How to Draw Wolf Legs

Draw wolf legs in action.

Drawing wolf legs involves developing an understanding of their basic anatomical structure and attributes. Wolves, coyotes and dogs all have similar legs, but wolves have some distinct characteristics. Wolf legs are long, positioned close together because of their narrow chests and have wide, large front paws, with smaller back paws. Lean, elegant and muscular, wolves' legs allow them to reach speeds of 40 miles per hour when chasing prey.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Eraser

Instructions

1. Draw the basic skeleton of a wolf's front leg. Draw a kidney bean-shaped oval tilted at a 45-degree angle to the right for the shoulder-blade. Draw a short diagonal line from the bottom of the oval down toward the right for the upper-leg bone. Draw a diagonal line from the bottom of the upper-leg bone down toward the left for the foreleg. Draw a short line from the bottom of the foreleg tilted to the left for the top of the foot. Draw a short horizontal line at the bottom for the paw. This wolf leg is facing left.

2. Draw a small circle at the three points where the lines of the leg bones intersect for the joints. The top circle is the elbow joint, the middle circle is the wrist joint and the bottom circle is where the bones of the wolf's upper foot join the bones of the paw pad.

3. Draw lines surrounding the basic skeletal shape of the leg for the muscles, skin, fur and paw to flesh out the front leg. The bulk of the muscle mass is on the front part of the front legs. Practice drawing wolf front legs in various positions. For example, when a wolf lifts its front paw, the elbow joint moves up and back into the body, the wrist joint relaxes and the paw points straight down.

4. Draw the basic skeletal shape of a wolf's hind legs. Draw a small kidney bean-shaped oval tilted at a 45-degree angle to the left to represent the pelvic bone. Draw a short diagonal line from the bottom of the oval toward the left to represent the thigh bone. Draw a second short, diagonal line from the bottom of the thighbone down toward the right to represent the shinbone. Draw a short vertical line from the bottom of the shinbone straight down to represent the top of the hind foot and a short, horizontal line perpendicular to the top of the foot to represent the bottom of the rear paw. This wolf hind leg is facing the left.

5. Draw a small circle at the three points where the bones of the hind leg meet for the joints; the top circle is the knee, the middle circle is the ankle and the bottom circle is a joint where the top of the hind foot meets the paw.

6. Draw lines surrounding the basic skeletal shape of the hind leg for the skin, muscles and fur. The bulk of the muscle mass of the wolf's hind leg is on the rear part of the upper leg. Practice drawing wolf hind legs in different positions using the skeletal structure as a framework. When a wolf lifts its hind leg, the knee moves up, forward and into the body and the ankle joint moves back and up toward the tail.

References

• Washington Nature Mapping Program: Gray Wolf
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Canid Identification: Wolves, Coyotes and Dogs
• "How to Draw Animals"; Jack Hamm; 1983