How to Paint a Frog

Frogs have a surprising amount of color variation.

Frogs are versatile creatures that can be transformed from cute little creatures for children's art to detailed amphibians for paintings that look nearly life-like. Each kind of frog can be equally enjoyable to paint. No matter what level of realism you bring to your frog painting, the basic process for completing the painting is nearly identical. With patience and practice, you can produce a frog painting with which you can be pleased.

Things You'll Need

• Canvas, paper or other painting media
• Pencil
• Paints
• Paintbrushes

Instructions

1. Sketch the position that you want the frog to be in on your painting media. Use light strokes so that the pencil does not leech through the final product. If you are painting on a smooth surface, such as glass, you can make a separate sketch on a piece of paper to use as a guide while painting.

2. Determine highlight positioning for the painting. The light position should be the same for all parts of the drawing. Imagine that the sun shines on the frog from a certain angle. If the sun comes from the left, place highlights along the left side of the frog and shading along the right side. This will help you determine the correct colors to use for the painting.

3. Paint in the main base color of the frog. Depending on the type of frog, this could be a vivid green, a dark green or more of a mud color. Allow the base color to dry for a few minutes before adding any additional colors.

4. Paint in highlights and shading starting with the largest areas and moving toward smaller areas. Use this technique for detail painting as well. Use a photo of the kind of frog you want to paint as a guide.

5. Add details and texturing. One way to add the texture of the frog is to use short dotted strokes to create the bumpy texture of a frog's back.

6. Wait a few hours for the paint to dry. Come back to the painting and add in any necessary details to bring the painting to life. Some of these details could include a sparkle in the frog's eye, paint layering to give the frog a wet look or shading to make the frog look more realistic.

References

• Scientific Illustrator: How to Draw and Paint a Frog