Drawing Realistic Whiskers in Soft Pastel

This month in Art Club, we explored how to draw whiskers, those tiny, magical details that bring life and realism to your pastel animals. If you’d love to join us for future sessions, you can find out more here: www.softpastelskillshub.co.uk

If you’ve ever finished a beautiful pastel portrait of a cat, dog, or even a squirrel and thought, “Something’s missing…” - it might just be the whiskers! These delicate little details can completely transform your artwork, bringing life, movement, and realism to your furry subject.

In our recent Art Club, we explored how to draw whiskers with soft pastel and it’s a lot more subtle than you might think.

The Big Mistake: Black Whiskers

It’s so tempting to reach for a black pastel pencil when drawing whiskers but in most cases, that’s actually too harsh. Real whiskers usually match the fur tone or are lighter, with just a hint of shadow near the root. Using black can make them look stuck on and stand out, rather than naturally part of the animal.

Instead, I recommend choosing a colour that reflects the natural hair colour. For example:

• Cream or light grey for white-furred animals

• Warm browns or ochres for golden tones

• Cool greys for darker coats

Study your photo reference before you start and even draw on your reference to match the colour.

The Right Tool for the Job

One of my favourite pastel pencils for fine lines is the Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencil 179. It holds a sharp chisel shape beautifully and allows you to create crisp, delicate whiskers without constantly re-sharpening.

Broken pastel pencils (what I call a 'flat top') are also fantastic, the smaller size gives you better control and precision when you’re working close to edges or tiny features.

How to Draw Whiskers Naturally

Start small! If you’re new to drawing whiskers, try adding just a few at a time. Look closely at your reference photo and notice how they vary in:

• Length, some are short, some extend far beyond the face

• Direction, they’re rarely perfectly straight

• Thickness , they taper beautifully at the ends

Each whisker has its own rhythm and movement and capturing that flow will instantly make your artwork more lifelike.

Handling Mistakes

Even experienced pastel artists make whisker mistakes, it’s part of the process! The good news is, pastel is wonderfully forgiving. You can gently lift out an area and redraw. In the session, I demonstrated how light reflection can even turn a small “happy accident” into something that looks natural, like a whisker catching the light.

Practice Makes Progress

If you’re a member of the Soft Pastel Skills Hub, you’ll find resources and exercises inside the Hub to help you practice whiskers and fur details. These short exercises are perfect for building confidence before adding whiskers to a finished piece.

Would you like to join me live for sessions like this? My weekly Art Club (included in the Soft Pastel Skills Hub) is a friendly, relaxed space to learn, grow, and pastel together. You can join here: www.softpastelskillshub.co.uk

In Art Club, we completed this piece over 5 weeks. Would you like to have a go? Join here