Painting fur

[AlanTabby]

I've seen some ppl paint the fur of their costumes instead of trying to find pattened fur.

Also, has anyone tried dying the fur?

Anyone know what type(s) of paint are best? How to apply it? How it feels/looks compared to normal fur?

[Lady Serpent]

Dying fur can be iffy.  Most furs are some form of polyester, which doesn't hold colour well.  So, if you attempt to dye something deep orange, it might turn out pale pink.  Getting strong, solid colours is difficult, if not impossible with dying.

 You also need to take into consideration the colour of fur you're dying, because if it's anything but white, the colour it turns out likely won't be what's expected. 

Painting can work, though you need to be careful not to cause the fur to clump with the paint, and even then, you'll lose the soft texture to some degree.  Permanent paint is the best bet.  I don't know specifically what types are used, but I've used acrylics in the past with some success.

Airbrushing can work, though it needs equipment, and often airbrushed work can be washed off if it comes in contact with soap.  I don't know if there are more permanent airbrushing paints around.

What are you attempting to colour?

Cheers,
-Lady Serpent

[Temperance]

Beetlecat has a tutorial on coloring fur here: http://beetlecat.livejournal.com/188117.html

I painted the accents on my okami head with acrylic paint.  It worked okay, but I probably wouldn't do it again.  The fur was left crusty and impossible to comb in some areas, and blotchy and inconsistent in others.  Since the accents were small, it wasn't as noticable as it would have been on a larger area.

I tried painting the accents on the body in the same fashion, but they looked so horrible, I gave up and hand sewed the proper color fur in place for the body accents.

I would suggest an airbrush or piecing together the pattern together with different pieces of colored fur before I would try painting.

[AlanTabby]

Thanks for the hints!


I plan to paint thin,pale ginger stripes on white, semi-short