Fluffy animals usually make us tender and all sorts of tender feelings. Therefore, they are loved to draw, and today I will tell you how to make animals even cuter, fluffier and more believable. Using the methods described below, you can draw wool of any length and any color. It is best to use opaque paints such as acrylic, gouache and so on, but since these are basic principles, they will work with other materials.
1. Starting to draw wool is from the darkest places. This helps to create a base for drawing subsequent layers and add volume and realism to the animal. Depending on the coloration of the animal, it is better to use a colored substrate under the layers, this avoids occasional white and light spots.
2. Next, you need to draw subsequent layers of wool, gradually making them lighter. You need to draw with a thin brush with separate hairs. The idea is to finish with the lightest shade on the top layer. Think of each layer of fur like shingles on a house - each layer slightly overlapping the other.
Pay attention to how you draw. There should be fewer layers in the shadows, more in the light. Again, it is important that each layer is completely dry before painting the next. If the paint is not dry enough, the colors will be cloudy and the individual hairs will not be visible.
3. It is worth mentally dividing the surface of the animal into small sections, in each of which the fur lies in its own direction. For example, around the eyes, the fur, as it were, goes around the round eye. This helps to create the shapes that make up the face of the animal and again adds depth and realism to the work.
4. The last layer should be an accent on the brightest places. Here it is best to use the thinnest brush and monitor the fluidity of the paint - it should be liquid, but not fluid, otherwise there is a chance to put a blot on the finished work. Practice doing the same strokes with a gradual change in thickness. It is at this stage that eyelashes, mustaches, highlights and specks are usually drawn, enlivening the work.
With the help of these simple tricks, it is easy to give the animal more realism, make it fluffier and more voluminous.
The most common question in drawing animals is the subtleties of the depiction of wool. At first glance, this looks like a fairly simple and easy task, but this is very far from the truth. In addition, each artist has his own style of drawing, which directly affects the drawing of animal fur. I will tell you about my own method, with a detailed description of all the smallest details and strokes. 
The visual picture perceived by the eye very often does not correspond to reality.
Almost everyone is able to draw animal hair quite well, but at the same time, very often, due to the visual image, too much detail is used, which adds more detail than the drawing requires.
Varieties of drawing techniques that you can use:
- concentrate on three-dimensional space and its vision;
- use hatching and at the same time create something similar to the texture of wool;
- apply directly to the hair, having studied them in detail under lighting, determining their shape.
Each of these methods is no worse than the other, but it is the latter that allows you to convey wool in the image as realistically as possible. 
This drawing of a dog by artist Karen Gillis. In it, the artist did not pay much attention to the image of the details of the hair, but applied a tonal design that allows you to determine the shape of the body. 
This drawing, made by me, shows a bassen howd using the shading method in the hair as a way of expressing the three-dimensional shape of the body. The use of white in the drawing draws the viewer's attention in the right direction.
In the first drawing, hatching was applied throughout the image, without including textures and adding tones, as an effect on the main object in three-dimensional space. The main purpose of the drawing is to convey the form, and the fact that the wool should be present is clear and so.
I used hatching in the second drawing only in some parts of the drawing, where darkening was necessary, and in some parts - a reflection or reflection of each hair, as well as thick wool. In this drawing, absolute painting was not used, but only where the location of the hairs and the way they lie are reflected. In the second case, the three-dimensional shape of the object is described just by the hairs themselves and brought to the fore.
Neither white nor black
If only white was used in the drawing, or vice versa - black, nothing else would be visible except for the surface itself, where the figures and contours are depicted. In fact, it is the play of light, reflections that largely affect what we see in the picture. For example, the use of gloss in the process of painting the coat of a black Labrador, the use of darkening or highlighting some areas that allow you to form the overall structure of the dog. A detailed image of hair and wool allows you to determine the shape of the pattern in space. Exactly the same techniques are used when drawing a white poodle, except in cases where the emphasis is completely changed and it is the shadows that play the main role, and not the actual light structure. At the same time, there is always a very important aspect that certainly plays one of the main roles in any version of drawing an animal ...
The thinness of the pencil is less than the hair itself
The pencil can't draw the hair itself because I can't press too hard or too often while drawing. The pencil itself only allows you to determine the location of the hair and its future shape. In some cases, there are options when the dark-colored hair itself is located on top of the light areas of the image, and this is when painting is used. In other words, the pencil stroke itself, in fact, is not yet a drawing, but it only defines the boundaries between the hairs.
Drawing methods - positive and negative
I will explain the basic principles of drawing hair, including drawing from black to white, as well as black and white. You can use both of these methods in your practice without much difficulty and give your drawings realism. From what has been said above, it is clear that we perceive blond hair, since it is darkened, and dark hair, on the contrary, is brightened. In both the first and second cases, we see hair because the "negatives" method is applied. In fact, you are not drawing the hair itself, but their shadows. For dark-colored hair, light areas depend on brightness, light intervals are most often painted over not with black, but with gray. This is done because the black color itself is darker and its use is necessary when drawing the shadows and the edges of the hair itself.
