Enjoy and happy painting!
Pet Painting Tips for Beginners
Here are some of the best tips, tricks, and strategies you can use to paint your pet.
If you’re a pet owner, then you’ve probably tried to paint your pet at some point. It’s just something pet owners do.
Want to learn how to paint your pet? Want to make your painting look as good as possible? We’re here to help.
Here are some of the best tips, tricks, and strategies you can use to paint your pet.
Preparing Before You Paint
A little preparation goes a long way when painting your pet. Here are some tips to get started:
Start by getting an image of your pet that you like. Maybe it’s a photo of your dog on the beach. Maybe it’s a picture of your pet stretched out on the couch. It’s easier to paint your pet from a photo – instead of just looking at your pet and reproducing what you see.
Book a Paint and Sip LIVE class. Haven’t painted in years? That’s okay! Our virtual painting classes teach you basic and advanced painting skills. We’ll even ship a beginner painting kit to your house. If you don’t have painting supplies at home, and if you want a basic refresher on how to paint, then consider booking a Paint and Sip LIVE virtual painting class.
Look up other pet paintings online. Painting your pet may seem straightforward. You just paint what you see. However, there are many different ways to paint your pet. Some people paint an action photo. Others paint a close-up face portrait. Some paint against a bare backdrop, while others paint a full-on scene with multiple characters and complex focal points. Look up other pet paintings online, then decide what you like.
Get the Right Painting Supplies
Most beginner painters use acrylics. They’re easy to use, quick to dry, and hassle-free. Make sure you have multiple colors and the right palette.
Next, get your surface. Buy an art canvas or any other type of material.
As you get more advanced, you may want to add black marker, soft art pencils, and other tools to your painting kit. If you’re new to painting and don’t have the supplies, our Paint and Sip LIVE beginner painting kit should do the trick for basic pet portrait paintings.
Are the reference photos suitable?
Whilst I do not feel that professional quality photos are necessary to produce a high quality painting, it does improve your chances of success if the images show good lighting and detail. The angle of the photo is also important, some angles can be much more flattering to your subject than others!
Lense distortion is another factor. One thing I often see is the camera being positioned too close to the dog’s face, making features such as the nose and muzzle area appear much larger than they would in reality. In this respect the camera can lie, so make sure that the reference gives an accurate representation of the subject!
If the dog has sadly passed away, it might not be possible to have the perfect references, and in this case I try to work with what I have. But if this is a paid project it is always best to be honest about what your expectations of the finished painting may be based on the quality of reference material.
If you’d like any more help on how to choose a reference photo, we have more tips in our guide here.
What fur length does the subject have? And what about the texture?
The answers to these questions will have a bearing on the selection of brushes that I use. There are so many shapes of brushes to choose from when painting fur, such as round, angle and filbert, which I might use in different situations depending on the species of dog that I am painting.
I find that filbert brushes, for example, are perfect for painting species such as poodles, where the curly texture of the fur means that you are painting sections of hair rather than the individual strands. The rounded shape of the filbert brush means that you can paint curved strokes with a softer edge than you would achieve with a flat brush.
I would use a round brush for a species such as a labrador, where the short fur lengths means that more strokes are needed to render the texture of the fur. For finer details such as loose strands of hair, that you would find on almost any breed, I would use a round detail brush or a sword liner depending on the scale of the painting.
What colours will I need?
For most dog breeds, I find that I can build the basic tones using a combination of these acrylic colours:
- Carbon Black
- Titanium White
- Burnt Sienna
- Burnt Umber
- Yellow Ochre
Here are some suggestions of how to mix your colours:
Materials Needed
Yield: One 9 x 12 Canvas
This tutorial will guide you step by step how to paint your pet in a portrait painting.
Active Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours
Difficulty Medium
Materials
- One 9 x 12 Canvas
- Photograph of your pet (see notes about how to select the best photograph)
- Printer Paper & Printer
- Graphite Paper
- Pencil
- Acrylic Paint
- Brushes
- Optional paint pens for details
Colors – this is going to depend on the color of your pet and the background color you want!
