Free to Use Designs for Animal Masks
Below you'll find the ever-growing collection I have for animal cosplay, fursuit, and therian mask designs. These are all free for use as reference/copy! No rights reserved. I never use AI for any part of the process, all ideas, drawings, and renderings are completely done either by hand or in Krita with my pen tablet.
Templates
Templates are best used as reference when creating your own design. Start at the top and work your way down, choosing a design from each category to Frankenstein together a new mask idea!
Template #1: Free to use Mask Builder
If you’re stuck on the brainstorm portion of making a unique design, this guide should help! It’s useful to choose and write down which colors you want each to be as you go.
Start at the top with the “face shape” section, and either choose your favorite or use a random number generator to make the selection for you.
When you have one picked, you can sketch it onto your own paper or screen shot mine to use as a base digitally.
Next move on to the ears, which you could pick a pair for, but I prefer to mix and match the options.
Choose a fur length and style, and also decide if it will be straight or curly.
Lastly pick a pair of eyes (or a few extra) and then the final choice has been made!
You can make your mask directly from your sketch if you’d like. I find it easier to make a final “master reference” that’s fully colored. Plus then you have your first piece of character art for you mask :)
Safari
These guys are the most basic designs I have available for free right now. I tried to use colors and line work that would be easy to recreate on a 3D cat mask for any beginners out there. If you have a printer you can print these out and work directly from the image (otherwise just keep this page up while you work). I left the blank design at the bottom if you're interested in coloring your own!
Safari Cat #1 and #2: Cheetah and Red Lynx
Both of these designs are beginner friendly with simple, block coloring. I found that through my first handful of masks I really needed a set design to reference, and trying to use real life examples was difficult. I never knew how to replicate the little fur details! When I started working from simpler refs, I was able to practice the basics and produce something I was truly proud of.
If you're new to painting with acrylics, it might be useful for you to use pre-mixed colors. Do your best to color match from the references below, but if the colors are a bit different it won't make a big difference.
If you don't have mesh for the eyes, I like to use permanent marker of plastic bags. It's see-through and most people have the supplies lying around already.
Safari Cat #3 and #4: Muddy and Magic
These two are artistically more unique, while still maintaining the easy-to-replicate patterns and coloration.
As with the last two, you don't need to modify the base if you're using the classic paper Mache cat mask base. Do your best to select pre-mixed acrylic paint colors that are close to the ones pictured, or mix your own at home.
Start by applying the lightest colors first, keeping in mind that if your pattern isn't exactly the same as the reference, it won't be a problem. Wash your brush and repeat with the darker colors.
For the fur, if you don't have any craft faux fur on hand, you can brush out acrylic or even use polyfill stuffing! You can paint it with watered down acrylic.
The eyes can be painted with acrylic onto PVC eye mesh or cross-stitch mats. You can also use permanent marker on plastic bags, like I mentioned above.
Safari Cat Blank Base:
Here is the digital blank file of the above designs so that you can make your own if you'd like! Save or screen shot the image and pop it into your favorite art software.
If you're having trouble coloring in the lines, you can add a layer above the main image, set your bucket tool to "refer to all active layers" (or however your program is able to listen to all layers while only editing one), and fill in the mask. Then, set the current fill layer as a clipping mask, so that you can color without covering up the lines!
Big Cat
These are definitely my favorite I've made and I'm excited to add more as soon as I get the chance. They're a bit more busy so it will be a longer project for anyone who wants to make one. They will need sculpted mask bases to work from due to the altered snout and ear shapes.
Big Cat #1: Tamarind Gold
Big Cat #2: Inverted Tamarind
Realistic
All of these designs are super old, from when I was still using my old screen name "Xetho." I never got around to converting them into masks so I'm hoping someone else will have a use for them!
Realistic #1: Cottage-core Puma
Realistic #1: Moonlit Deer Spirit
Realistic #1: Silken Border Collie
