What am I doing wrong

[paulcouk]

Hi........ the leopard im trying to the fur but it going wrong
I am doing thin lines to try to do the fur but i dont know how long the fur is by the picture, but i carnt get when one line starts and stops and another starts, do I put it from the spots to another stops
Ive looked on sbs steps by steps the lion... the bird of pray...
all say about the erasing but where , do i put a base color down first
I just dont know where to start
Paul pic below

 

[paulcouk]

 

[markjthomson]

So the idea is you aren't painting individual hairs, you are painting groups of hairs and telling the eye it is fur. Layers is the trick. Have a look at the way I did the eye in this WIP... http://www.airbrushforum.org/threads/enter-the-macabre.20806/#post-323577 I did it in a few layers... paint down first, then erase, then paint over top, giving different depths and shapes. Fur is similar. Look for shapes in the fur, then put some paint on in that shape, then erase... you need paint to erase... repeat. And remember nature is not "regimented" hair goes in all sorts of directions...

 

[basepaint]

Nothing wrong with what your doing it called learning and your doing great! Look in my gallery theres a picture of this i did and look at it, This may help as it's just black and white so you can see the scratching done to it and hair sizes. Short hair on the nose sprightly longer on the sides of the face and top of the head.

 

[jord001]

There's a few sbs on the forum if you search. There's a few on YouTube too.

Lee

 

[paulcouk]

Thank you ill have an other go

 

[JackEb]

Slow and steady for the win Paul,
As Mark has said, lay a lightish layer of paint down then erase in the fur. Lay down some more paint and repeat. You dont have to paint every single hair that you think should be there, just enough to create the illusion of hair and the brain will fill in the blanks.