How to Draw Real Life Animals

Drawing animals in a realistic and technically correct manner is something that every illustrator should strive for. Creating an illustration that evokes the real power of an animal that can be found in nature is a gift. This task may seem difficult at first but the secret to drawing any animal in a realistic manner is to break the image down into basic shapes. This will ensure that the proportions are correct and this is one of the best ways to create realistic illustrations. For the example in this article, you will be drawing a realistic tiger. You can use the techniques found here and apply them to other animal drawings.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Black Ink Pen
• Eraser

Instructions

1. 

   Draw the tiger's head with an oval. Attach the body with a large rectangular oval so that the head sits above the right end of the body. the front paws with circles below the head at the base of the body. Draw a horizontal line across the head of the tiger for the eye guidelines. Add a small horizontal line just below this for the nose guideline. Add one more small horizontal line below the nose for the mouth. Almost every mammal you can draw will utilize these guidelines for the eyes, nose and mouth.

2. 

   Add the tiger's ears with two small circles on the upper right and upper left of the tiger's head. Add two ovals for the eyes. Place these on the horizontal eye guideline. Draw the pupils with two small circles inside the eyes. Add the nostrils with two small circles on the nose guideline. Add the chin with a small oval just under the mouth guideline. Add the hind leg with and "L" shape at the left end of the tiger's body.

3. 

   Draw the whiskers of the tiger with diagonal lines coming out from the area just under the nostrils. There should be seven whiskers for each side. Add the claws to to the two front paws with four small curved cones on each paw. Add stripes to the tiger with small bands. The stripes around the face should be small and horizontal on the forehead of the tiger. The stripes on the cheeks should be vertical and curved slightly inward at each end.

4. Draw the stripes on the body with large bands that start at the back and continue toward the belly before tapering to a small point. Add stripes coming up from the belly and tapering to a point before reaching the back.

5. 

   Erase your guidelines. Ink the entire illustration. Darken in the pupils as well as the nostrils. Let the ink dry and erase the pencil lines.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a photocopy of your illustration so that you can color the picture without damaging the original. Add the texture of fur with tiny curved triangular shapes around the cheeks, chest and belly.

• Don't try and ink in the stripes. It will draw too much focus if you don't plan on coloring the rest of the illustration.

Resources

• Upload and share your animal drawing at animaldrawings.net.