How to Draw Animals

Drawing animals can be a form of relaxation or entertainment. Before photography, the illustration of animals was an intimate part of the natural sciences. Drawings can be as complicated or as whimsical as you want. Let's get started by grabbing your pencil and paper.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pencil
• Paper

1. Start basic. Draw animals as cartoons or simplified versions of the eventual realistic depiction. Start with basic shapes such as as spheres for heads, disks for paws and cylinders for arms and legs in order to set the animal in a 2-D environment.

2. Fill in the detail as you desire. If you’re drawing a cartoon, there’s not much left to do. But for a more realistic depiction, add shading for fur and details in the eyes, teeth and digits.

3. Graduate to having a point of view of POV. This means choosing a “disappearing point” or horizon that can help you define the 3-D shape of your animal in space, even if it still leans toward cartoonish in appearance.

4. Progressing into more detail and realism, a knowledge of basic anatomy becomes, at first, useful and soon requisite. Buy a drawing book rather than an anatomy book for an overview of what you need to know.

5. Begin with pencil because you can erase mistakes. Once you refine your technique, try using oil pastels, chalk, charcoal or fine pens.

Tips & Warnings

• Master basic techniques before progressing to more advanced drawings.
• Use a pencil so you can erase mistakes.