Written by Did you know that October 1st is World Postcard Day, and October is International Dinosaur Month, and October 11th is National Fossil Day?
Well. I think that calls for a T-Rex Postcard.
It turns out that orange and black are believed to be common dinosaur colors, so you can avoid the usual black cat and witches and do something a little different for a Halloween card too, if you celebrate.
The Steps
Step 1: Draw the dinosaur and overall design
Here’s a step-by-step to help you draw the dinosaur. Feel free to change the wording to anything you want or choose not have the card say anything at all.
To add a little power to the painting, I have T-Rex exploding out of a box.
Sorry the drawings look so dirty. I had to punch up the darkness so you could see the pencil lines.
Add the stripes, making sure they follow the curves of the chest, shoulder, arm, sides legs and tail.
Step 2: Add masking fluid to the feathery tufts
The masking fluid doesn’t show up well on the postcard, so I did a mock-up on some beige paper so you can see where it goes. I use a clay-shaping tool. The masking fluid can be added with a brush, but I prefer the clay-shaping tool because it is so easy to get thin, straight lines, and so easy to clean up.
Some think that feathers on dinosaurs like T-Rex were more possibly hair-like strands than bird feathers. I didn’t want a lot of detail here – it’s a postcard! – so that’s what I went with. Feathers that look like tufts of coarse hair.
If you don’t have or don’t want to use masking fluid, you can add the tufts later with white gouache or a white pen later.
Step 3: Add the highlight color and red
Note: While doing the video it’s a bit harder for me to see what I’m painting. Usually, I would wait and ink in the box after the painting was done. I did it first so I could see it better. You can use any straight edge, but I included the tool I used in the list below, because I know some people will be interested in it.
- Use the round brush.
- Mix a small amount of cadmium lemon to the consistency of milk.
- Mix a small amount of bright red to the consistency of milk.
Add the yellow around the nose, and the ridges of the face. Paint the stripes, but not all the way to the edges.
Let the yellow around the eye dry, then circle it with red.
With a clean, very damp brush, paint the tongue with the red. The extra water in the brush means the color will dry to a lighter shade.
Step 4: Add the darker red
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix a small amount of bright red and grape black to the consistency of water.
Paint the inside of the mouth and lower gum line.
Step 5: Add the darker yellow
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Yellow Deep to the consistency of milk.
Add the yellow deep, covering some of the lighter yellow, but keep some of it uncovered.
Let it dry until damp.
Step 6: Add the orange
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Orange to the consistency of milk.
Add the orange. Since the yellow deep is damp, it will activate slightly letting the colors bleed together just a little. Don’t worry if it’s too dry or too wet. You’ll just get a little different look.
Move to the next step while the orange is still wet.
Step 7: Add the black
Note: the Rosa Gallery set I’m using calls this color ‘Black Grape‘. It’s essentially Payne’s Gray, so you can use that, or any black for that matter, if you don’t have Black Grape.
You’ll use it for two values, a medium gray and black. The more water to paint, the lighter the color, so for black add just enough water for it to spread.
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix Black Grape to the consistency of milk.
With a damp brush, add Black Grape around the eye, the edge of the mouth, letting it run into the orange and turning into a zombie brown. T-Rex was an ugly guy! If the paint has dried too much and doesn’t blend, wet your brush, blot it on a paper towel, and brush lightly where the two colors meet.
Let that dry.
Add more Black Grape through the head feathers and down along the neck and shoulder.
Blot your brush and pick up some fresh Black Grape.
Paint the pupil of the eye.
Add the darker black around the nose, to the ridge between the nose and eye, and to the stripes on the bottom jaw.
Paint the inside of the throat.
Step 8: Outline the stripes
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Orange to the consistency of milk, if you don’t have any left.
Outline the stripes in orange. Paint the ones on the shoulder and between the hip and belly a solid orange, but let the yellow remain showing in the rest.
Step 9: Add the base color to the body
Note: Although using one color — Black Grape — you’ll want two values, a light gray and a medium gray.
- Stay with the round brush.
- Mix a larger amount of Black Grape to the consistency of water.
Working around the stripes paint the body a light layer of Black Grape that will fade to a light gray.
Let it dry.
