, white, and raw umber. My objective is to lay in the various browns and blacks seen in the fur. All colors are applied in the same splashy manner seen in the previous step, brushing back and forth into the background and into the dress to maintain the furlike look. I mix ultramarine and raw umber for the black color used primarily on the left side, but also on the lower right side. To capture the dark browns I use raw umber. The lighter browns are ultramarine blue, Venetian red, and yellow ochre mixed together in varying strengths. I find the light tones applied over the dark tones create even more color variety. White and yellow ochre are combined for the highlight areas, such as those in the upper right portion of the jacket. |
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| Step 4.
This step is strictly a glazing and tinting process, so the painting must be thoroughly dry before proceeding. I add Mars yellow, ivory black, and cobalt yellow to my palette. The background is a combination of ivory black and white. The entire canvas is covered with painting medium and I constantly dip my brush into painting medium before using each color. Raw umber is slightly glazed over the entire fur area but I remove the glaze with a dry brush where I want the lighter areas of fur to be exposed. The more glaze I remove, the lighter the fur will be. Where the fur needs to remain dark - such as on the shadowed left side and where the pelts are joined together - I leave the raw umber. Using a soft brush, I accentuate the highlight areas with a combination of burnt sienna, cobalt yellow, and white. All the edges must be feathered to maintain the furry look. In the dark shadowy portions I feather raw umber outward with a soft sable brush. A combination of Mars yellow, ivory black, and burnt sienna is used in the same way to feather the lighter areas and also to blend any dark and light areas in the fur if they seem too harsh. |
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| Now go tackle that fur coat you left out of your last painting! Next we will do the dreaded silver urn. See ya then! |