LEARN TO PAINT LIFELIKE PETS, ANIMALS IN OILS

Oils, Brushes and Canvas I use

Oil Paints

There are many different kinds of Oil colours on the market to find. Some are high quality and very expensive but, believe me that high quality is all worth to buy. I use Winsor & Newton Artists Oil Colours but there are many other good ones such as Da Vinci Artists or Gamblin.

People often ask me which Winsor & Newton Oil Colours I use on palette regularly when I paint my portraits, so I created a list. This doesn't mean I use all these paints all of the time:

• Titanium White
• Ivory Black
• French Ultramarine
• Cerulean Blue
• Phthalo Turquoise
• Winsor Violet
• Winsor Green
• Permanent Green Light
• Winsor Yellow
• Naples Yellow
• Indian Red
• Alizarin Crimson
• Scarlet Lake
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Sienna
• Raw Umber
• Yellow Ochre

Brushes

When you buy brushes it’s also worth to pay a little bit more since very cheep brushes tend to brake in the brush and leaves particles on the canvas. Purchase some hard and some very soft brushes which will help you achieve the results you want and need. Don`t be afraid to invest in many different sizes and shapes, its all worth it and the big and expensive brushes can hold out for years. I don´t have any favorite brush brand at this time. Try out which brushes you like the most. Some of my brushes are very big and some are the smallest you can buy. Flat brushes are the ones I use most.

Other Fittings

Easel, Oil painting Palette (wooden, plastic or paper palette which I use), Storage box, Brush Vase, Turpentine, high % Soap to clean brushes, Drying Linseed Oil (which I don`t use) and finally Household roll of paper to clean brushes when you paint.

Canvas

There are many different canvases to choose from. I use stretched linen canvas for my oil paintings. I stretch the canvas to the wooden frame myself because there is a favorite canvas that I like, which absorbs the oil paints very well and I can offer any size the clients wants. The ready-stretched canvases available to buy in art stores would limit me too much. However, you can find oval, 3D or traditional stretched canvas which are ready-stretched. It`s up to you, purchase already stretched canvas or learn how to stretch the canvas to a wooden frame yourself. Read my Article about how to Stretch your own Canvas > Canvas papers and canvas boards with hardboard are also an option but I wouldn’t use it myself for my clients, because I’m selling high quality pet portraits and it’s very important the canvas is stretched, but for learning its great!

Sketching and Photo editing

Before you start to paint you might want to sketch up what you will create, maybe add another background or/and include other elements to the subject you want to paint. You can sketch it up on paper or do like me; Look for free photographs in the internet, download them and create a photo montage in a photo editing program. The photos available on these web sites are high quality ones! It’s also a great place to find photographs of pets to paint for references and learning.

You can also purchase a drawing pad and sketch directly to the computer program. For me its the perfect way and it takes less time because you can move around objects, erase, change colors and change light very fast. This way you don´t need to sketch it all once again if you didn´t achieve what you wanted. Well, it takes some experience of course, but if you aren´t familiar with these programs consider to take the time for learning. Its all worth it at the end.

When you create a sketch or photo montage on the computer, remember its only a guide for you, it doesn't mean everything has to look the same when your painting is completed.

The photo I got looked exactly like the top photo you see to the right. I cropped out the head and filled the background with suitable colors. I had to cut out tips of the ears from another photo and paste them on the photo montage to see the overall picture of this dog. This reference photo is blurry so of course I need to look at other references for details.

Step one and two

Sketching with Pencil

On the First step of the progress I’m trying to find the right angles with help of a pencil. I’m measuring with the pencil from a distance of the canvas. I squint with my eyes to see angles easier. It’s good to take your time and be totally sure about getting the angles right before you go further. Try to have the photograph or print from your computer in height of your eyes and 40cm away from you; otherwise it can be difficult with finding angles. The pencil drawing on the canvas can be all wrong if you see the reference photograph from a wrong angle. You can erase pencil strokes on the canvas as many times you like too and try to use a soft pencil such as 4B or 6B. The soft pencils are easier to erase if you don´t push to hard when sketching up the subject. You find the angles with help of various points on the subject. You have to measure in % from one point to another with the pencil to get the angles right. It’s also important to place the subject right on the canvas.

