Painting Animal Furs

Whether the animals are wearing them or they happen to be on the backs of your favorate Visigoths, furs are a special painting challenge. If you're lucky, the figure has raised detail that will allow a dry-brushing or shading technique to help make the fur stand-out. The next challenge is choosing the right color(s) to make your fur look realistic. Here are some tips and techniques from the ranks of the Fanatici. See also Solis Media's Guide to Painting Fur and Feathers.

Grizzbass: I spray paint my figures grey and then wash them with black. I then dry brush the fur area first with a dark brown and then with progressively lighter shades until the desired color is obtained. If I'm doing white fur, after the black wash is dry, I dry brush it medium grey and then white. I have found this gives almost the same effect as painting small highlights but is immensely more time efficient.

One more suggestion on fur which also applies to hair. If you want a duller appearance then after all the dry brushing is done get a wash of black either ink or paint. A real thin wash will leave the colors but blend and dull the highlights.

David Kuijt: Depends upon the fur. I often paint a light colour or even white and just dip them, or a medium brown. If you're doing goatskins or other multi-colour animals white and black then dip works great. If you're drybrushing (which works very well with fur) choose a significantly lighter colour for the drybrush -- dark brown and light brown, for example, or medium brown and then tan. Go with a top colour which is slightly lighter than you think you'll need, because drybrushing on a dark colour is always more subtle and subdued than you think.

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Last Updated: Oct. 27, 2001

Comments, questions and additions welcome. Send them to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com.