Teddy Bear for beginners - step by step

This is a nice one for you.
You may not have a Teddy Bear to use as your 'model' but I do.

This is 'Bodinnick Bear' he's called Bodinnick because thats where he was bought some 30 years ago in Cornwall.

I have chosen to paint a Teddy bear, because so many of us have fond memories of a favourite toy, or have children or grandchildren with toys which they would probably love to have a painting of, especially when they are older, so a painting would make a wonderful keepsake. If you have a bear, use that otherwise do use this photo.

Begin with a line drawing, Instead of using a solid outline, use a broken outline to indicate a fur texture, this will look much neater once the paint is added and the lines will hardly be noticeable.

These are the colours I will be using, you can select any that you have that are similar.

I shall use my Classic number 12 round brush,Terry Harrison Deerfoot Stippler, or soft stippling brush and an Embossing Tool, or a cocktail stick.
The paper is Bockingford 140lb A4 size or similar

This is the combination of  colours we can make using  two of these colours at any one time.








Tape masking tape all around your picture 

Wet the paper all over then, working flat, begin to drop colours onto the wet surface using the Classic brush.

Tip – it is easier to work wetter so the paper does not dry out, but avoid allowing the water to ‘pool’ on the surface. If the paint does ‘pool’ dry the brush on some kitchen towel then use the point to ‘suck up’ any excess liquid.

Avoid churning up the colours with your brush, just allow the colour to merge and flow as it will.
'Go with the flow'

Adding more colours where necessary you can alter the background to any colour combinations you wish, check there are no ‘pools’ of liquid and once satisfied allow this to dry.

Tip – Watercolour always dries lighter than it appears when wet.

Allow this to dry completely.

Paint the bear’s head avoiding the eyes and nose, whilst this remains wet, drop in a little of the purple and blue into the darker areas.

Immediately use the embossing tool to tease out the fur around the edge of the bear.

If the bear’s head remains slightly damp more of the darker colour can be added after teasing out the edges.

Once the section dries, start to paint the adjoining arm, keep the arm wet in order to tease out the edge and continue to drop in more colour in the darker areas.

The embossing tool is such an easy way of teasing out the fur, this technique is the same as the one we used in the amenone post a couple of days ago.

Continue with all of the sections avoiding the ribbon. Don’t worry if they look blotchy, as the texture will cover this later; keep the colours brighter where they appear lighter and drop in darker colours where they appear darker.

Once the entire bear is completed, allow this to dry.

Notice how much lighter the background now appears.

Using the Deerfoot Stippler Brush, begin adding texture to the fur by stippling the paint onto the bear.

Ensure that the mixture is darker than the previous colour, and make sure the stippling is a light touch to create a mottled texture.

The dark sections should be nice and dark.

Tip- if stippling near and edge, use a piece of paper as a mask to cover up any sections you want to avoid stippling onto. A curved edge can be created by tearing a piece of paper into the shape that you need.

The finishing touches always make a big impact to the painting and are often the most rewarding part of the picture, so take your time and enjoy this stage.

Using a dilute blue, and the Classic 12 brush, paint the ribbon and the eye (leaving a tiny white sparkle in the centre) and allow this to dry.

Using the same colour paint the shadow at the base and right side of the bear (this will anchor the bear and stop it floating on the page)

Tip – to create a softer edge, lightly wet the paper before adding the colour, wet into wet.

Add a darker tone of the blue onto the small darker sections of the ribbon.

Although the nose is a lighter colour, I decided to paint this one darker to create more impact.

Mix a very dark colour and paint the nose, leaving a small shine, then paint the section of eye showing, and finally the darker section of the eye, ensure that some blue remains, as well as the white highlight.

Allow the painting to dry completely, and then remove the masking tape. Tear away from the painting; this will leave a crisp clean edge to your work.

And thats it!
I hope you enjoyed dong this one!