Steps to Draw Animals
Cat, dog, sparrow, crow, eagle, lion, wolf, dolphin, hippopotamus, deer, squirrel... Who has never scribbled a silhouette with feathers, fur, or scales, whether just a line in the sky or a Jurassic giant?
Well, in this article, we are going to focus on a subject that is impossible to cover because it is so vast: animals! Ideally, you would need to know each animal in particular to represent it best, but there are some basics that can help you.
Note that it will always be preferable, regardless of the species, to identify the direction of the fur, especially for a realistic drawing style.
Without dwelling on the different patterns that define the identity of certain species (such as the striped pattern on a tiger or zebra, for example), there are various ways to depict the outlines of a furry animal.
DRAWING ANIMAL FUR
To illustrate my point, let's take the example of a cat and apply 3 different types of traits to it.
In drawing A: The outlines are drawn with continuous lines. The rendering gives the impression that the fur is short and smooth. This way of representing fur can, for example, be very suitable for a horse, which generally has very short hair that is not shaggy.
In drawing B: Most outlines are drawn with continuous lines and a few small dashed lines mark the folds of joints (see red arrows) or areas with generally longer fur (see green arrows). This is the most classic way to treat fur. The small irregularities add a bit of naturalness to the subject.
In drawing C: Almost all of the fur is represented by long strokes following one another, except where the fur is truly short (areas highlighted with blue lines, the ears, and the lower parts of the legs). So, although the construction lines are the same and the background color always remains the same, the kitten in C obviously appears to be of a different breed than the kitten in A or B.
To conclude, relatively short fur is defined by a continuous line, with or without embellishments. You can allow for some tufts at the joints, but don’t overdo it. The longer the hair, the more "blurry" the silhouette will appear, and you will then prefer long, spaced-out strokes.
There is an article on our blog about learning how to draw a cat.
DRAWING AND REPRODUCING ANIMAL SCALES
So the following sentence is a bit strange, but you should know that for scales, there is also a "grain" that you must respect. Generally, the scales overlap in a staggered pattern along the body.
You can draw each scale, treatment 1, for a realistic drawing or because you have two hours ahead of you! Or, you could just suggest them, draw a simple crosshatching as a base and reference, and place a few lines, a hint of a scale here, and two or three further away.
In drawing 3, you can see that even when the scales do not overlap, the same structure is found; it's just that you leave a space between the scales.
It should be noted that realistically depicting scales is an exercise that requires a lot of technique, precision, meticulousness, and time. It is generally preferable to apply one or two strokes to suggest a few scales. For snakes, additionally, apply a light reflection, which will both enhance the volume and the smooth aspect of the animal.
HOW TO DRAW BIRDS AND THEIR FEATHERS
Like scales, there is a "grain of feathers" in birds. The plumage "flows" from the beak towards the tail and legs. The only part that may cause you trouble are the wings, but know that all birds follow a similar basic plan.
This skeleton can serve as a base for all birds. The wings are cut into three parts, as are the hind legs, with part C ending in clawed "toes" (in light blue). Obviously, the beaks will change from one species to another. The talons will also have a different appearance from one variety to another.
Error to avoid: Sometimes it may seem like the hind legs attach in the middle of the body, at the level of the top of the purple bone (roughly at the top of the calf/part B), but this false impression is due to the thigh muscle being lost under the feathers.
To learn how to draw a bird, I recommend you take a look at our dedicated article.
ANIMAL SKELETONS AND THEIR SIMILARITIES
From there, we address an essential point: almost (I said almost, as just the insects are separate) all animals have legs built according to the same structure. I’ve sketched you a few examples, including a skeleton you might be more familiar with as a reference, that of a human.
But know, and this will be the "difficult" point, that not all species walk on the same part of their feet!
The bear, like humans, is plantigrade, meaning that the dark blue area touches the ground. Plantigrades put the soles of their feet on the ground. To this group we can also add rabbits, hedgehogs, weasels, rats and mice, and a few others...
The lion, like all felines, is digitigrade, it walks on its toes. In this group we find birds, canids, dromedaries and camels, and the elephant.
The horse is part of the ungulates, like ruminants, hippos, rhinoceroses, etc... The hoof is a horny formation, like our nails, that covers the toe or toes that rest on the ground. In the case of the horse, it essentially walks on the tips of its toes, and its nail surrounds its entire last ruminants.
The crocodile is here to show you that this construction pattern is also valid for legged reptiles, but being a semi-aquatic animal, I will not dwell on it.
A fun exercise: try to find the position of the bones in a given animal and check afterwards to see what it's like!
DRAWING ANIMALS IN MOTION
There's nothing like movement to give the illusion of life in a drawing, which is why we are going to look at the basics of animal gaits.
The gait of most quadrupeds is quite simple. At a slow pace, the majority of four-legged animals advance alternately one front foot, then the opposite rear foot diagonally. For example, right-front, left-rear, left-front, right-rear, and then right-front again and so forth. Essentially, the right rear foot, when placed, will "push" the right front paw.
Let's use a simplified little bison to visualize all this:
Phase A: The blue foot has just landed and chased the pink foot
Phase B: The pink foot is set; the yellow foot rises.
Phase C: The yellow foot moved forward and settled, chasing away the green foot that rises.
Phase D: The green foot has landed, the blue foot moves forward...
and the cycle starts again.
In fast walking, the opposite legs lift almost together: front-right and back-left, then front-left and back-right, and so on.
But some quadrupeds lift both legs on the same side together; this gait is called an amble. They lift both right legs together, then both left legs. This gait is found in bears, camels, llamas, maned wolves, giraffes, okapis, and many primates that use this gait in an agricultural setting (*source Wikipedia / list not exhaustive – feel free to do your own research as I do not have a degree in zoology).
Note that a horse can be trained to pace and some dog breeds use this gait.
DRAWING MARINE ANIMAL
We're just going to remind you of the basics concerning finned animals. To put it simply, you will come across two scenarios:
* Representations of marine animals A and B (cetaceans/whales): the tail pivots around a horizontal axis. It goes from top to bottom.
* Representations of fish 1 and 2: the tail pivots around a vertical axis. It moves from left to right.
For the rest of the underwater fauna, it's difficult to generalize unfortunately....
DRAWING INSECTS
And... What about insects?
Well, apart from reminding you what you learned in school, namely three pairs of legs, two antennae, the body built in three distinct parts (head orange zone/ thorax blue zone/ abdomen pink zone), in most cases, there will be no fur to deal with (okay, I drew a bee just for fun!). The surfaces are rather smooth and shiny, but the shapes are so varied that it's complicated to give you "tips" on how to treat them.
Here you go! I must admit that discussing animal representation in general was quite a complex task given their various forms! Nonetheless, I hope that you found some useful guidelines in this general guide.
Illustrator and writer: Elo Illus