Jessica Crabtree

Painting a Wolf in Pastels, Part 2

(To catch up on the project from the beginning, check out this post:
Sneak Peek: Mexican Wolf – Day 1)

Now let me show you how we got this far – lots more in-progress photos below (click any of the pictures to enlarge)

I left off work last time with a good start on the head, so I’m moving on to the rest of the body.

Just like I did before, I start out with black, shading in the darkest areas. (More on the advantages of this later.) When this done I can come in with a base color, in this case one of my primary browns. I go over lightly and blend this first layer in with my fingers.

For each color that appears in the fur, I apply another full layer so it doesn’t show up in isolated patches. Blending together the browns, reddish-browns, yellows, grays, and beiges (like the ones you can see laid out in the photos) makes it much easier to recreate the texture and color diversity of real fur. I can just draw out whichever tones I need to emphasize in a particular area.

Notice again, I’m working from dark to light, as I mentioned before. Only later, after the other colors are blended in, do I apply anything like white or beige, because I find it really hard to work with. If used correctly it can come across looking soft and fluffy, the way I’ve tried to show here.

You can see the layers really starting to come together in the following pictures. I’ve added Nupastels 253 (cocoa brown) and 223 (burnt umber) to my palette for undertones; 233 (raw sienna) for golden highlights; charcoal gray; and 276 (buff beige) as the brightest layer. This project has a fairly limited color range – in all I won’t need more than a dozen or so chalks.

Right: The blunt edge of a Nupastel is perfect for making the short, choppy strokes that imitate layers of thick fur.

Another advantage to this kind of layering is that with the darks underneath, anytime you mess with the chalk you’ll get some nice rich undertones showing through (that’s why you’ll want to choose your base coat carefully).

One of my favorite techniques – particularly when doing hair or fur – is using a tortillion, or paper stump, to pull the darker layers out between the lighter hairs. This is much easier than trying to add dark chalk between the light areas to make them stand out, and running the risk of blurring the edges.

Think of it as a kind of “reverse pencil.” In general, I like to use tortillions in lieu of my fingers in any places too small for me to work.

Left: A well-loved paper tortillion.

Next up: A little closer to the finish – finishing the fur, paws, and small details.