Sketching with Oil

Many artists skip this step, but I wouldn't do that because its way easier to continue with the next step if I do this first. After I’m finished with the pencil I start painting the pet as a simple sketch with thin dark oils. Use turpentine to mix with the oil paint which makes the colors a bit transparent and dries allot faster and that’s what we want. Try not to use too dark or too much colour if the animal is white because it can be hard to add enough colour to make sure the strokes won’t show under it.

You can use a small brush for areas like eyes and nose and a big brush to paint the big and darker areas. Don´t exaggerate with Turpentine when painting the big areas, its better to keep the brush drier when you do that. Now you have to let the painting dry for one day before you continue with the next step.

Step three and four

Background

After you painted the final sketch of the animal, add some thin base colours to the background. From the beginning its only a guideline and a way to fill out the white canvas, not the final colours and lights. Several layers has to be added before you can achieve the result you want. Use a big flat and soft brush from the beginning or like me; a medium sized brush to apply and after that a big soft brush to make sure the entire canvas texture is filled in. Make sure to apply paint over the lines of the subject, this will create a beautiful transition between the background and the subject and it will help you to apply details at the final stages without having any unwanted edges between the subject and the background. Leave the painting to dry for a day, that way it will be easier to apply the first layer of the subject.

Subject

Now when the background has had some time to dry, its time to fill out rest of the canvas. This time its the subject, but it doesn't mean you need to choose to paint the background first. You can choose to do the other way around too. Use thin paint, mixed with Turpentine (not too thin though) and make sure the canvas is entirely filled in, without leaving out tiny white spots.

At first I dot the colours to make it easier to fill out with more colours later. I use a rather small flat brush to fill it out and later a big, soft brush to make the colours mix together. At this stage everything looks plastic or plain, but don’t worry. This is only a step in the process. Remember that you already from the beginning have to work on the light and dark colours on the painting; otherwise it can get very hard to create a good light later on. You don't need to worry too much though, since you will be working from dark to light to achieve good results painting with this medium. After all the areas on the canvas are filled out, use then a big and soft brush over the intire canvas area to create a soft look, let the colours mix a bit. Leave the painting to dry for two or three days.

Step five, six and seven

Many times oil paintings aren’t realistic or detailed because the painting didn’t have a drying period in between the layers of oils, but we left it to dry for a few days. Now we will add more layers to the subject and background. With each layer start applying the lightest and darkest areas. Add light and dark colours to the right places. With each layer you have to be more exact with these areas to make the painting look realistic. You need to find depth, colors and light. That is the most important aspect in every artwork. Details is only a bonus!

Never use only one colour, mix colours together to find just the right hues. Add the details you need to the draft under-layers but keep in mind that most of the details you create at this stage wont be visible later. It will help to guide you for the later stages though. More layers you paint before you start with the tiniest details, more realistic result you get. Take step five as step six and 7 too. Make sure never to use a too small brush at this stage, its very hard to paint with a brush too small and it takes ages. Don't forget to let the painting dry for one day between the layers.

To the right: Finished daft with 3 full layers of paint

Final steps

So what have I been doing? Its a big difference from the latest picture and its because I continued working with light tones, shadows, global light and details. The painting is not yet finished, but its a step in right direction. The former photo was a draft, this one is only one step before the completed portrait.

Global light

Before you start to paint you need to think about where the lightest areas are, where is the light coming from? Which colors will you be using in the background? The colors in the background need to be reflected in the subject in order to create realism. If the background has warm and brown colors, then the fur need to have warm colors too. Even the blacks and whites has to have some of those hues in them.

Painting fur

When you paint fur you need to think about how the fur is built. Try not to think too much about that its fur you are painting, its better to paint something you see. If you see dark color, paint dark color and if you see light, paint that too. When you paint fur, paint the dark around at the bottom and create a brush stroke with the light hair straw over the dark hue. When you apply hair strokes, paint from bottom to top, from the direction hair is growing.

If the hair you are painting is short, use a tiny brush (my favorite is a flat brush). If you paint long hair, use a bigger brush that holds more paint. If its hard to paint the hair and you find it too dry, use some Turpentine mixed with the paint.

Good luck! If you have any questions and if you find some information is missing, please don't hesitate to contact me at katja@pet-art.net.

See the completed painting here >