How To Draw Black Fur - Polychromos Colour Pencil Tutorial

Drawing realistic black fur can sometimes feel a bit intimidating - how are you supposed to pick out areas of detail and contrast on something that is just... black?
Let's take a closer look at one of my recent drawings and look for the colours that are really there, and go through the process of drawing soft, textured black fur in this tutorial.
Draw this with my Patreon tutorial: / gemmachambersart
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Materials List
As an Amazon associate I make a small commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support :)
Amazon US
Faber-Castell Polychromos Color Pencils: amzn.to/2KVIoa4
Strathmore Bristol Board Paper: amzn.to/2Ldu2BQ
PanPastel Portrait Set: amzn.to/3b5q8G2
Embossing Stylus: amzn.to/3hKmpPl
Swordfish Ikon Sharpener: amzn.to/38e4wWd
Amazon UK
Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencils: amzn.to/3obkINo
Seawhite Bristol Board Paper: amzn.to/2KQ2iU2
PanPastel Portrait Set: amzn.to/3of9hEk
Embossing Stylus: amzn.to/2LbXzf4
Swordfish Ikon Sharpener: amzn.to/38e4wWd
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[@manthasagittarius1]

This is so enlightening! You're once again answering questions I didn't even know I had. Someone gave me an "advanced" coloring book of realistic cat portraits in a very spare, minimal grey scale that I had no idea what to do with or how to realize in terms of textures. I am looking forward to having a go at one of them now, to practice these techniques.

[@kathryndohring5481]

Awesome art you’re making. I’ve signed up for your Patreon and look forward to working along with your tutorials.

[@rontommy50]

I just watched the whole film. Well done. So good. Thankyou.

[@djarnix]

Beautiful drawing and some great tips that I'll try to absorb 😁

[@sjalode1786]

Thank you sooooo much for this amazing tutorial! ❤️ 😃

[@youtubeuser1492]

Cant believe how skilled you are! Awesome art work and thanks for the helpful tips. I love that your process is structured and versatile for different subjects, im learning heaps! ❤

[@kristinecurated]

I learned so much from this! I'm new to colored pencils and was getting discouraged but I'm going to try these tips the next time I use them.

[@udun84]

I cant believe how beautiful this is. Thanks for the tips. -how did you manage to keep the whiskers white, whilst drawing over them??? I need to learn this.

[@tatuco8]

Really informative information. I find drawing black intimidating

[@klouise2800]

Beautiful

[@davidhalstead8791]

Hi Gemma. Loved this drawing and your technique. One question. How did you draw the white whiskers over black fur?

[@drawingwithme7077]

Wooow very good my dear Keep it up New friend here😍😍

[@rontommy50]

Thanks Gemma, I’m a self taught retired old guy. I’m learning a lot from your channel. And enjoying going through your tutorials. Thankyou again. Can I ask you about how you choose a size for your pictures. Do you have any rule of thumb or is it just as the mood takes you. I’ve been starting with and A4 print out from a reference photo then scaling up from an inch to a inch and a half or sometimes to two inch squares. Keep up the excellent work.

[@GemmaChambersArt]

Thank you, I'm glad you're finding my tutorials helpful 🙂 To choose the size of my drawings, I generally select either A5, A4 or A3. I don't tend to go for anything bigger or smaller than these. I'd usually look at the complexity of the reference photo and go for a larger paper size for more complicated drawings.

[@katelawson2869]

Where is the description? Gemma

[@cabral6722]

Obrigado

[@user-og1kz6qy4o]

This is unbelievably helpful. Thank you, I love your art. Little request please. Could you give some tips to draw a curly dog paw. I'm having terrible problems with that. If not, I totally understand. I'll be joining your patreon soon.

[@jamesscott3234]

I'm curious as to how you marked out the whiskers. Usually find myself free handing with some sort of white out. But I loved how the whiskers already seemed to be 'masked out'?

[@GemmaChambersArt]

In this drawing I used an embossing tool to mark the whiskers on the paper before starting, and the pencil naturally doesn't fill those grooves. Other options are using a craft knife to scrape away at the end, or something like a white gelly-roll pen (but I find this needs to then be coloured over to tone down the bright white)

[@jamesscott3234]

@@GemmaChambersArt Thanks Gemma! Sounds like something I'll have to experiment with... you're hair work is magnificent. : )

[@NOTHING-sp2jb]

Can you make a video on the 36 set of the polychromos? It would be really helpful

[@sandramorley7763]

What do you sharpen your pencils with?

[@z.z.1205]

Do you need to use a fixative for the pastel background? Thx for the video.

[@GemmaChambersArt]

You don't need to - I personally don't use fixatives. I just had to be very careful where to rest my hand when drawing.

[@strongindependentblackwoma1887]

6:31 is that "darker blue" the indigo color on polychromos?. i would like to know which one is it to buy it.

[@judyviva7589]

😯😍😍😍🙏

[@fuzzydragons]

there is actually so many different colours in black and white cats, not solid colours, even tho it def saves time just using black lol

[@thebestmom7610]

I try to draw that

[@user-fx7xi1xx8x]

👌👌⚘️⚘️⚘️⚘️

[@pamstrauch4372]

Every one draws these videos not in real time . It would help tremendously if u slow down so we can see what your doing and why

[@familiaenbote]

Detalles que no cuentas hace que mi pintura no quede como la tuya 😢 avanzas muy rápido y los detalles de los pelos de las orejas no dices cómo hacerlo. No m gusto tu tutorial

[@chriskilue]

Para los bigotes puedes usar una pluma vieja sin tinta para marcarlos, quedarán en bajo relieve como un grabado. Utiliza un papel grueso de al menos 240 gramos para que puedas hacer presión y se marquen bien. También puedes usar punzones, ganchos de crochet muy delgados para esas marcas de bigotes o en otras partes del cuerpo. Yo uso punzones para grabar latón y papel de acuarela o técnica mixta. Pon el papel sobre una hoja de foami al hacer presión para no romper el papel.