How to Draw Real-Looking Animals
- 1). Read books on how to draw animal anatomy. There are some excellent books that are dedicated to this purpose and they will show you how to draw animals that are both posed and in motion. Two good guides for this purpose include Charles R. Knight's "Animal Drawing: Anatomy and Action for Artists" and Edward Muybridge's "Animals in Motion."
- 2). Take an anatomy course. Most art majors are required to take at least one anatomy course to steer their figure drawing, and you will find that a course that shows you how bones, muscle and skin fit together to make the body work is invaluable.
- 3). Observe animals. If you have access to a zoo, this is ideal, but you can also learn a great deal simply from watching the family dog or cat. Look at the animal critically and ask yourself what shapes make up their anatomy. Are their heads round or elongated, and in certain poses, are their bodes stretched cylinders or rounded pyramids?
- 4). Create gesture drawings of your animal subjects. Gesture drawings focus on the movement of the subject and are meant to to be finished in a a very short amount of time. You are trying to capture the shape and the motion of the animal, and this can lead you toward a better understanding of how the animal is put together.
- 5). Move from general to specific. One thing that many young artists end up doing is working on one small detail to the exclusion of anything else. Even if you are excellent when it comes to fur shading or depicting eyes, first make sure that you can draw basic forms and anatomy before those details will enhance your work.
- 6). Draw daily. If you want to make your animals more realistic, practice regularly. Improvement does not move at the same rate for everyone, but it does happen, and the more persistent you are, the faster you are going to improve.
