Basic 101 Class 25 Fur
Or
The Fat and the Furrious
Guest Lecturer: Bailey
Ok, so I am a dog. Who better to ask about fur then me. Besides, Jayd was having trouble writing this thing so I took over and here I am.
This is Jayd’s last class for Basic 101 and has asked me to give each of you a big slurp! Also, Anita this puppy is dedicated to you—well because Jayd said you asked for this class. OK, lets talk fur. And then somebody feed me—I like HAM!
First, FUR IS HOT—it is beautiful and it is cute but it is HOT—NOT hot like a fast French poodle—we’re talkin’ tongue sweatin’ hot. That is why my tongue hangs out of the time. The price of perfect beauty don’t, you know?
When you draw fur don’t be in such a hurry to finish the piece—Fur can be broken down in to several key points:
1. Start with Shape—look for simple shapes and draw those—if you are working from a photo NOW is the time to turn your photo upside down. Do NOT flip your dog upside down as we do not like that.
2. Look for patterns and direction—make little arrows showing the direction that the fur travels.
3. When you have worked out number one and number two (sorry but I am a dog—I just had to say that) THEN start putting in your fur.
Here are some other things to remember:
1. direction, direction, direction—remember that each animals furs will run in many different directions. PLAN ALL OF THIS OUT BEFORE YOU PROCEED.
2. Your fur will look much better if you diversify the shapes and lengths of your shadows.
3. Look for and follow the curves when you shade—follow the contours.
4. PAY ATTENTION TO LIGHT, SHADOW---AND TEXTURE!!!!
5. ARF! ARF! ARF!!! (SORRY, I THOUGHT I SAW A CAR)
6. You can break fur down into these categories-- soft, coarse, shiny, matte, spotted, or striped.
7. Hatching can be your friend—for short, use short distinct strokes—gradually build the fur and be very slow—take your time—the sheltie was not built in a day!
8. Again with the hatching!—for longer fur use longer strokes—makes sense… pay special attention with long fur to things like direction. It is easy to get lost so take your time.
9. Don’t give up on hatching—it is a great way to develop the texture of your fur.
10. Bold lines will give you course fur and Thin lines will give you the look of finer fur.
DEMONSTRATIONS
OK, lets talk about me:
Here is a demo of the creation of me. First , the artist currently known as Jay works out the eyes and the tongue—he says that those are two key points of my personality. Next he worked out the direction of the fur—in my case I have that natural wavy Marilyn Monroe look so he finds points in the fur that make my natural fluffiness stand out.
He starts light and works to dark. Finishing when he is satisfied that he has done what he can.
-purrr-fect time to use your graphitints. 
Linear Mode
