Drawing is not difficult. But make no mistake; drawing well is not easy either. There are those who have more 'art' and those who do it better. In this case, both the style and the passion that move you to create drawings influence. And one of the first, and also one of the easiest to "train" with is learning how to draw animals. The reason is that almost all of them have basic shapes and, identifying them, you have more than half of the drawing done.
If you would like to learn how to draw animals, Either because you like it, because you have young children who ask you how to draw them and you don't want to fail them, or simply to learn new, today we are going to help you know what are the steps you must take to achieve it. Perhaps the first drawings will not turn out well, but perseverance, patience and above all practice will make you a master of animal drawings.
The keys to knowing how to draw animals
As we have told you before, knowing how to draw animals goes through identify what are the basic forms of these. And it is that, if you observe the animals, they can remind you of geometric shapes. For example, a cat's head can be a circle; the body, an oval; and the tail an elongated rectangle. With these delimited shapes, you can create lines that define the animal's body as such. And so, get a result.
According to Pierre Pochet, "Like the human body, the body of most animals can be broken down into simple forms". And what are those shapes? Well, the most basic: square, triangle, circle and rectangle. Sometimes an oval circle would also go in.
Here we leave you some animal drawings made with geometric shapes to give you an idea of what it is like. And it is that, like a person, they also share with us the ways of drawing them.
Another key that you must take into account to draw is to have a reference. When it comes to drawing animals, these can be done in very different ways, but when you first face a drawing, you need to have a reference of how you want the drawing to be. With this we do not say that you are going to copy one already made, but we do see it as a basis to know what you have to put in the drawing so that it really looks like the animal you want.
How to draw animals step by step with geometric shapes
Imagine that you have to draw a dog, a cat, a cow ... But you don't know how to do it. However, in your mind you surely have the drawing; the problem is to reproduce it on paper. So here are the steps you should take:
Start with the head
To do this, draw a circle. This should be the size you want the drawing to be. Keep in mind that it should be larger if the animal you draw is large. Build on the "real" dimensions of the animals. For example, if you are drawing an elephant, the circle will be larger than if you are drawing a mouse.
Draw the body
Next, you will need the body. This is usually done with a rectangle, although with rounded corners (it comes to be like a stretched circle).
Join head and body
If you have not painted the rectangle next to the circle, it will be necessary to join it with lines that simulate either the shape or the fur of the animal. This is pretty straightforward because you don't need to 'make it look good', just put the two shapes together at first.
Focus on the head
Draw the muzzle, trunk, nose, ears ... That is, the most characteristic of the animal you have chosen. But avoid putting more details, save those for last.
Add the legs
Put the front ones first and then the back ones. Thus, these first ones will serve as a reference to make the back ones (because having the part of the head is easier to know how long and wide they will be.
Erase the circles and rectangles
Now that you have the base, you can continue to finish the drawing, and that implies drawing the «accessories», be it the tail, the fur, the eyes ...
How to draw animals: faces
Learning to draw animal faces is, without a doubt, the simplest, especially for the little ones. And is that practically all animals can be drawn with geometric formulas, be it a circle, a square, a triangle ...
Taking it as a base, you can build different different shapes. We leave you some examples.
Steps to draw an animal face with geometric shapes
We explain below how to draw animals, specifically faces, so you can see that it is the easiest to achieve:
- First, draw a circle or a square.
- On the outside of this, place two ovals that will be the animal's ears. Depending on what you put on, these ears will be bigger or smaller.
- Make an arc as if you were dividing half the circle or square in half. Below that line draw a small circle. That will be your animal's nose. Above the arch, place the animal's eyes.
- Now you just have to put your mouth.
Depending on the animal you choose, these steps will be longer or shorter, since once you have the base you need to focus on the details to give it the shape you want to achieve.
How to draw realistic animals
When it comes to learning how to draw realistic animals, keep in mind that while the above may help you, it is still "basic," and realistic drawings require going one step further. In this case, it is not so much the basic shapes where you should fixate, but in the anatomy of the animal.
For example, if what you want is to draw a realistic dog, you must know how it is before. Did you know it has 321 bones? And that your body is divided into three parts, each with its own characteristics?
Specifically, you have to look at:
- On the head, which will differ depending on the race you choose to draw. In it you have to emphasize
- In the body, not only what is the back, rump and tail, but also the part of the neck.
- The extremities, anterior and posterior.
How to go from basic animal drawings to hyper-realistic
It is inevitable to fall in love with drawings that seem to come to life, that are so realistic that they could even look like real photographs. But to get there, it takes a lot of dedication. So if your goal is to achieve these results, the best thing you can do is practice and study hard.
All the artists started doing other things. In this case, you can learn how to draw basic animals for, as you master the technique, increase the difficulty Until you get what you're looking for, those realistic images that will impress everyone.
These are based on the details of each animal, to bring "life" to that drawing. But, for that, it is necessary that you first learn the basics to advance.