Painting Animals With Expression

Dutch Artist Marjolein Kruijt Answers Your Queries on How to Create Animal Portraits With a Difference.
 

How can I bring more character to my animal portrait; what sort of ‘expressions’ should I be looking for? 

What defines a painting with a lot of character? It could be capturing the character of the animal or showing the character of the artist. The choice of subject is very important, as is its posture, your choice of background, lighting, composition and your ‘handwriting style’ on top. Making good decisions beforehand defines your end result.

Ask yourself: what expression do you love? Is it funny, joyful, emotional, mysterious, serious or dangerous looking? Especially with a commissioned portrait: what’s the ‘feeling’ the animal shows in its eyes? As an artist, you need to crawl into this mood too.

I love capturing loving or naughty glances in the eyes, or adding a deeper meaning with animal symbolism. Even when the composition and technique are not perfect, the portrait may ‘feel’ more alive than a perfectly painted copy from a photo with each hair in place. That makes it a characteristic portrait.

Are there any paintbrushes you would recommend for painting fur? 

Talking specifically about oils, you can paint fur in various ways: wet-on-wet, in multiple layers (letting each layer dry for a few days) or in one thick ‘direct’ application, as used in plein air painting, putting colours down next to each other.