How to Draw an Animal's Silhouette

This is unmistakably the silhouette of a crane.

Drawing an animal's silhouette with a certain degree of accuracy is a necessary skill for all people who are studying the art of drawing. Just as each snowflake has a unique design and composition, each animal in the forest or jungle has a unique silhouette, which makes it distinct from all the other animals. Drawing animals' silhouettes allows you to create shadow puppets, ornaments and other crafts, as well as flex your ability in rendering an accurate drawing of a creature as a compilation of shapes.

Instructions

1. Study a picture of a particular animal. Look at it discerningly, noticing all the shapes it consists of. For example, a cat consists of an oval body, a circle head and two triangles for ears.

2. Draw the shapes that the animal consists of, allowing all the shapes to overlap. For example, if you're drawing a wolf, allow the circle-shaped head to overlap with the oval body and the triangle snout to overlap and stick out from the circle-shaped head.

3. Smooth out all the overlapped lines by outlining them with decisive lines that represent the definitive silhouette. This will allow you to refine the pencil strokes and shape and soften the lines of the animal.

4. Erase all the overlapped lines. Shade in or leave blank the inside of the animal's silhouette. Add details like tufts of ruffled fur that stick out or whiskers, if appropriate.

References

• "How to Draw Animals"; Jack Hamm; 1996
• Drawing Now: How to Draw A Wolf's Silhouette