Tutorial requested by a friend. This is by no means the definitive way to paint a cougar but more of a step by step how I did it.
Please click images for larger view.
Please click images for larger view.
Materials:
Here I used Snazaroo (from top to bottom, left to right) electric copper, white, black, dark brown, light brown and barely beige.
Brushes are fairly cheap but decent quality artist brushes, I like to use synthetic haired acrylic or watercolour brushes. This particular brush is filbert shaped and size 6 although its best to use what you feel comfortable with. The 2nd brush next to it with the purple handle is a super cheap kids poster paint brush. Its got really short stubby bristles that I find work well to create a soft short fur texture. Sponges are just the normal water based face painting sponges.
Reference pictures are also a must if you want to try realism. Google image search is your best friend.
Here I used Snazaroo (from top to bottom, left to right) electric copper, white, black, dark brown, light brown and barely beige.
Brushes are fairly cheap but decent quality artist brushes, I like to use synthetic haired acrylic or watercolour brushes. This particular brush is filbert shaped and size 6 although its best to use what you feel comfortable with. The 2nd brush next to it with the purple handle is a super cheap kids poster paint brush. Its got really short stubby bristles that I find work well to create a soft short fur texture. Sponges are just the normal water based face painting sponges.
Reference pictures are also a must if you want to try realism. Google image search is your best friend.
Base:
First off I like to even out my face with a thin coat of white, on the left you can still see the pink of my skin showing through the white. This step isn't crucial but its something I like to do when I am unsure of where everything in the design is to go at this early stage.
Next I pick out the muzzle area, all of the lower half of the face and eye areas in white. Its best to make these areas larger than you need them so you have lots of room to blend. White can be hard to apply later when there are other colours so its best to blend into the white with colour rather than into a colour with white.
I add barely beige as the next base colour. When working with several colours that need to be blended its often easiest to go from light to dark.
First off I like to even out my face with a thin coat of white, on the left you can still see the pink of my skin showing through the white. This step isn't crucial but its something I like to do when I am unsure of where everything in the design is to go at this early stage.
Next I pick out the muzzle area, all of the lower half of the face and eye areas in white. Its best to make these areas larger than you need them so you have lots of room to blend. White can be hard to apply later when there are other colours so its best to blend into the white with colour rather than into a colour with white.
I add barely beige as the next base colour. When working with several colours that need to be blended its often easiest to go from light to dark.
To make the base look more organic we need to pick out the darker areas. Cougars are particularly dark on the nose so I started there. I took one of my sponges, dipped it in the water and squeezed out as much as I could, then tapped the damp side onto the cake of light brown. Too much paint on the sponge will lead to flat areas of colour so only a small amount is needed. The colour then gets gently pat into the areas that need to be darker.
Detail:
To create a soft texture around the nose I use the cheap brush. I take the dry brush (no water for this bit) and almost “scrub” it gently over the cake of dark brown. To get an idea of the texture I test it on my arm before applying it to my face. (First and second pics on the left) I stipple the colour where I think I need it on the face, mostly the nose, around the tear ducts and on the forehead. Many cats have what is known as a “tickled tabby” marking on their heads. Finally I dry stipple a little black here and there to darken a couple of areas.
To create a soft texture around the nose I use the cheap brush. I take the dry brush (no water for this bit) and almost “scrub” it gently over the cake of dark brown. To get an idea of the texture I test it on my arm before applying it to my face. (First and second pics on the left) I stipple the colour where I think I need it on the face, mostly the nose, around the tear ducts and on the forehead. Many cats have what is known as a “tickled tabby” marking on their heads. Finally I dry stipple a little black here and there to darken a couple of areas.
Eyes:
Lining the eyes is a lot like how you would with eye liner. I start with the upper lid, then the lower and apply it heavily around the tear duct. This helps to change the shape of the eye, giving it a more feline appearance. I add a little detail as I see it on my reference pictures and done. The brown markings over the eye brows helps to mask the brow a little.
Tip: When creating detail around the tear duct its often best to avoid letting any of it travel up onto the side of the nose. The detail from each side of the eyes needs to stay fairly far apart to help create that broad nosed look that cats have.
Lining the eyes is a lot like how you would with eye liner. I start with the upper lid, then the lower and apply it heavily around the tear duct. This helps to change the shape of the eye, giving it a more feline appearance. I add a little detail as I see it on my reference pictures and done. The brown markings over the eye brows helps to mask the brow a little.
Tip: When creating detail around the tear duct its often best to avoid letting any of it travel up onto the side of the nose. The detail from each side of the eyes needs to stay fairly far apart to help create that broad nosed look that cats have.
Nose:
I used “electric copper” for the nose because its quite different from the other browns that I am using. I paint it onto the bottom of my nose and bring it down under my nose into a 'v' shape. I try to avoid bringing the nose too far up my own nose as this can often kill the feline look. Big noses = canine! Then I carefully line the shape with black and smudge the lines here and there to make them look less like they were drawn on.
I used “electric copper” for the nose because its quite different from the other browns that I am using. I paint it onto the bottom of my nose and bring it down under my nose into a 'v' shape. I try to avoid bringing the nose too far up my own nose as this can often kill the feline look. Big noses = canine! Then I carefully line the shape with black and smudge the lines here and there to make them look less like they were drawn on.
Mouth:
Here I extend the nose down to the lips and paint the black curved top lip, the line extends a little further than my actual lips, again for illusion that I have a feline mouth. I open my mouth and use my finger to smudge the the black of the line downwards to act as shadow, then smudge some black onto the top of my bottom lip.
Here I extend the nose down to the lips and paint the black curved top lip, the line extends a little further than my actual lips, again for illusion that I have a feline mouth. I open my mouth and use my finger to smudge the the black of the line downwards to act as shadow, then smudge some black onto the top of my bottom lip.
Whiskers:
Whisker dots create the look of having whiskers without actually having to paint whiskers. I gently brush a line of black through each row of whisker dots to re-create what I see in my reference images.
Whisker dots create the look of having whiskers without actually having to paint whiskers. I gently brush a line of black through each row of whisker dots to re-create what I see in my reference images.
Finished!
Finally I added a little more detail as I saw fit to finish the look. Admittedly I did forget to use mascara at the end. A cheap one works well as the idea is just to blacken your eye lashes from the white paint rather than extend them.
Finally I added a little more detail as I saw fit to finish the look. Admittedly I did forget to use mascara at the end. A cheap one works well as the idea is just to blacken your eye lashes from the white paint rather than extend them.