The method of "negatives" must be understood and learned to apply in drawing. First of all, you need to pay attention not to the lines themselves in the process of drawing, but to the areas between them. If you draw an image with watercolors in white, there will definitely be an unpainted area, just like when drawing with a pencil. In order to get a perfectly white line, you need to shade the space around with a pencil. By itself, the line in the figure does not carry anything. Particular attention should be paid to what the result will be if an unshaded area remains. 
Look closely and tell me what do you see in this picture, white or black lines? When black lines are drawn on a white sheet of paper, this is the "positive" method. 
Do you see white lines on a black background? This is because, through the use of black, boundaries have been defined to create white. This is the negative method. 
Foliage drawing is an example of the "positives" method, where the main lines are drawn in pencil. 
This drawing is an example of the "negatives" method. Here, pencil strokes were used to represent the dominant white hair. 
This figure shows an example of a mixed drawing type. In this case, the shadows are depicted using the "positive" method and continued in other areas using the "negative" method.
How did this become possible?
I use the "negatives" method almost wherever possible. This will make it much easier to determine the darkest background later. It turns out that I use this method as a pause, i.e. I draw in one direction, and then from the same point I draw in the other. For example, if you look at the left ear in the image of Border's dog above, I will try to explain my method with this example, which I drew in 4 steps.
First stage
First of all, I defined the border of the transition between dark and light color. Then, very carefully, I began to make the first strokes up, in order to show the light hairs. At the same time, it is worth remembering that I draw only shadows between the hairs themselves. I don’t touch the white hairs yet, they remain for the next stage. 
Second phase
The contour of the ear is slightly shaded when drawing from dark to light. Since in this case the “negatives” method was used, I did not draw the hairs themselves with strokes, but only drew their shadows. The definition of the form itself can be started immediately after the background is selected and the hairs are determined. Under constant control, there must be light colors. 
Third stage
This stage consisted of hatching over the darkened part, using drawing from dark to light. In order to get light hairs over dark ones, you can use a pointed elastic. In this case, the graphite line is removed from the dark surface and slowly turns into a completely light line. 
Fourth stage
After applying the "negatives" method, the borders merged into a single whole between the dark and light edges. Now they depict the finished line of each hair. 
Results
It's better to work with small areas to start with, this will make it easier to work later, and you can get the same result throughout the drawing. Do not try to tint the entire drawing at once, or vice versa, go too deep into the image of one area. This technique is not as simple as it may seem at once and it may take you some time to master it. The more you practice this method, the faster you will achieve the best result. First you need to determine the light source and concentrate on the location of the hairs. If you pay due attention to each area, you will succeed. Good luck to you!
Step-by-step demonstration in drawing wool
This photo will be the basis for my drawing, but I will not draw the whole mouse. 
I only take this section: 
First of all, it is worth starting with the selection of neutral paper. If you use white paper, you will constantly encounter the problem of white color all the time. In order to facilitate your work, it is best to use paper in a color that matches the tone of the coat. I started my work with cream-beige paper.
With a white pencil, you need to lay the direction of the wool. When drawing hairs, it is worth remembering a few basic points:
1. First of all, you need to hatch in the direction of the wool. This means that you will have to move the paper around in a circle so that you are pushing the pencil instead of pulling or sliding. Of course, you should choose the method that is most convenient for you.
2. The second important point is the need to lay hair in different directions. I mean, the hairs cannot be laid very precisely in one direction, too mechanically. They should be randomly directed and even in a slight mess. In my drawings, I usually twist my thumb and other fingers so that the pencil is used differently each time. This torsion of the pencil also allows it to be sharpened longer. 
After that, you need to choose an average color. I used Light Umber when drawing. Be sure to keep the pencil sharp and remember the length of the depicted hairs. I most often lay the wool in sections in the drawing. It is worth remembering that the hairs on the cheeks of the mouse are quite short and the strokes when drawing this area should be small. 
When applying the Goldenrod color, the area to be worked out needs to be filled in more. Not too much, because there are other colors to use as well. 
After that, I go back to the white pencil on the already worked area, which makes it possible to lighten the already laid Umber area and highlight the white wool a little. 
Then I start painting the middle dark color. I used chocolate color for this. It is best to lay new colors between the already drawn lines, while highlighting some groups of hairs. You should be careful not to repaint the colors, otherwise the work will turn out too dark. You can always go back and add some colors if needed. 
The final colors are the darkest: Dark Umber, Dark Brown or Burnt Umber. I used the color Dark Umber in my work. You will need to go back and darken a bit those areas of the hair where the chocolate color was used. With this color, you need to create random long hairs here and there. In this case, again, you should not overdo it and do not darken the areas too much. 
