Drawing fur from memory can be very frustrating. You've seen it, you know what it is, but when you try fur drawing, you end up with a bunch of straw.
If this is your problem, in this tutorial I will show you how to draw fur. First hint? You need to draw what you see, not what you know!
What You Will Need to Draw Fur
- Sheets of paper
- HB pencil
- 2B pencil
- 4B pencil
- Mechanical HB pencil
- Blending stump (or cotton swab)
- Kneaded eraser (or normal eraser)
1. What Is Fur?
Let's start with some theory. You'll be able to draw fur much better just by learning these few simple facts.
First, fur is made of hairs that lie one upon another, creating a smooth surface. However, when the surface bends, they start to clump—the individual hairs are grouped.
This "clumping" can occur in all dimensions, creating either "waves" of hair or small separate clumps.
We can see everything because of the contrast between light and shadow. The bigger the clumps, the bigger the shadow between them.
When you draw fur by drawing individual hairs, what you're really drawing is skin illuminated from below, with hairs blocking the light. That's why it looks so odd!
So the big secret is: to draw convincing fur with a pencil, you need to draw not the hairs/clumps, but the shadows between them.
In fact, that's how you should always approach drawing fur. We draw light and shadow, and nothing more. A single hair can be similar to a simple pencil stroke, but you can't draw fur by drawing a lot of simple strokes.
2. How to Draw Long Fur
Step 1
Let's draw a tail with a fluffy texture as an example. Imagine its top is slightly bent away from you. Use the HB pencil to draw the fur's basic shape on the tail. Don't press too hard—we don't want to see the fur sketch later.
Step 2
Tilt your pencil and fill the fur sketch shape with gray. Don't press too hard to achieve a uniform effect. You can simulate the flow of the fur drawing with your strokes, but it's not necessary.
Step 3
Take the 2B pencil and use the same technique to shade the side of the tail fur drawing. We need to give it a 3D form.
Step 4
Press harder near the edge to make the shadow gradually darker to work the fur texture drawing.
Step 5
Take the HB pencil again and draw "side hair". These curves will define the direction of the fur all over the tail. Remember to make fur bend on the top.
Step 6
Tilt your pencil and turn every hair into a sharp clump. Be gentle when you're doing the fur texture drawing.
Step 7
Now the difficult part—we need to draw the shadows between clumps to make fur pop. There are certain "signs" you can use as a base, but you need to try it yourself to understand how to draw a fur clump. Practice on the side for a moment if you're not sure how to do it.
Use the hair on the side as a guide for direction. The greater the angle, the shorter and wider the shadows should be. Opening the angle can help make the fluffy texture more convincing. Use the 2B pencil for this, and hold it tilted for a more natural flow. If you drew any sharp, thin lines, your eye would mistake them for some stray hair, which would break the fluffy texture effect.
Step 8
Continue by going to the right. The closer to the edge, the narrower and tighter the shadows should be.
Step 9
Keep using the same pencil, but for the other side press harder for a darker shade.
Step 10
When drawing hair, clumps are easy to achieve, but it's not normal for a smooth surface to be so clumped. Draw some bigger, wider shadows in the lower area to create "waves" (smooth groups of clumps).
Step 11
Take the 4B pencil and draw some tight, dark shadows on the shadowed side. Don't make them too big!
Step 12
Use it to add some darker shadows to the middle part as well, but do it very subtly. This part doesn't need a lot of shadows, and the clearer they are, the wetter the tail will look.
Step 13
When learning how to draw fluffy hair, a blending stump or even a cotton swab are useful. Use it to gently blend the clumps, "drawing" over the fur according to its flow.
Step 14
Take the eraser to add some highlights to the illuminated side. If you have a kneader eraser, you can actually draw some hair with it—if not, a normal eraser will do.
Step 15
Time for the mechanical pencil. Use it to add tiny shadows within the clumps (the big clumps are made of smaller clumps, after all). Be very, very careful—too much of it may destroy the effect. Feel free to copy the shapes of the shadows you see in my drawing.
Step 16
Use the same pencil if you want to add details to the lower part, but avoid any bigger shadows here. This part should be a smooth and soft fluffy texture.
Step 17
Go back to the top and add the splitting at the ends of the clumps. Remember to draw them using shadows only.
Step 18
Draw single loose hairs on the sides for a fluffier effect. Don't press too hard!
Step 19
Take a break and then look at your drawing once again from a distance. Turn it upside down, see it in a mirror, and maybe take a photo to get a different perspective.
If you notice something you'd like to change, this is the time to do it. However, don't be tempted to add more contrast—the darker the shadows, the harder the clumps will look. Soft fur doesn't have so many clear shadows, because light easily gets through it.
3. How to Draw Short Fur
Step 1
Pencil drawing animals is challenging mostly because of fur. Short fur is based on the same rules as long fur. After all, it doesn't matter how long the fur is, but how long it is in relation to the surface it lies on. The smaller the surface, the more bending and the more clumps there are. The bigger it is, the more uniform the hair.
Let's draw the base of a lion's tail as an example. Again, imagine it bends on top. Draw it with the HB pencil.
Step 2
Tilt the pencil slightly and draw short hair in the middle. Don't draw in rows, but rather go across and back again for a less artificial effect.
Step 3
Continue on the side, this time drawing them tighter and with a wider angle.
Step 4
Do the same on top, keeping in mind there's bending here—the fur will look shorter in this area.
Step 5
Do the same on the other side, using a 2B pencil.
Step 6
Time for the shadows! This time they need to be really tiny. First in the middle...
... then on the side. Here they may look more like simple lines.
Step 7
Press harder on the other side to achieve greater contrast.
Step 8
Take the 4B pencil and add some darker hairs right on the side.
Step 9
Take the mechanical pencil and use it to complete the shadows.
Step 10
Use the same pencil to accentuate the little hairs on the side.
Good Job!
Now you know how to draw fluffy hair, both short and long. As you can see, fur isn't so hard to draw once you know the rules. You can use this knowledge to draw all kinds of fur now.
Did you enjoy this tutorial? Want to continue on your journey of pencil drawing animals? You may like these too:
How to Draw and Render Realistic Fur With Pencils and Charcoal
How to Draw Trees
How to Draw a Winter Landscape From Scratch
How to Draw Fabric: Silk and Wool
How to Draw a Palm Tree
How to Draw a Braid
