Three cubs up one pine, the smallest highestBlack, dark green, brown. Space the cubs up the trunk and paint each a little smaller than the one below.
Polar bear from one sponge-stamped oval and four legsWhite, pale blue, black. Stamp the oval on a blue ground and add legs, head and a dot nose by brush.
Claw marks on a trunk, the bear walking off in the distanceBark brown, cream, dark green. Paint five pale parallel scratches on the near trunk at an angle.
Brown bear asleep on a sandbar, chin on its crossed pawsTan, brown, gray, pale blue. Flatten the whole bear into a low mound and curve the river around it.
Brown bear at the lip of a small falls, a salmon in mid-leapBrown, silver gray, white, pink. Paint the falling water in upright strokes and the fish as one curved dash.
Brown bear in a meadow pulling berries off a bushBrown, red, leaf green, yellow. Dot the berries last with the handle end of a brush.
Brown bear in tall grass, only head and shoulders showingGold, olive, brown. Pull the grass upward in front of the bear after the fur is dry.
Brown bear rubbing its back against a pine trunkBrown, tan, dark green, rust. Stand the bear upright against the trunk with its nose pointed at the sky.
Brown bear shoulder-deep in a river, chin streaming waterUmber, ochre, blue gray, white. Drag white downward from the chin with a nearly dry brush.
Brown bear wading at dusk along an orange path of lightOrange, violet, dark brown. Lay the light as short level dashes on the water and break them around the legs.
Brown bear walking in profile on wide flat pawsBrown, ochre, sage green. Paint the body as one long loaf shape and put all four paws flat on the ground.
Brown bear's face close up: small round ears, long snoutUmber, tan, black, cream. Paint the snout paler than the rest and set the ears wide apart on top.
Fur study: a dark underlayer with gold tips combed over itDark brown, sienna, gold. Paint the dark layer flat, then comb gold across it with a dry fan brush.
Paw print in river mud: wide pad, five toes, five claw dotsMud brown, dark brown, gray. Press the pad shape darker than the mud and add a dot ahead of each toe.
Shaggy brown bear shaking itself dry in a halo of dropletsSienna, dark brown, white. Dot the droplets with a cotton swab in a ring, thickest near the fur.
Polar bears 12
Black nose and two eyes as three dots in a white-outWhite, pale gray, black. Sponge the whole canvas white on gray and add only the three dots.
Polar bear asleep in a snow hollow, nose under one pawWhite, lilac, cream. Shade the hollow with lilac and leave the top of the bear nearly white.
Polar bear crossing pack ice, blue shadow in each footprintWhite, pale blue, cobalt. Paint the prints as a staggered double row of small blue ovals.
Polar bear in a blizzard, its edges lost in sponged whiteWhite, pale gray, cream. Paint the bear softly, then sponge white over its outline until parts vanish.
Polar bear in mid-air over a crack of dark open waterWhite, teal, navy. Paint the dark water as a wedge between the floes and stretch the bear across it.
Polar bear mother leading two cubs out of a snow denWhite, blue gray, cream. Paint the den as a dark oval in a drift and line the three bears up from it.
Polar bear on a ridge beneath green curtains of auroraBlack, green, white, navy. Pull the aurora downward in soft strokes and keep its lower edge sharp.
Polar bear painted cream against blue-white snowCream, white, yellow, pale blue, black. Mix a little yellow into the fur so the bear reads warmer than the snow.
Polar bear peering over a snow bank, ears and eyes onlyWhite, pale blue, black. Paint a curved bank across the canvas and two small ears above its top.
Polar bear swimming, head above green water, body a blurSea green, white, cream. Paint the body, let it dry, then glaze watery green over everything below the neck.
Polar bear with its nose lifted into a pink dawn windPink, peach, white, pale blue. Blend the sky first and tilt the head back so the neck is one long line.
Snow-white bear left as bare paper, shown by blue shadePale blue, bare white paper. Paint the shadow under the belly, chin and legs and nothing else.
Black bears and cubs 12
Black bear at the edge of an orchard at dawnBlack, peach, green, red. Paint the trees in a row with red dots and stand the bear in their shade.
Black bear cub clamped to a spruce, claws dug into the barkBlack, tan, bark gray, green. Wrap all four legs around the trunk and turn the face to look out.
Black bear in a berry patch, muzzle stained purpleBlack, purple, green, tan. Dab purple around the mouth after the tan muzzle has dried.
Black bear with a tan muzzle looking over a fallen logBlack, tan, moss green, brown. Rest the chin on the log and show the claws of one paw beside it.
Black bear's coat in blue-black with violet highlightsBlack, ultramarine, violet. Keep pure black for the deepest folds and lift the lit side with violet.
Black bear's shape in front of yellow aspensYellow, gold, white, black. Dab the aspen leaves with a sponge and paint the bear as one flat shape.
Cub balancing along a fallen birch, one paw raisedBlack, white, gray, fern green. Stripe the birch with short dark dashes and tilt the cub's body.
Cub napping belly-down on a bough, paws dangling either sideBlack, brown, leaf green. Sag the body in the middle so the four legs hang straight down.
Cub standing to see over ferns, ears like two buttonsBlack, tan, fern green. Paint the ferns as arching fronds and let only chest and head rise above.
Mother and cub touching noses in a patch of sunBlack, gold, tan, olive. Rim the lit sides of both heads with gold and leave the rest dark.
