Mixing Warmer and Cooler Greys on an Animal Picture

One of our members Kimberley sent in this lovely picture and asked if we had any advice for choosing colours.

"HelloI want to draw my friend’s dog but I have no idea which browns I should use. Would Colin be able to tell me which colours would be suitable to use with this brown coloured dog?Kimberley"

With my colour selection below I am assuming Kimberley is using the sand coloured paper that I use for majority of my animal pictures.And as normal, the colours I am recommending are just a basic set of colours which you could use for the general tone. I always recommended to test out these colours on spare paper first to ensure you’re happy with how it looks. The colour numbers referenced are from the Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencil range.For the fur I would use the warmer greys such as 270 and 273 for the light and dark areas. These are the light and mid tone greys.For the grey looking areas I would also add in 283 Burnt Siena, 280 Burnt Umber and 187 Burnt Ochre. I would also use 169 too which is Caput Mortuum, especially in the ear.You've also got white obviously that you would use as well in areas as a base colour. So to summarise the colours I would use in this picture (to begin with) are 101, 270, 273, 187, 169, and 283. More colours would likely be added depending on the results you are getting. Absolutely try combinations of these colours on spare paper first.For the eyes? Well, this is interesting, because you do not usually get such striking eyes on an animal. Here, interestingly enough, you would switch up to the cooler grays - 230 and 233. Then add 140 Ultramarine and 151 Helioblue-reddishI hope that helps! Advice such as the above is a bonus service to members of our website. If you would like help with your pictures and access all of our tutorials, learn about our membership here.