- Titanium White
- Mars Black
- Raw Umber
- Turquoise Blue (what I used for background color)
- Medium magenta (if you are painting a tongue)
Brushes
- 3/4″ flat wash brush
- #8 Round Brush
- #4 Round Brush
- 10/0 spotter brush
Instructions
1. Select a good photo of your pet. Make sure that the photo has good “contrast” with very little in the background. Ideally you’ll want to have a photograph that goes from the chest to the head. The pet can be looking forward or to the side. Make sure the main features such as the eyes and nose are clearly visible in the photograph.
2. Print the photograph on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of printer paper. Try to get the photograph to fill up the entire paper.
3. Place the photograph print out over a 9 x 12 canvas to position it so it lines up with the bottom edge of the canvas. You will have space around the pet that you can fill with your background color.
4. Lay a sheet of graphite paper below the print out. Use a pencil to trace the outline of the pet. Trace the main features such as the eyes, nose and ears. Trace some of the fur to establish some of the direction the fur is going in. If your pet has other unique features such as a spots, multiple color blocks of fur, etc. make sure you trace all of those as well.
5. Life the paper to find a general outline of your pet!
6. Optional: trace the outline of the pet (you don’t need to re-trace the inner features) with a pencil or fine point sharpie. This is to ensure the outline doesn’t disappear when you paint the background around the pet.
7. Select a background color that will provide good contrast against the color of your pet. For example: a black and white dog would look nice with a bright green or bright red background. However, if you are doing a white dog, a light yellow background may not have enough contrast.
8. Use a 3/4″ wash brush to paint the background. You can paint it a solid color or add titanium white into your color to create an abstract mixed background. I did titanium white mixed with the background color to make the background lighter around the pet and then darker along the edges of the canvas.
9. Do not paint the background color over the pet drawing. Go around the outline of the pet. However, if some of your background overlaps some of your lines that is okay because acrylic paint can be painted over. Let this dry before going onto the next step.
10. Load your paint palette with the colors of your pet. The three most common colors you likely will need are: mars black, titanium white and raw umber. If your pet has a reddish color, you can use raw sienna or burnt sienna which is a reddish brown.
11. Use a #4 round brush to start with the outline of your pet. Loosely paint along the edges of the pet to establish the shape. Add some fur texture as well along the edges and this will overlap your background slightly.
12. Then paint the eyes. Look closely at the photograph print out. Typically you’ll want to outline the main shape of the eyes first with a very thin line of black. You might want to opt to use a paint pen for that step. Then paint the inside of the eye white. If your pet has dark eyes or the white part isn’t showing, you can paint the entire inside a medium gray or dark gray color depending on what is on your photograph. Then paint the iris inside the eye shape. This is a solid color. For example, if your dog has brown eyes, use burnt umber to paint a solid circle. Add a little white into the burnt umber and blend it in if the brown is a lighter color. Then wait for this to dry. Paint the pupil black. Then after the pupil dries, use titanium white to paint the white highlight. Observe closely where that highlight is in your photograph. After all that dries, re-outline the outside shape of the eye with black.
13. Paint the nose next. You’ll likely only need black and white for this. I recommend painting it black first and then going back and adding the lighter colors. Look closely at the shape of the nose and the curves/lines.
14. Use a #8 round brush to paint the fur on the rest of the pet. Paint long or short contouring strokes. If your pet has short hair, you’ll want to do short strokes or simply paint the shape solid colors. If you pet has long hair, you’ll want to do longer and wavy strokes. I recommend starting with the darkest fur color then layering on the lighter fur colors. Use a smaller brush for fine fur details especially around the eyes and nose.
15. If your pet has their mouth open, I recommend painting the tongue first. Then paint the teeth and then the lips. A white paint pen is really helpful for painting the teeth and a black paint pen is really helpful for painting the lips.
16. Paint any leftover details such as a collar, whiskers, etc. For whiskers, use a 10/0 round brush and titanium white to paint very thin lines. You can also do this with a white paint pen.