Add more Black Grape to the mix and paint most of the body a darker gray, leaving some of the light gray showing for highlights.
Let it dry.
Step 10: Add the background
- Switch to the dagger striper brush.
- Mix a larger amount of Turquoise to the consistency of water.
- Mix a small amount of black grape to the consistency of milk.
Make sure all the paint on T-Rex is dry, so the color doesn’t run into the background. Touch the paper with the back of your fingernails. If it is cool, then it is NOT completely dry. Don’t use your fingers to check because that can leave oils that might change the color.
Wet one area of the background with the damp brush. Paint it with Turquoise, using the side of the dagger brush for the larger areas, and the pointed tip to work around the smaller areas of the T-Rex.
Repeat this for each area of the background.
Add a light wash of the turquoise to T-Rex’s belly.
While this dries, touch up the T-Rex’s face with a few dots of Black Grape. Use the white pen or gouache to add some white highlights to the eye. One white dot to the pupil if you want to be more realistic. If you want more of a zombie look, add a few more dots to other parts of the eye.
Darken the belly and the area between the hip and the belly with the Black Grape.
When the Turquoise background is dry, continue to the next step.
Step 11: Paint the teeth
- Stay with the dagger striper brush.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Orange and Black Grape to the consistency of water. More black than orange.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Orange and Black Grape to the consistency of water. More orange than black.
I’ m sorry to say that T-Rex isn’t very good about brushing his teeth! With a clean, damp brush, paint the teeth a off-white brownish-gray. The extra water in the brush will make the color dry to a lighter shade.
Let it dry.
With a drier brush (blot it on a towel if needed) add another layer of color along the side of each tooth for shadow. If color comes off instead of going down, your brush is too wet.
Let it dry.
Add the brownish-orange here and there to suggest dried blood.
Let it dry.
Step 12: Remove the masking fluid
Remove the masking fluid from the feathery areas on the head, arms, legs and tail.
- Stay with the dagger striper brush.
- Mix a small amount of Cadmium Orange and Black Grape to the consistency of water, if you don’t have any left.
Using the bottom edge of the brush, paint a line of the mix for shading to each feather.
For instance, I decided that I didn’t like the white spots around the eye, so I covered them with some red.
Step 13: Touch ups and lettering
Once everything has dried, look over the painting to see if anything needs to be darker.
Let any changes you make dry.
Use the pen to outline the eye, the teeth, and the claws. Add a few feathery lines to a few feathers.
Use the white pen (or gouache) to add white to the claws, and a few dots along the back to indicate scales. I decided to add stripes to the teeth just to make them more visible. I also added back some more white spots around the eye, though smaller this time, and brightened the highlights of the eye.
Add a few white feathery lines to a few of the feathers.
Use the black pen to write out the words, and darken the box outline (if you haven’t already done that).
You’re done!
I hope you enjoyed painting a T-Rex! Now send him off to delight a friend or family member!
Tools
- Hahnemühle Cold Press Watercolour Postcard
- Rosa Gallery Botanical Watercolor Set
- Princeton Select Artiste – brushes, Round Size 6
- Princeton Select Artiste – Dagger Striper, 1/4 Inch
- Zig Mangaka .05 pen – black ink
- Uni-ball Signo Broad White Ink OR Daniel Smith white gouache (optional)
- Daler-Rowney Masking Fluid (optional)
- Tegg Clay Shaping Brushes 3PCS (optional)
- 2Pcs Multifunctional Geometric Ruler & Plastic Drawing Ruler Students for School Office Supplies (optional)
great tutorial, Sandra, I know how much you love dinosaurs so I wasn’t surprised to see this as your subject. I always forget the tip about using the back of the fingernail.
Thank you, Alice! The fingernail things is a good one to remember, but not the end of the world if you don’t!
On my “to do” list for tomorrow.
I can’t wait to see it!
Great tutorial! Thank you!
Thank you so much, Mary!
Wonderful tutorial, Sandra!!!
Thanks a million, Mary!
Awesome tutorial. Now i am really tickled to try this too. Good tip on the clayshaper; masking fluid tends to ruin the brush you use.
Thank you so much! I really like using the clay shapers. It makes masking fluid so much easier to use.