The fur of one of my cats is so black my digital camera often refuses to focus -- it simple doesn't see enough detail in his black fur. Or his black fur just comes out as a black hole with a pair of eyes staring at you! The same applies to painting him, at first glance there just doesn't seem to be enough detail to capture. So how do you overcome the problems of painting black fur? Here are some tips.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 1: Plan Your Tonal Values
Paint a tonal scale with five or seven tones (values), from light to dark, with the blacks/greys you're going to use in the painting. Then be quite formulaic or systematic in using the middle tones for most of the animal, the lights for the highlights, and darks for the shadows. If you can't decide what tone an area should be, place your scale next to it to judge. (With practise, you'll be to judge instinctively.)
Painting Black Fur Tip No 2: Mix Your Own Black
Instead of using a tube of black paint, mix your own black from burnt umber and ultramarine blue. Where the fur is warm, increase the proportion of burnt umber. And where the fur is cool, increase the ultramarine blue.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 3: Check the Colours
The fur of a black cat whose spent a lot of time lying in the sun is often quite brown where it's been 'faded' by the sun e.g. on their back and head. Highlights can be charcoal grey to purple-blue to brown. Are there any underlying tabby markings (stripes) showing in the fur? Are there any colours reflected in the highlighted sheen of the black fur from the background or foreground e.g. green from grass or colour from a blanket the animal is lying on?
Painting Black Fur Tip No 4: Create Highlights
Try an pose a cat or dog with black fur in bright light so you get strong highlights that help give definition or shape e.g. on a shoulder, ear, rump.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 5: Leave Some Areas Undefined
Don't be afraid to have areas that are undefined, your eye will take in the elements that are in the painting and "fill in" what's missing. For example, putting claws at the end of a elongated black shape will push your eye to reading it as a leg. Or if one side of a cat's face is defined and the other melds or disappears into a dark background, your eye will add in what's missing, it won't interpret the painting as a half a face.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 6: Follow the Direction of the Fur
Growth
An animal's fur grows in very specific directions on different parts of the body. Following these growth patterns is essential. Mark the direction of fur growth on a photo to guide and remind you (see this Cat Fur Map as an example). Note where the fur breaks open (spreads) or clumps together (e.g. over a shoulder) where are likely to be dark shadows between the clumps of hair.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 7: Don't Paint Every Single Hair
If you painted every single hair individually, you could be working at a single painting for months. Fine if you've the time (and patience), but few of us do. Instead, use a flat brush, fanning out the bristles and flicking it across the surface in the direction the fur grows. Use a narrower brush for smaller areas.
Painting Black Fur Tip No 8: Paint in Single Strokes
Each hair is continuous, it's not a series of segments, so paint in single strokes, short for short hairs and longer for long hairs. Don't "add on" a bit if a bit of fur is too short. Paint over it instead.
Go to Tips 9 and 10...