Three cubs up one pine, the smallest highestBlack, dark green, brown. Space the cubs up the trunk and paint each a little smaller than the one below.
Two cubs tumbling in clover while their mother grazesBlack, green, white, pink. Paint the cubs as one tangled shape with eight paws showing.
In forests, rivers and mountains 12
Autumn hillside in red and gold with one dark bearRed, gold, orange, dark brown. Dab the hillside in patches of color and place the bear on the upper third.
Bear among giant tree trunks, a shaft of light on its backDark green, brown, pale yellow. Paint the trunks as dark uprights and glaze one slanted bar of yellow.
Bear at a tarn's edge, its mirror image cut by a rippleBlue, gray, brown, white. Mirror the bear below the shore line and cut it with one curved pale stroke.
Bear drinking at a creek, tongue touching its reflectionBrown, pink, blue green, gray. Paint the reflection as a paler copy that meets the bear at the tongue.
Bear fording a braided river, seen from a cliff aboveGray, turquoise, white, brown. Split the river into ribbons around pale gravel bars and dot the bear midstream.
Bear in a meadow of pink wildflowers below gray peaksPink, green, gray, white. Sponge the flowers across the lower third and paint the peaks in two grays.
Bear in rain, fur slicked dark, the forest gone grayGray, charcoal, olive. Pull the rain as fine slanted lines across the whole dry painting.
Bear on a gravel bar at sunrise with mist behindPeach, gray, brown, white. Scrub watery white across the far bank to fade it into mist.
Claw marks on a trunk, the bear walking off in the distanceBark brown, cream, dark green. Paint five pale parallel scratches on the near trunk at an angle.
Dotted trail across white hills ending at a small dark bearWhite, pale blue, brown. Shrink the prints as they go until they meet a small dark dot.
Small bear on a ridge line under a huge skyPeach, lilac, dark brown. Give the sky four-fifths of the canvas and paint the bear the size of a thumbnail.
Winter den in a hollow log, a nose at the openingBrown, white, black, gray. Heap snow on top of the log and paint the opening as a dark circle.
Simple shapes and silhouettes 12
Bear face filling the canvas, the nose right in the middleTan, brown, black, cream. Let the ears touch the top corners and the chin touch the bottom edge.
Bear family in three browns, tallest to smallestDark brown, mid brown, tan. Paint three bears in a row, each lighter and shorter than the one before.
Bear head from a dinner-plate circle and two jar-lid earsBrown, tan, black. Trace a plate for the face and a jar lid twice for the ears; add a tan oval and a black nose.
Bear outline holding a mountain scene inside itBlue, white, green, black. Paint a small landscape inside the outline and keep everything outside it white.
Bear paw print in poster colors, one toe each colorRed, yellow, blue, green, purple. Paint a large pad and five toes, each a different flat color.
Bear shape filled with a night sky and swab-dot starsNavy, violet, white. Fill the outline with blended navy and violet and dot the stars with a cotton swab.
Black bear silhouette under a row of triangle pinesDark green, black, orange. Blend an orange ground, let it dry, and paint the pines and bear flat.
Flat brown bear on mint green, no fur lines at allBrown, mint, cream. Paint the bear as one smooth shape and add only a muzzle and two eyes.
Fork-printed fur: a bear face stamped with a plastic forkBrown, tan, black. Dip the back of a fork in paint and press outward all around a circle.
Polar bear from one sponge-stamped oval and four legsWhite, pale blue, black. Stamp the oval on a blue ground and add legs, head and a dot nose by brush.
Round cartoon bear in rain boots, splashing a puddleBrown, yellow, blue, white. Paint the boots bright yellow and pull the splash upward with a liner brush.
White bear on a turquoise block of ice, two flat shapesWhite, turquoise, navy. Paint the ice as a slanted block on navy water and the bear as one white shape.
How it works
Bears share one build: a big body on thick legs, a long snout, small round ears, a shaggy coat and a short tail. These canvases paint it brown, white and black, then set it in forests, rivers and snow.
Read the full guide
Bears in acrylic on canvas
Block the bear in as one dark shape, then build the fur over it in lighter strokes. Acrylic is water-resistant when dry, so the pale strokes sit on the dark without mixing. Fur study: a dark underlayer with gold tips combed over it does only that.
Painting a white bear
A polar bear has white or yellowish fur over black skin, so the coat can take a little yellow. Polar bear painted cream against blue-white snow puts the two whites side by side. Paint the shadows on the snow blue and keep black for the nose and eyes.
Questions and answers
What is an easy bear painting for preschool or a first canvas?
Simple shapes and silhouettes holds 12, and Easy first bears, under More filters, holds 21. Bear head from a dinner-plate circle and two jar-lid ears is flat color, and Fork-printed fur: a bear face stamped with a plastic fork needs no brush.
Which bear ideas work in watercolor?
The pale ones. Watercolor's main trait is that it is transparent, so Snow-white bear left as bare paper, shown by blue shade leaves the paper as the bear and paints one blue around it.
How many kinds of bear are there?
Eight living species. This list paints three by name, brown, polar and black bears, and leaves the giant panda, the sun bear, the sloth bear and the others for another day.
What colors do you need for a brown bear?
Umber, sienna and ochre for the coat, tan or cream for the muzzle, black for the nose and eyes, and gold for fur that catches the sun. The river canvases add blue gray and white.