Animal Print Painting Techniques

Visualizing the Design

• When painting an animal print design on walls or furniture, it is important to consider the design and how it goes with the rest of your room’s decor. Visualize the design and how it will go with the theme of the room. If you don’t take time to visualize it, you run the risk of the design looking tacky. Remember that less is more. If you are painting animal prints on your walls, it is best to choose one wall instead of all four walls, as busy prints can be overwhelming. Accent walls are tasteful and stylish. If you are painting furniture, consider limiting the animal print to specific areas on the piece, so it remains stylish and classy as well.

Preparing the Surface

• Like any painting job, it is important to prep the surface on which you are painting your animal print design. If you are painting an animal print design on the wall, clean the wall and apply primer. Primer will seal the surface and ensure that the paint adheres to it. If you are painting an unfinished wood surface, sand and clean the surface before applying primer. You will also need to sand the surface and add primer if you are painting animal prints on plastic, glass or ceramic. Most animal print designs will also require a base coat of paint. Always allow 24 hours for the base coat to dry before adding your animal print design. This will give you time to determine if a second base coat is needed.

Practice

• If you are nervous about painting your animal print design freehand, practice your design on a piece of scrap wood or plastic as a test run. If you are unhappy with the results of your practice piece, consider creating lines and borders beforehand with a construction pencil. The construction pencil marks will not be visible once the paint is applied. Use a small, fine brush for detailed animal print designs. Many craft and home improvement stores also sell animal print stencils, which will make painting animal prints both easy and consistent.

Cheetah and Zebra Prints

• Two of the most common animal print designs are cheetah and zebra prints. Cheetah and zebra prints are versatile because you can use any combination of colors. Classically, cheetah print is created using a beige base coat and a crackle, faux-finish technique using black paint to create the spots. Cheetah print designs are also created using a sea sponge, which is cut and dabbed in black paint to create cheetah spots. Zebra prints are another classic painting technique. A base coat of white paint is applied to the surface. Stencils will provide the clean lines you desire when adding the stripe color.