Painting Watercolor Pet Portraits by Christine Aria Hostetler

Intermediate | 1 hour

Taught by Christine Aria Hostetler

You don't have to be a drawing or painting expert to create a beautiful watercolor pet portrait. Artist and illustrator, Christine Aria, shares her fail-proof technique for painting furry friends. Learn how to select a photo of your pet that will translate into a successful final painting, and then transfer the image to your paper to create a framework for painting. Christine shares copious tips for creating a custom palette and painting realistic details with layers of color. This class is an ideal deep-dive for anyone who wants a fearless introduction to painting animal forms.

Learn how to:

Choose the perfect photograph to paint
Trace the outline of your pet and transfer it to paper
Add pen detail in your drawing, then layer watercolor
Create realistic details with watercolor

What you'll get:

Step-by-step expert instruction on how to create a beautiful watercolor pet portrait
5 HD video lessons you can access online anytime, anywhere
Detailed supplies list
The ability to leave comments, ask questions and interact with other students

Chapters

Pet Portraits
Introduction00:50
Materials02:45

Drawing and Painting Your Pet
Selecting and tracing photo07:41
Transferring and drawing image10:17
Making a test strip08:11
Painting the portrait30:37
Finishing11:57

Materials

Here’s what you’ll need:

HB or 2H pencil (for creating carbon paper backing)
Artist tape
Scissors
Kneaded eraser
Tracing paper or carbon paper
Felt tip pen: black Micron in 005-02 size and/or colored Micron in same size Brushes: round watercolor brush with pointed tip; choose at least one smaller (size 1 -3) and one larger (size 4-6)
Watercolor paints (Christine uses Angora paints in the following colors: lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson, cadmium red deep, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, payne's grey, and sap green)
White palette area for mixing colors
Watercolor paper: cold press for a more traditional watercolor look or hot press for a smoother look (choose paper size depending on size of your image)
Photocopy or printout of pet photograph
Absorbent paper towels
Water