Painting Wildlife

Finding a Subject

Unfortunately, finding a subject for a wildlife painting can be very difficult. While still life artists can simply arrange a bowl of fruit from their refrigerator, the wildlife painter must become more creative in his/her efforts to find suitable inspiration. Consider the following ideas as you’re choosing the subject of your next painting:

• Watch the wildlife documentaries on your local public television station to learn more about how animals move in their natural surroundings.
• Visit your local zoo and take the time to observe your favorite animals. Bring your digital camera, sketchpad, and a picnic lunch to make it an all day field trip.
• Go to your public library and check out a collection of wildlife books. Use the photographs to sketch a variety of compositions.

When picking a subject for your painting, don’t be afraid to look past the obviously beautiful. The beauty of nature can often be found in its imperfections. Your painting doesn’t have look like a postcard to have a charm of its own.

Tips for Painting Wildlife

Becoming a successful wildlife painter requires a great deal of practice. However, you’ll find the task to be much easier if you remember these basic painting tips:

• When painting wildlife, either the habitat or the animal should be the focus of the finished piece. You can’t give equal importance to both.
• Don’t become so focused on the details of your wildlife painting that you neglect to pay attention to the bigger concepts of form, light, and space. Color theory and composition are also useful guides for any wildlife artist.
• Use highlights and glazes to help give definition to an animal with black fur.
• To accurately paint a bird in flight, pay attention to the angle of the wing’s edge and how straight the wing is.
• Knowing how many bones are in a bird’s foot will allow you to position its foot correctly within your painting.
• An animal’s leg has three joints: the hip, knee, and ankle. However, the ankle on an animal is often where you’d expect to find the knee.
• Plan your brush strokes so you’re painting in the direction of growth. This same rule holds true whether you’re painting the fur on a lion or a plant in the jungle.
• If you feel like your painting seems off balance, try looking at it from several different angles. For example, looking at your painting upside down is an easy way to discover many composition problems. Looking at the reflection of your painting in a mirror may also be useful.
• Don’t be afraid to mimic the work of artists you admire. It’s important to be original, but every beginning artist draws on the work of his/her predecessors for inspiration.

Online Tutorials

Online tutorials that let you see the step-by-step evolution of a painting can be a great resource for learning how experienced artists paint wildlife. Check out the following links for examples of watercolor, oil, and acrylic paintings:

• Cougar
• Lion Cubs
• Cheetah Wildlife Painting in Acrylic
• Lion of Juda
• African Leopard Oil Painting
• Leopard in Watercolor
• Lion Cub with a Bone
• Whistling Kite

Painting Reference Books

Since animals are a very popular subject for the aspiring painter, there are a number of reference books that offer suggestions for wildlife painting. For example:

• More Wildlife Painting: Techniques of Modern Masters by Susan Rayfield
• Wildlife Painting Step by Step by Patrick Seslar
• Painting the Drama of Wildlife Step by Step by Terry Isaac
• Drawing and Painting Animals: How to Capture the Essence of Wildlife in Your Art by Edward Aldrich and Bonnie Iris
• Painting Animals That Touch the Heart by Lesley Harrison