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The Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals -~~

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The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals

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Strive for;

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Note the underside of the trunk is flat and the neck is a squat cylinder.

Work from the 2 the tusks fit in the way through your shapes and wedge them together.

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The Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals -

Build off a basic sphere and pull rhythm lines down for the trunk.

See how the base that fits into the top of the skull. The trunk is series of cylinders. The tusks fit into the face. Notice the large planes.

af the ear is a cylinder

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• Front horn is always longer • Small eyes with large wrinkles mass ~. Prominent cheek bone and The ear should be solid. Rhino ears are very cylindrical at the base and open up like a flower. This principle is true of many animals. jaw line

r' Ears fit into cranial

around them

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See how the nasal mass fits into the head. The nose can be conceptualized as a simple triangle. J\..... Visualize a tube running ~ ..........hrough the middle of the t head for the eye sockets. Like all herbivores. the eyes are situated on the sides of their heads.

An ovoid shape can be used to lay in the mouth.

Consider the threedimensional axis of the form to give it volume.

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Establish which way the main surface is facing. Knowing where the planes change will reveal where to model form and add tone if so desired.

The three-dimensional axis are added creating shapes that define volume. Remember to draw through your shapes.

Understanding ellipses is key to drawing through. Don't tighten up when drawing ellipses, draw loosely from your shoulder. As a practice exercise, try drawing animals using only elliptical forms.

The Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals--------------------------

Construction

Construction is the foundation of drawing that makes it solid. The thorough knowledge of the principles of construction of the animal is of the utmost importance. Solid forms must be represented on a flat surface. This is drawing in the third-dimension and is obtained by using basic geometric shapes such as boxes, cylinders, spheres, and ovoid shapes. Getting the drawings to have volume is more important to the novice than is putting in all the anatomy. This type of drawing is also referred to as sculptural drawing because of the the three dimensional quality. When drawing with construction, it is helpful to think of it as being carved out of marble or building the core masses up such as a sculptor would with clay.

Animal Heads

The skull is the basis for all good head drawing.

Knowing the skull gives an understanding of drawing the head from the inside out.

Work out the basic planes of the head.

The skull determines much of the shape of an animal's head, especially horses.

The box and the sphere are good shapes to start many heads. Line up the ears, eyes, and nose on most animals.

Modify the shape of the planes such as this kite shape for this cow's head.

Establish a volume

T-Shape or cross to find the eyes

Get the basic

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Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals

Neck and Shoulders

The neack is often a cylindrical shape.

Note how the neck fits into the shoulder mass.

From the side behind the skull, the neck is higher on the top and lower on the bottom.

Rib Cage and Pelvis

An animal's back outline resembles an Scshape because it is lifting over the high projections of the chest and pelvic vertebrae.

Note the downward tilt on most animal's hindquarters.

This form represents the shoulder mass.

The torso is mostly composed of a large rib cage that is ovoid in shape.

This form represents the pelvis.

The pelvis tilts downward into the hindquarters.

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The Weatherly

Forelegs

Guide to Drawing Animals------------------------The foreleg consists of a shoulder blade (scapula), upper arm (humerus), forearm (radius and ulna that is fused in most hooved animals), wrist (carpus), and fingers (phalanges).

Radius/Ulna Draw the bones -, . ..

Practice using basic forms so that volume is understood.

, many times in your subject until they are understood.

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The hindleg consists of a hip bone (pelvis), thigh bone (femur), lower leg (tibia and fibula that are fused in most hooved animals), ankle, heel, and foot (tarsus, calcaneus, and metatarsus), and toes (phalanges).

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See how the forelegs act as a unit that attaches to the side of the rib cage.

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Tibia/Fibula ... ~calcaneus

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Jrlce you understand the principles of :DOstruction you can build any animal you .ant These animals all have a common sDuctural design. The end result is not to have a "mannequin-like" drawing, but this should be understood before the organic alatomy is added.

Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals

--------------------------The

Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals

erspective
Any serious draftsman will acquire a Ihorough knowledge of perspective along their career. Perspective cannot be faked and it is obvious when a drawing or picture is not in proper perspective. I just want to tooch on some basic perspcetive issues that pertain to animal drawing.

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The Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals -------------------------

The Principles of Construction

Drawing using construction not only allows for solid drawing from life, but also the ability to draw from imagination. Construction is conceiving the form in terms of basic geometric shapes and it must become an instinctive part of drawing. Practice it until it becomes automatic. If you can draw a box, sphere, cylinder, and ovoid shape then you can draw any animal. Most angles and foreshortened views can be simply broken down by using basic shapes to construct. Always remember to draw through the forms as though they were made of glass. This will help you to see through and help visualize relationships.

sphere

This horse, bear and lion are made up from a series of basic geometric shapes like the ones on the left.

cylinder

Basic geometric shapes like these are the tools for constructing animals.

The Weatherly

Guide to Drawing Animals -------------------------

Here is an example of a constructed bear in a variety of positions. Using basic shapes to construct with, allows you to draw any animal from any position. Turning volumes in space is the key to drawing challenging angles.

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