Most beginning students find drawing animals difficult as they usually like moving around.
If you find a good photo you can practice analyzing the form unfettered by a restless subject...Sleeping dogs need not apply..
Below are a few quick studies that were used for some gouache paintings done for the original owner of the Provence Restaurant Jean Michel and his lovely wife. They passed them on to their friends and neighbors at Coach Farms in Connecticut.
Find the forms the shapes of the animal takes naturally...rectangle, cube, egg, and see if it fits. The body parts are naturally divided into symmetrical halves. Use this natural dividing line to hone your observational skills and get the form down on paper or canvas with solid authority.
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| look for the center-line down the body and head |
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| gouache 4 x 7 |
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| best dog Tim - 3.5 x 7 goauche |
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| Roping steers -Cody, Wyoming - oil 8 x 11 |
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| these blue-lines were preliminary motion studies for an animatic |
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| adding the thick and thin lines by pushing and pulling your pencil helps the feeling of action and the fur of the subject |
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| by using straight lines against curves helps give a little punch to the forms |
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Thanks for stopping by and see you next time..GL
