Paint Colorful Animal Art With This Easy-to-Follow Tutorial! (For Kids Too!)

When I was in high school, my art teacher gave me a “B” every single year. She always said that although my art was good, I failed to create something original. You see, I had become pretty decent at duplicating art that I saw in magazines or books, but no matter how hard I tried, my mind just didn’t create something out of nothing. Someone probably should have told her that a few years later a company would make billions… yes, billions… helping people do just what I did in her class every day… (Hello, Pinterest!) … or maybe someone should have told me so that I could invest in it! …but I digress…

My point is that you don’t have to be a talented artist, or even a creative one, to make art! I absolutely love art! I can get lost for hours if you put a pencil or paintbrush in my hand. But I have no talent whatsoever. I simply look at what others do that I like and try to learn how to recreate it.

When I saw these animal art paintings, I just knew that I had to learn how to make my own fun and playful piece! Fast forward a few attempts later and this easy-to-follow tutorial was born. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! And don’t take it too seriously… I found that the more that I let loose and allowed my self to explore bold colors and patterns, the more amazing it turned out!! Just have fun!

Materials

As you’ll see in my instructions below, I like to print a stencil out on paper, so you’ll need a printer and scissors if you choose to do that. I used a pencil or pen to draw the outline. Obviously you’ll need a paintbrush, or two. As far as paint goes, you can probably get by with inexpensive acrylic paint, but I always have chalk paint on hand, so that’s what I used. I like to do my art on a canvas, which is easily bought at Walmart or a local craft store. Or, sometimes I like to use a piece of scrap wood, which you’ll see in my examples below. But, you can probably get by with cardstock paper, or if you want to be really crafty, just grab some cardboard or other heavy duty material. Lastly, depending on where you plan to hang your art, it might be a good idea to slap on some sealant or clear coat to protect it.

Instructions

Step One: Because my drawing skills are not top-notch, I always print a picture to use as a stencil. So, step one is to pick an animal you want to paint and find a picture that you like.

My son decided to paint our dog, Obi, so I printed out an 8×10 of our four-legged baby for us to use as a stencil. For mine, I wanted to paint a bear head, so I found this neat grizzly bear photo by an artist named Gal (galdesignart.com) and printed out a quick copy from his website to use as a stencil.

Step Two: Now that you have your pictures printed, you’ll need to cut them out to use them as a stencil. I start by cutting out the overall outline of the head and body, then the face, then sometimes details like the nose and eyes (on the bear).

Step Three: If you want to paint the background on your canvas, do it before the next step so that you’re ready to trace your stencil. Otherwise, you are ready to move on to…

Step Four: Using a pen or pencil, start with the body section of the stencil and trace the outline on your canvas or paper. Once that is completed, trace the head section, then the eyes, nose and any other smaller details that you may have cut out.

Below, I’m following step four with the bear stencil…

And then, I followed the same steps to trace out the stencil of our dog, Obi, for my son …

A few extra tips regarding this step. Because I used a ball point pen, I didn’t have any smearing or leaking when we painted over the pen. The pencil that I used on the bear did smudge a little and blend with my paint initially, but because I had many layers of colors, it wasn’t noticeable. That said, keep all that in mind when you decide what medium to use for tracing.

Step Five: For my son’s painting, I add one extra prep step and paint the outline of the stencil in black. I do this so that it is easier for him to see and follow the lines. Also, I opted to just draw in the eyes and nose on his, but if you don’t want to do this, you can cut them out like we did with the bear and use them as a stencil …

You should be left with a canvas outline of the animal head that you want to use for your painting, similar to what is pictured below. By using the photo as a stencil, I can remove all the guesswork out of the placement and proportions of the face, eyes, ears, nose and head and that is amazing for someone who struggles to draw, like me.

When I’m ready to paint, I like to tape my original photo back together for referencing. Sometimes you’ll want to see which direction the hair is supposed to go or how much light is on different parts of the face. Having the original photo is always handy.

Step Six: Alright, friends! This is where the magic happens… let’s start painting! I think of this step as two stages of painting: first, we have the blending stage and second, we have the bold splashes stage!

The Blending Stage: When you first start out, you’ll want to play with all different colors and blend them as they meet. (See how my bear started on the right.)

… or you could be like my little guy and go bold right off the bat! How very Picasso of him! I love it! (See how his dog started off on the left.)

The Bold Splashes Stage: As the bottom layer of paint starts to dry, you’ll start wanting to add some bold splashes of color on top of your blended layer…

Just remember, keep playing with it. There is no right or wrong way to do it! Take risks, be bold, and have fun!

I cannot tell you how many times I think I’m done and then I walk back and look at it and say, “I don’t like this color here, that color there, or the way this blended…” and I just keep adding and splashing and mixing and changing it until I fall in love with it.

Here is my five-year-old’s final portrait of our dog, Obi!

And, here is my final bear portrait…

My kiddo even enjoyed painting the bear!

Below is another bear that I painted for our front porch. This painting is on scrap wood and measures about 3′ tall!

Need a great gift idea? I’ve also painted a family member’s dog and gifted it to them at Christmas! Meet Daisy! She was one of my first attempts at doing colorful animal art!