How Do You Draw Fur

Drawing fur from imagination can be very frustrating. You've seen it, you know what it is, but when you try drawing it, you end up with a bunch of straw.

If this is your problem, in this tutorial I will show you how to solve it. First hint? You need to draw what you see, not what you know!

What You Will Need

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?

With start with some theory. You'll be able to draw pencil 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 they lie on bends, they start to clump—the individual hairs are grouped.

how fur bends — The lighter the hairs, the easier they get clumped

This "clumping" can occur in all dimensions, creating either "waves" of hair or small separate clumps.

We can see everything because of 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. 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 fluffy tail as an example. Imagine its top is slightly bent away from you. Use the HB pencil to draw the basic shape of the tail. Don't press too hard—we don't want to see it later.

Step 2

Tilt your pencil and fill the shape with gray. Don't press too hard to achieve a uniform effect. You can simulate the flow of hair 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. We need to give it a 3D form.

Step 4

Press harder near the edge to make the shadow gradually darker.

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 about that bending on top!

Step 6

Tilt your pencil and turn every hair into a sharp clump. Be gentle!

Step 7

Now the difficult part—we need to draw the shadows between clumps. There are certain "signs" you can use as a base, but you need to try it yourself to understand how it works. Practice on the side for a moment if you're not sure how to do it.

how to draw hair

Use the hair on the side as a guide for direction. The greater the angle, the shorter and wider the shadows should be. 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 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

Clumps are easy to achieve, and they look quite appealing, 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

Take the blending stump or a cotton swab if you don't have it. 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.

how to use machanical pencil for drawing fur

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 smooth and soft!

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.

how to draw realistic long hair with pencils

3. How to Draw Short Fur

Step 1

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.