How to Paint German Shepherd Fur
This video gives a step-by-steo breakdown of the alla-prima (wet-on-wet) painting technique I use to create the textures, colours and shading in German Shepherd’s beautiful fur.
These techniques are some of my favourites to use in all my breed portraits! I love how the oils blend into each other to produce richness and depth.
To get right to the fur painting technique itself, I’ll start here with a sketch and progress through blending and texturing, stopping before the “hard” details like eyes, nose and teeth.
Want to see the next steps? Check out my 5 minute video on dog eye painting. Believe it or not, the eyes can take almost as long as the fur, despite how much smaller they are!
The Finished Painting
I post a ton of painting videos on YouTube, so if you’re interested in learning how to paint fur, check out the Paws By Zann channel!
Other German Shepherd Paintings
These two german shepherd portraits are of Davka, a sweetheart who lost the tips of his ears before he was rescued.
In these two pieces, you can see the difference that lighting makes when you’re looking at how to paint german shepherd fur.
The bright, direct light on the left side of the red painting shows gloss and highlights best. On the other hand, the green painting on the left shows Davka’s fur’s true coloration.
Because our eyes almost always perceive some reflected light, the painting on the right looks like it has more depth.
And the one below was for the same client! He loved the portraits of Davka so much, he decided to give one as a gift to his brother, of his dog.
German shepherds, with thier rich coats and intense personalities, look great on a variety of backgrounds. Check out a few of the examples below for ideas!
German Shepherd Paintings on Different Backgrounds
Realism and landscape backgrounds are a great way to bring favourite places or activities into a portrait.
On the other hand, neutrals really let the subjects shine!
Lastly, when it comes to backgrounds, abstraction can be a wonderful option.
Looking for more about how to paint and draw dogs?
I always suggest starting with the basics:
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Thanks for reading.
Zann