After that, I go back to white and gold again to soften and fill in some areas. Next, I apply a colorless blender - colorless blender. Its main purpose is to smooth out the strokes a bit and hide the paper where it shows through, not to mix colors. 
I will continue my work in exactly the same way. It is worth remembering that the body itself has a longer coat length and the strokes should be longer. The first color is Light Umber. My strokes in the drawing do not go in the same direction. In addition, I try to avoid those areas where the work is not finished yet. This allows you to see the big picture and replace unfinished areas during further work. I'll come back to this area a little later and smooth out the transition areas. Due to the fact that the hair is darker under the cheek, I draw the strokes quite close to each other. 
Using a golden color, I start working right in the highlights. At the same time, it is not applied too thickly. 
As before, we again return to work with white. I begin to connect and mix different sections into a single whole. It is worth remembering that the color of the paper is the color of some of the hairs that you depict. Therefore, do not close the paper completely. 
Looking at the picture, I understand that the light umber color is still missing, and therefore I add it more. You should keep turning the sheet so that you can push the pencil in the right direction. Be sure to rotate the picture, you need to rotate the photo of the picture itself in the same direction. 
Now it's much better and we're moving on to the next color. When using chocolate, you can start with lighter areas so as not to darken other areas. 
Due to the fact that the light part of the mouse's abdomen is more yellow, I used GingerRoot and Sand. 
In order to highlight the shadows in some areas of the coat, as before, I applied the dark umber color, and then applied the colorless blender. After that, you can finish your work in any way you see fit, paying attention to some details, finishing the colors, highlighting some groups of wool.
Our demo is complete: 
Photo of a hamster on black paper: 
To draw cute fluffy kittens and other animals, you need to be able to depict wool. Usually there are difficulties with this, but there are several tricks that will allow you to learn how to depict different types of this texture.
The principles of depicting wool are the same for any type of paint, but gouache or acrylic are most often used for these purposes.
Underpainting
Before moving on to the hairs, you need highlight the darkest areas of hair and fill them with paint. Such contrasting spots will add volume to the pattern and help to avoid the appearance of white unpainted gaps.
Gradually you need to move on to lighter areas.
wool
Accurate drawing of wool requires practice. Try to draw the same lines with different thicknesses or with varying thicknesses on a separate sheet.
Using a thin brush, the hairs are drawn in layers. Like fish scales or shingles on a roof, each subsequent row slightly overlaps the previous one.
Start with dark tones and gradually move to lighter ones. When you're done, this should be on the lightest part of the coat. The last hairs need to be given special attention. They create an accent and the drawing will be spoiled if the hand trembles or the paint makes a blot. Small details are also depicted at this stage. Such as: mustache, highlights, eyelashes, etc. Take the thinnest brush and make sure that the paint is not too thin.
Each layer is applied after the previous one has dried, so that the result is more accurate.
Note that wool does not grow in one direction. She bends the form. If you manage to convey this, then the drawing will become more voluminous and more realistic.
How to draw fur on a kitten:
1. You need to start by sketching out the kitten's body. In our case, you need to draw the head, torso, paws and tail.
2. Next, you need to sketch out the wool in those places where it is needed. Remember that you need to draw the fur gradually and do not press hard with the pencil. When the wool is ready in some places, then you need to darken the necessary places with a pencil.
3. Now you can draw the eyes, mouth, nose and paint on the paws. We also draw a muzzle and a tail, and then with the help of ordinary cotton buds we shade the areas.
Other wool drawing options:
Instruction
Apply the base color with a wide brush. Mix brick brown, ocher and sepia in the palette. Apply it with wide strokes on the entire body of the animal.
Add a little light yellow to the resulting color and dilute the new shade with water. They need to fill the rabbit's head.
While the paint on the muzzle is not dry, mix umber and black in the palette. Apply it with a smaller brush to the area above the nose of the rabbit. Since the surface of the paper is quite wet, the new shade will blend with the previous one, spreading over the sheet, eliminating clear contours. This will create the effect of fluffy fur.
On the curves of the body, the color of the fur looks a little different due to the refraction of light on its surface. So, for example, above the hind leg of a rabbit, it seems more orange, and on the back near the head and in the tail area, it is worth adding a cold dark brown over the main color (to give a cold shade, drop quite a bit of blue).
Draw grayish fluff near the rabbit's ear. To do this, first pass a clean, damp brush over this area of \u200b\u200bthe pattern, and then apply black heavily diluted with water, mixed with light brown. The same shade, but already on a dry basis, apply on the side of the animal.
Take the thinnest brush. Dip it in umber and add some black. With this color, mark the shadows in the depth of the fur next to the nose of the rabbit. Apply paint in short strokes.
