How to Draw Fur

Artist: finalprodigy / November 7, 2010
How to Draw Fur

Step 1.


So, I am trying to NOT turn this into a lion tutorial so I haven't concentrated too much on anatomy and realism. This is about the fur! So, I started out by sketching the head and getting a feel for the main fur sections. Not all furry animals have s   

Step 2.


Alright, build on the previous vague sections and add definite, jagged boundaries between the sections. Pay attention to the direction that each line is going in. Remember that fur grows OUT from the body, so naturally the form of the animal will inf   

Step 3.


I added a bit of shading to the lion's head here just for aesthetic purposes. I also shaded the dark part of the mane. Don't worry about the individual hairs yet, just make it easier to see the sections.

Step 4.


alright here is where hair direction starts to matter. Remember that the shorter the hair is, the less likely it is to be "falling" down. So, basically the short hairs on top go up, the long ones on the sides slouch down diagonally, and the long ones   

Step 5.


After adding more hair lines, blend them in lightly. You don't want to completely destroy all of your work but you do want to blur thing up a bit.

Step 6.


It is now time to start adding some distinction between the lairs. We start this by erasing the ends of the longer hairs. You still want to keep with the same general direction that the hair is flowing while you do this. Don't worry about perfectly e   

Step 7.


You can now make that lair "stick out" by adding contrast. You basically just outline the light tips of hair as dark as possible. Keep the jagged look of the fur going as well.

Step 8.


Time to start working on the layer behind the ear. I started this by darkly outlining the lairs. Remember to work your lairs from front to back or top to bottom!

Step 9.


Here is the result of repeating what I did to the previous layer to this one.

Step 10.


Alright we are down to our last layer and this one has the longest hair so there is nothing sticking up. The hair lines are pretty much following the form of the body downward.

Step 11.


After blending in the strokes, define the edges and the ends of the hair and make them as dark as possible. Don't forget to keep the flow of the hair alive.

Step 12.


And here is the result of going back and adding some detail and lightening up a few areas. As long as you understand the concepts that I used to draw this lion's fur, I believe you can figure out how to draw the fur of any animal! I hope this has bee   

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Details

Artist: finalprodigy
Date Added: November 7, 2010
Steps: 12
Favorited: 12 (view)
Views: 0 in last hour, 1 in last day, 14 in last week, 44888 total
Comments: 0
Tags: how to draw a lion, draw realistic animals, how to draw realistic, draw lions, draw realistic, how to draw real, how to sketch, sketching in pencil
Description: Drawing fur is often seen as overly complicated and difficult so I will try to make this tutorial understandable and useful. I chose a lion for this tutorial to make it easier to see the big concept of drawing fur. You should be able to apply what you learn in this tutorial to any furry animal that you wish to draw.

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