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Do you want to paint your pet’s portrait in watercolor? Here are all the colors you will ever need to paint any pet.
15
items Here is a list of watercolor paints I curated to help you paint any color pet. I also added helpful tips for their uses!
Sections
7
Yellows
Reds
Blues
Browns
Shadows
Additional
Yellows
For warm fur highlights & golden undertones. Tip: If your style leans realistic and luminous and you rely on layering to build soft depth, go with Monte Amiata Raw Sienna. If you prefer stronger coverage, flatter lighting, or base-coating short f...
Daniel Smith Yellow Ochre
Daniel Smith Yellow Ochre
Winsor & Newton Yellow Ochre
Winsor & Newton Yellow Ochre
You can use this as an alternative to Yellow Ochre.
Daniel Smith Monte Amiata Natural Sienna
For sunlit highlights on warm fur (golden retrievers, tan short hairs, light tabby cats). It mixes well with yellow ochre to give you a realistic sun-warmed fur base.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold
Reds
Tip: If you only choose one, Daniel Smith Permanent Alizarin Crimson (PR177) is more flexible and clean mixing overall. However, if you regularly paint reddish-brown or warm-toned animals, Winsor & Newton’s (PR206) gives richer fur depth.
Great for pet noses, tongues, & reflections.
Daniel Smith Permanent Alizarin Crimson
If you want rich chestnut or mahogany fur mixes (spaniels, retrievers, auburn cats)
Winsor & Newton Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Blues
For creating textured neutrals and delicate transitions
Use this as your primary blue for creating warm, textured neutrals and soft blacks with earth tones. Perfect for painting fur texture especially in long-haired dogs and cats.
Daniel Smith French Ultramarine
Secondary blue. Creates muted neutrals & delicate transitions. Great for backgrounds, eye reflections, and cool fur sheen in white or gray pets. Tip: Mix with Burnt Sienna for soft smoky neutrals and subtle color transitions. Excellent for cool a...
Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue
Browns
Ginger fur/midtones and deep fur shadows
Mixes cleanly, especially with blues / french ultramarine to make grays.
Daniel Smith Burnt Sienna
For fur shadows + underlayers. Tip: mix with French Ultramarine for cool, deep neutrals (perfect for darker fur, black cats, or shaded areas in golden coats).
Daniel Smith Burnt Umber
Shadows
For deepening shadows, value control, underlayering or mixing natural blacks.
Great for nose shadows, eye corners, under the muzzle, or in final dark accents. Lets you darken a color without destroying its temperature. Excellent for desaturating oversaturated areas subtly.
Daniel Smith Neutral Tint
For cool shadows on white or light fur. Gives that blue ambient reflection instead of flat gray. Excellent for underpainting black animals, especially when glazing. Good for eye pupils, nose edges, and whisker roots where you want richness without harshness. Tip: When mixed with Burnt Sienna or ...
Daniel Smith Indigo
Additional
For light fur base tones, subtle warm highlights, and mixing muted neutrals
Buff Titanium is perfect as a light base layer for fur, especially in light-colored animals (cream, fawn, tan, golden retrievers, light tabbies). It gives a soft, neutral undertone without looking chalky. Tip: Mix with Burnt Sienna to create warm bei... Mix with Yellow Ochre to enhance warmth for golden or sandy tones.
Daniel Smith Buff Titanium
For softening or glazing over light areas without fully covering underlying layers. Good for delicate light fur or subtle highlights. Tip: Check the rules for using this if you intend on entering your art in contests as some will not allow gouache or...
Winsor & Newton Designers Zinc White Gouache
Learn pet portraits online
If you want to learn how to paint pet portraits in watercolor, Rebecca is a wonderful instructor. I’ve been a member of her watercolor school for over a year and a half. Awesome realistic pet portrait tutorials with step by step instructions and vide...
Rebecca Rhodes
