Courage the cowardly dog painting tutorial

Today we will learn 'how to paint courage the cowardly dog' with a twist of him being a Santa, one of the cartoon network's iconic cartoons. Unlike his name, Courage was actually a scared dog who always found himself in trouble with the alien creatures. Not a very brave dog but every time he would somehow end up saving his family Muriel and Eustace.

This video will help you out on how to paint efficiently without mixing too many colors together. You can use this as a wall hanging or frame it for your study table or even better, use it as a greeting card.

Check out the video in action

Step 1: Prepare wine color for his skin by adding -  scarlet+violet+white

You can download and print or even make the sketch from scratch, I have provided a free sketch above the 'materials section'. Once you have the sketch with you, protect the edges of the paper with masking tape(this is a completely optional step). 

Next, prepare a Courage's skin color tone by adding 'Scarlet' + 'Violet' and a little 'white'.

Step 2: Paint his Santa cap and scarf in 'Scarlet Red'

Very simple and straight Add 'scarlet' color to his Santa hat and scarf with size 0 brush

Step 3: Color his nose, eyebrows and, ears with 'burnt umber'

Paint the bottom part of the nose into thick burnt umber and for the top part, clean your brush in water and pull the burnt umber color from the bottom slightly upwards to fill the nose with a lighter shade.

Step 4: Paint the background with 'violet'

Use a deep violet to paint the entire background except for the text box on the top right corner.

Step 5: Create outlines and peel off the tape once done!

Almost done :)

I love the entire warm color combination that is making the painting look so cohesive yet fun. After the previous step(painting the background), I went ahead and added some shadow below Courage and a few twinkling stars.

Now very important to keep in mind - wait for your painting to dry (I usually use a hairdryer if I am running out of time) and then draw out your black marker and trace the pencil marks everywhere to make outlines throughout your sketch. If you use your marker on the wet painting it is most likely going to blot on your page. And you don't want that to happen during the last step into finishing your painting haha! 

Many times we are hasty and out of patience by the end of the painting and that is when the mess can happen. So be careful. Don't forget to take breaks in your process and drink loads of water!

Okay, now the most favorite part is to peel off the tape and look at the beautiful creation you just made. So neat and tidy and ready to show it off