Broken Chestnut Agouti Paint Job

Agouti is one of the most challenging animal colors to translate in paint because of its complexity.

In some species of animals it is known as "wild type" color, and in rabbits it is usually called chestnut or chestnut agouti.

It comes in varying shades, from light to dark, some more reddish or even yellowish in appearance.

When you look at an agouti rabbit, your eye picks up a mix of colors.

.... on the surface you usually see a combination of black, brown and wheaten colors, but it doesn't stop there....

If you blow into the coat, you can see that each individual hair is multi-colored, which is what lends such complexity to their coloration.

If you were to paint this coat onto a canvas, you would layer individual brushstrokes of different colors to get the agouti effect.

For a three dimensional sculpture, I had to use a different approach.

I texture the animals' coats using a pin, and this really helps with layering colors when it comes time to paint.

I've found that interpreting the coat colors literally doesn't work too well.

By that, I mean that when you look at the hair shaft, the colors go from black to wheaten to brown to white. Even though this influences what our eyes see on the animal, we don't see all of the colors expressed on the surface.

I decided I was over-thinking it, so what I do now is squint and blur the image. This helps you pinpoint the prevailing colors on the animal.

When I squint at Digger, here, the underlying color is a reddish brown, with sections of black and lighter highlights.

I've found that starting with the medium tone works best.

When the first layer went on, it dried far too dark, so I went over it again and was happier with the color.

I then added some black shading in a few areas, especially where there are breaks or openings in the coat.

To finish, I used a dry brush to paint a wheaten color over the fur tips, and little bit of white highlights in some areas.

My interpretation of this color into my pieces is still evolving, so I wouldn't say I've mastered it yet, but I think I'm getting closer to cracking the code! :) 

Thanks for joining me, and as always,

HAPPY SCULPTING!