13 Exotic Animals

Animals are considered exotic when they are very different from the animals you are used to seeing. Animals from Africa, India or Madagascar seem exotic to me, while a raccoon or opossum might seem exotic to someone from one of these countries!

What compels me to paint these animals is their beauty, character and striking coat patterns. The elephant’s wrinkled skin and trunk make it a very distinctive subject, while the giraffe’s long neck and spots, the zebra foal’s bold stripes and the lemur’s large, luminous eyes are also fascinating and a lot of fun to paint.

Visit zoos and wild animal parks with your sketchbook and camera to familiarize yourself with animals from other parts of the world. Once you become accustomed to their different characteristics, you will realize that the same techniques used to paint animals that are more familiar to you are used to paint exotic animals as well.