Watercolor pencils will help you complete the drawing and achieve a realistic image of fur. Take a light gray pencil. It must be very sharply sharpened. With strokes in the direction of the coat, mark the light hairs near the ears of the rabbit. Light yellow (closer to brown) go over the head - especially around the eyes and on the side. With a brick-colored pencil, draw fur on the back of the rabbit.
Related videos
Wool is such animal clothing that serves them for warmth, and gives people joy from its contemplation. And it is also so soft to the touch, so smooth, so unique, with such subtle transitions of shades. Nature knows how to create perfectly. And how to draw wool on paper with a pencil?
You will need
- - landscape sheet;
- - pencil;
- - eraser.
Instruction
Wool with sharp jerky movements so that the strokes are thicker at the base and thinner at the very tips. Please note that the lines should not be located strictly vertically and with the same distance between them. Draw them with a slight slope to one side and with different distances between each. A slight curvature will also create the effect of soft wool.
Draw long hair. Choose the direction of the hair and draw long strokes very quickly. Draw them until you get a certain thickness of wool. Draw some hair lying almost horizontally to enhance the effect of naturalness. Now blend the lightly drawn fur. It is very important to follow the direction of the hair even when hatching.
Lighten up the fur. To do this, take a very thin section of the eraser and apply vertical strokes between the drawn wool. Thus, create the effect of fluffiness and volume.
Questions “how to draw wool” or “how to draw hair” in fact, they don't happen very often. So, there is a topic for discussion)
Let's try to figure it out with a specific example.
I received this drawing with a request for comment on how to correctly draw animal hair with a pencil so that it does not look “wirey”.
So what do I see. The drawing is wonderful. in itself is not bad (and even very). The stroke is delicate and neat, but at the same time quite confident, made with a firm hand.
But, with such a generally positive impression, there is also a reason for criticism.
And I will not start with how to draw wool. Because the texture itself, no matter how correctly and accurately it is drawn, will not make the image realistic ...
In my opinion, while striving for the highest quality transfer of the wool texture, the volume began to suffer ... And this is very undesirable to allow. Why? Because the correct transfer of volume is much more important than the correct transfer of texture.
The texture of the surface in the drawing can be sketched rather conventionally, but if the volume is correctly shown, the drawing will be perceived as very realistic.
V. A. Vatagin, "Bear" - an example of the study of volume
Volume is created by tonal relationships and is completely dependent on . The transfer of volume in a drawing is to a large extent an analytical work: the artist closely examines the form - which area is closer in space, which is farther, where more light enters, and which part is less illuminated.
Let's go back to the top picture and look at it from the point of view of how volume is transmitted.
On the head, the volume is, in principle, readable - there are many beautiful details that are easy for the artist to catch on to. Well, perhaps, the gum is too light - but it is in depth, it should be less illuminated, and in contrast with the lower lip it visually comes out strongly. But I have no complaints about the shape of the head. There is volume there, and it is not created by drawing individual hairs. Look, somewhere they merge into a common mass, they are given smooth, blurry, but the feeling of a “fur” surface is not lost from this.
However, if you close your head and look at the body separately: the volume is lost in it. There is a solid PLANE, areas filled with texture from individual strokes. This is especially evident on the dark part - this is an even canvas, behind which the body is not felt, it disappeared as a result of the desire to accurately show the texture - to draw every hair. It worked out, but as a result - "wire" wool, which the author is talking about ...
Summary: texture is secondary to overall shape. In the drawing, it can be superimposed on top of the drawn volume.
How it looks in practice: first you need to perform a tonal drawing, based on volumes, sorting out what is closer, what is farther, which areas are facing the light, and which are in the shade. The tone is typed in multidirectional strokes, in dark places they can merge (I still don’t advise shading - but this is a matter of taste. It just seems to me that they rarely make friends in one drawing).
Further, when the three-dimensional drawing is ready, you can apply a texture on top of a softer pencil. In this case, it is not necessary to fill the entire surface with equally readable individual hairs. Remember that closer to us - more contrast, more clearly drawn. Far and deep — the texture merges into the total mass. Then the "wire" will disappear.
drawing by D.V. Gorlov is an example of the study of space and placement of accents. Closer - more contrast, farther - blurry. Important - detailed study, secondary - shown conditionally.
And finally, I want to warn against one fairly common mistake. In self-taught drawings, it often betrays a passion for a very even and neat texture. If wool or hair - then hair to hair, shading is emphasized "combed". However, negligence here is not only acceptable, but often even necessary. Indeed, in reality, hair (or long fur) will not lie in perfect order ...
Dmitry Gorlov. "Lion head".
I hope my answer will help you figure out how to draw wool “correctly”.
P.S. I thank Tina Slavina, a talented master-mishkomaker, for the provided drawing)
