Moving Forward and Painting Animals!

By now, you should be very familiar with your digital art tools. You should know how to manipulate your brushes to get the desired results you need. Sometimes, you will even develop new techniques as you figure out how to create a new texture such as fur or wool!

We will begin painting animals starting with easier forms that we are familiar with and then moving towards harder forms such as insects, whereby the forms can vary quite a lot.

1. Mammals

Painting animals in the mammals category is the best place to start. This is because mammals are the closest to the human form. It has four limbs and a central body. The muscle groups are fairly identical. The range of motions are quite similar as well.

It's best to start off with mammals that do not have fur. That way, you can focus on the muscle groups, how it moves, and how it differs from the human form.

Once you're familiar with that, then go ahead and work on furry beasts.

2. Birds

Going into specifics, birds offer another challenge to the digital painter. While a very popular subject for painting animals, birds can be difficult to paint due to the feathers, textures of the feet, and the variety of colors you need to put in.

Sometimes, you have to be specific enough to show off the wings. Yet, at the same time, you don't want to waste too much time on feathers that are covering the body. Legs can be a source of frustration if you're unsure of how to paint the texture or the general shape.

Luckily, like all our painting examples, we can easily break it down to central shapes and focus on that. The rest requires practice. Start off with simple examples like a dove or raven. Then move towards more difficult birds like a peacock.

3. Marine life

Painting animals that live in the water involves more than just the animal itself. Here, you will be needing to paint their watery habitats. It is the interaction with the water that brings your marine animal to life.

Because of that, a lot of colors get altered quite a bit. You will be using various shades of blue or green. As well, do consider how the light from the sun above interacts with the water. Start of with painting whales as they are big enough to help you focus on this environment.

Overall, it's a nice challenge that focuses on the animal and its dependency on the background to stand out. Marine life can not exist on its own, even on a digital painting.

3. Insect life

The most challenging type of creatures yet! Painting animals from nature can be easy considering the complexity of insects. Not only do you have vibrant colors, but you also need to deal with transparencies in the cell and wings.

On top of that, insects have multiple limbs, body sections, furry textures, and even scales! What's more, since insects are small, you can be sure to deal with a lot of microscopic details in the environment. Thinks like tree barks and flower buds are a challenging thing to paint on its own.

I would start off with painting insects that interests you. For example, a lot of people love butterflies. It's the wings that are the most captivating aspects about them. As an artist, try to focus more on what's between the wings.

Once you are familiar with painting animals, you can create your own fantasy world! Creating their own worlds is the point that we want all digital illustration masters to be at...and this comes from learning from your own observations about the natural world!

Return from Painting Animals to the 2d Digital Art Guide.

Have A Great Example of Painting Animals?

Do you have an awesome example of the animals you have drawn or painted? How about a tip for those learning how to paint animals? If so, post your experiences here!