Hey fellow artists and pet lovers! In today’s blog we will be going through techniques that are near and dear to our hearts to be able to create realistic drawings of our furry friends. Mastering the technique of drawing realistic portraits holds a special place for artists wanting to capture the personality of their very best friends.
Come follow along as we go on a journey and explore the nuances of sketching, refining, and infusing depth into our portraits. From the twitch of a bunny's nose to the gentle gaze of a cat, and the loyal stance of a dog, we'll run through the techniques you need to breathe life into your pet portrait paintings.
Now, if you’ll remember, we made a previous blog about drawing digital pet portraits, but that one leans towards a stylized approach. As the title suggests, today we will be focusing on realistic style instead.
Drawing realistic pet portraits begins with making sure you’re familiar with the tools you’re using, in this case that tool is Procreate and all its nifty features. Below, we outline essential steps and considerations for you to keep in mind as we go along:
If you’re new to Procreate, it will be super helpful to know even just how the basics work. Feeling your hand in the dark while working on a beloved project is no fun, after all. No worries, we are equipped to guide you through this! In our previous blogs we talked about procreate tips and tricks, a guide on setting up a canvas, how to make a moodboard and many more!
With hundreds of brushes readily available for you to use, it’s no surprise that some of them will work way better than others for this particular project. Select brushes suited for rendering realistic fur textures, ensuring your pet portraits exude that realistic quality we’re going for. If you do have ones you’d like to try, check our tutorial on how to import brushes in Procreate.
Procreate itself has many features that can help make your process faster. From moving your sidebar to pre-selecting the colors you’d like to use and storing them in your color palettes-there are tons of ways to make Procreate work for your personal preference.
Now we get to the good part. Sketching is the foundation that we will build on top of to create realistic pet portraits. Here's a structured approach to kick-start your sketching process:
A good art project must always start with a good reference! Make sure to find high-quality reference images of your pet, ensuring you capture their unique characteristics and personality.
Study the anatomy of your furry friend, paying close attention to proportions and fur patterns. This is how you ensure that the realistic portrait stays just that-realistic. An alien-y version of your pet might look awesome and cool, but for now, let’s stay in the realms of realism.
Use Procreate's sketching tools to outline the basic shape and form of your pet, focusing on capturing their essence and personality.
With these initial steps, you lay the groundwork for bringing your pet portrait to life. Take your time in this step, a good sketch is the best jumping off point!
Refining the details of your pet portrait is where the magic truly unfolds. Here, I’ve laid down these steps to help you level up your artwork to new heights of realism:
Fine-tune the initial sketch, making double sure of the accuracy in proportions and capturing intricate details such as facial features and expressions. On some occasions, I recommend stepping away from your canvas for a bit before going to refine. It’s easier to spot errors that way.
Experiment with brush strokes and layering techniques in Procreate to mimic the texture and flow of fur, achieving a lifelike appearance.
Incorporate variations in fur texture, from soft and fluffy to sleek and shiny, to add depth and dimension into your pet portrait. Remember that in certain light, fur can look very different!
It’s color time! Color and depth in pet portraits breathe that spark of life into your project, elevating it to new levels of realism. Here are some of our hand-picked tips just for you:
Select a color palette that accurately reflects the hues and tones of your pet's fur, you can eyeball this or better yet, use Procreate's color picker for added precision.
Use various shading and highlighting techniques to add depth and dimension to your portrait, enhancing the realism of fur texture and form even more!
Pay special attention to the eyes, nose, and mouth, using subtle shading and highlights to render these features with lifelike accuracy. Remember to keep your lighting in check!
With these final touches and finishing flourishes, your journey into drawing realistic pets in Procreate comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed this blog, we can’t wait to see your adorable pets. Happy painting!
If you’d like a taste for more and further enhance your skills, delve deeper into the world of pet portraiture by enrolling in our course, "Pawsome Pet Portraits in Procreate: Master Fur Textures and Bring Pets to Life on Screen”. In this course, you’ll go through an 18-hour course with 18 lessons that concludes with 3 exercises to master the art of drawing your furry friends. You will be learning the different subtleties of realistic fur drawings, from colors to texture. As a bonus treat, you get a unique set of brushes too!
Courses and brushes by Freya Kotchakorn helped mored than 10.000 students excel in Procreate drawings.
