*MoonsongWolf

Okay, I got more responses than expected for my text tutorial, so I thought that I would just go ahead and post it here instead of noting it to everyone! This is my technique for creating fur textures digitally.

Anyway, here goes...

I start out with a sketch, typically one that I have drawn in pencil and scanned in. I then typically set the outline to "multiply," so that I can color underneath it. The outline, unless I am doing a cartoon-like work, is just a guideline, and I delete it at the end of the drawing.

I put the base colour on a separate layer for my character and colour in the entire animal. Then I set the layer to "lock transparent pixels" and colour in whatever markings (spots, white marks, lighter belly, etc) that I want. Locking transparent pixels just means that it won't let me colour outside the animal's body.

Now that all of the base colours are on, I unlock the transparent pixels. I use the smudge tool, usually set between 60 and 80%, and I smudge the borders of the animal's body and markings in the direction that the fur will run. This makes the character look furry. You can pull the hair further away from the body for animals with long hair, or barely smudge at all for sleek-coated animals.

Okay, there are several ways I have tried to do the next few parts, and I will try to explain a few of my favorite methods.

Method One (single layer)

This is the method I use most often, but if you mess up, you might end up screwing yourself. I recommend saving a few different files as you progress the first time or so. Lock the transparent pixles. Then, take a large fuzzy brush, set it to air brush with a flow rate of 2-6%, and chose a colour that is quite a bit darker than your base colour. Go over all of the areas that you want to be in shadow, typically the belly, insides of legs, and under the jawline and heavily muscled areas. Then, do the same thing for your highlights. Use a colour several shades lighter than the base coat (or whatever colour that you want, if there is a coloured light source nearby). Now, once all of the shadows and highlights are in, use the smudge again. Make sure you follow the fur line, and smudge all along the shadows and highlights. Now, your animal should look very fuzzy!

Okay, here's the really boring part. Use references if need be to make sure you get the fur directions right. I draw all of the fur in hair by hair. You will have to change colours frequently. Just "eyedrop" up whatever colour the area you are working on is, and change the color to a darker shade. Use a small fuzzy brush, again on airbrush set to 2-6% flow, and draw in the fur, strand by strand. Use long strokes for long fur, short strokes for shorter fur. Then, go back and do the same thing with a lighter shade. So you should have a sort of salt and pepper effect when you are done. At this point, the fur probably looks a little stiff. I usually take a small fuzzy smudge brush and smudge some of the fur strands to give them a fluffier look and help them blend into the base coat. It takes more time, obviously, but I think it looks better than just leaving the fur rough.

Method Two (multiple layers)

Basically, the actual technique is the same as method one. However, instead of working all on one layer, you can separate it out. For example, you can do the shading on a second layer over your base coat, the highlights on a third layer, and another layer over that for the fur itself. Or you can combine them. For example, my favorite method is to do the base coat, shading, and highlights all on one layer, the do the fur on a second layer. The benefits are that you can more easily fix something that you mess up and try out different styles, textures, filters, etc. without having to effect any of the previous layers. You can just delete what you don't want to use. The bad side is that locking the transparent pixels on your base coat will not affect anything on a different layer, so you may end up colouring outside the lines, especially when shading and highlighting. That's why I usually put them on the same layer as the base coat.

Method Three (dodge and burn)

I've only done this one twice (like the New Guinea Singing Dog pic). It would make logical sense that this would be faster, as you are not changing colours, but it took me longer because it easier to screw up. Or it seemed so to me anyway. "Go backward" was my friend. Please note that this works well with tan, brown, or red animals, but not so well with grey, white, or black. Added advantages are that you don't have to worry about locking transparent pixels or going outside of the lines, since dodge and burn only effect the current colours on the layer you are working on. The added disadvantage is that it's easy to mess up and can be time-consuming to fix mistakes, since everything is done on a single layer.

Basically, the same text as method one and two apply to using dodge and burn. Only instead of picking a darker or lighter colour for shading, highlighting, and adding fur, use either burn (for darkening) or dodge (for lightening). You may have to change the exposure depending on what colours you are using the tool one, but I kept it from 3-15%.

Lots of people do not like dodge and burn because, done incorrectly, it looks unnatural. If you, for instance, overdo it with dodge, your animal will look really, really shiny (not in a good way). I found that it was pretty obvious when I overdid it, though.

Okay, well, hope that helped some. Please let me know if you need some clarifications or anything. I am not exceptionally good at explaining things, so there might be some parts that you don't get due to my poor description, or maybe something that I glossed over.


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I have a FAQ which answers the following questions that I get asked a lot!. Please check it out if you need any of these questions answered ---> [link]
What mediums do you use and how long does it take to complete a piece?
Will you make a tutorial for ______?
Can I draw your characters/use your art as references?


Useful tutorials ---> [link]



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15 Animal/Anthro Challenge
1/15 completed
For information on the challenge ---> [link]

Commissions, trades, and other owed art

=Tascun art owed: Waiting for info
~Tianator commission: sketching
~JigglyCookie pencil drawing
~fit pencil drawing
~AvatarWolf13 pencil drawing
=daughterofthestars pencil drawing
*Nylak pencil drawing



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Requests: No, sorry.


Regular Art Trades: Closed.

ACEO Art Trades: CLOSED until slots open up. Please note that these slots are for ACEO only. If you don't know what that is, or if you are interested in doing a trade, please go here and read my ACEO trade "rules": [link]

1. August ACEO club: waiting for info
2. =risha sketched
3. =risha not started
4. =sorjei not started


Commissions: Toon digital, realistic digital portrait, or ACEO only.

Toon digital pieces start at $20 for a single character with fairly simple background, such as [link]
Additional characters in the same piece are $5/character
More elaborate backgrounds are $5+, please contact me with the specifics for a quote.

Realistic digital portraits with simple backgrounds are $20. Example: [link]

ACEO cards are $10, which includes uninsured slow shipping anywhere. Additional cards in same shipment are $7/each.

Sorry, I only accept check or money order, and checks have a 30-day hold. Paypal can die in a fire for all I care.



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