How to Draw Cool Cartoon Animals

Learning how to draw animals is an integral part of illustration. From wild animals scenes effectually the world to portraits of pets, there are a myriad of possibilities once you've mastered the skill.

This guide, from acclaimed animator, director and wildlife artist Aaron Blaise, offers expert communication on how to successfully draw animals. With a bit of practise, the creature kingdom will be at your fingertips. For more fine art lessons, meet our option of the best how to draw tutorials only, for now, scroll downwards to soak up Blaise's expert communication.

Blaise will utilize his wealth of feel to give a unique insight into the one-time ways of animation at Vertex 2021 on 25 Feb. Those with a ticket to the virtual event can sentinel alive and savour on-demand access to any of the talks for thirty days. Don't miss out on the ultimate event for second and 3D artists, get your ticket today.

Draw animals like a pro with Aaron Blaise

Long before I was a managing director and animator with Walt Disney Feature Animation, I was a lover of wild animals. Growing upward as a bit of a wild kid in the swamps of southward Florida, I would typically exist found running through the woods, barefoot of course, tracking animals. I would draw them in my sketchbooks or fifty-fifty collect the bones of fauna kills and save them for afterward written report.

It was always my dream to exist an illustrator for National Geographic and to see the globe. Instead, I went on to Disney and a successful animation career, merely I still found a way to pursue my honey of drawing animals past working on classic films like The Lion King and Brother Behave. Now I want to share some of the cognition from my years of studying animals with yous!

01. Observe offset

Earlier you start to draw, stop and actually look. Take a moment to observe and study the animal. How does it move? Ofttimes y'all'll detect patterns of movement. What'south the beast doing?

Can yous conceptualize where it volition be side by side? If it's a hot twenty-four hours it might be heading for shade, for example. These sorts of details can be crucial in helping you capture details considering animals frequently won't sit down still and pose for you – peculiarly in the wild!

02. Exercise your inquiry earlier you lot get there

I do my homework on what animals I'll see in a item area. For example, on a trip to Alaska I may try to acquire everything I can well-nigh grizzly bears, muskox and moose earlier I get in. I'll report books and do inquiry to learn almost their muscles, skeletons and patterning. I'll fifty-fifty watch alive webcams of an area to give me a sense of the environment. This information will aid me when I'm on location, and save a lot of fourth dimension.

03. Take a mental picture

Animals oftentimes don't sit still. To combat this I've developed a technique of taking a mental snapshot. I don't stare at the animal the entire time I'one thousand cartoon. Instead, I'll glance at the animal then quickly expect away to my page.

By doing this the last image of the creature that I saw is frozen in my mind. Combined with my research on beefcake, I'm able to get an accurate drawing downwardly on the page.

04. Break the body upwards into sections

This is an observation I've fabricated over the years. Most quadrupeds tin be broken down into six main areas: the head, the neck, the forepart legs and shoulders, the torso, the rear legs and hips, and finally the tail. This may seem like a simple observation, but one time y'all interruption the fauna up this way y'all can overlap those areas in whatsoever orientation in infinite.

05. Sympathize bones comparative anatomy

People ask how do I know all these details almost the animals I draw? The answer is: I don't! But I do know comparative anatomy. Most animals, especially mammals, have all the same "parts" – just spaced out differently. And this is true of humans besides. Once I understood that

I have basically the aforementioned parts as a lion, but in dissimilar locations, information technology was a eureka moment in my ability to draw them.

06. Watch your proportions

At present that you lot understand that most animals accept the aforementioned bones and musculus groups as you do, information technology's merely a matter of playing with the proportions and getting those correct. This is primarily a matter of practise and repetition. Merely once you start to go the spacing and proportions right, you'll be able to draw your field of study in any pose or angle.

07. Use black and white ink on midtone paper

How to enhance a pencil drawing of a lion'southward head with inks, bringing it to life:

a). Create a rough sketch

Starting time lay in a rough drawing in pencil bearing in mind all the tips you have already learned and then far. It's okay to be loose at this stage. This can give your work a dynamic edge! Yous'll refine the image in the later steps.

b). Add darks to the drawing

Next, use a brush pen and/or ball betoken pen to lay downwardly the darks. Use waterproof ink here in instance you want to add watercolour or a launder later. Try to work in ane consequent management so you don't smear the ink.

c). Use white ink for highlights

Now utilize a white pen (I similar Sakura Gelly Whorl pens for this) and add together last accents and highlights. Considering you started with a mid- tone and not on white you can become lighter and make information technology pop! Use markers to add more shading.

08. Stay loose and find the period

This is similar to footstep six if you desire to get down a gesture of your pose correct away. The animal is likely to motility on you, so y'all need to get the essence of the pose fast. If you're drawing a tiger or lion you need to get the activity and don't worry about every stripe and whisker. Instead, look for the line of action and rhythm to the pose.

09. Capture good silhouettes

The basics of skillful animal drawing are not that different from drawing a good human character. You desire their pose to read as clearly and concisely equally possible. If your silhouette isn't clear then the drawing won't be understood past the viewer. It's the same whether y'all're drawing an elephant, a bear or whatsoever other fauna.

ten. Use overlapping shapes to create depth

Once you're happy capturing the different shapes of your chosen animal, try overlapping them. This will give your image a sense of depth and infinite in the frame. Properly overlapping each shape will give your drawings a sense of believability and life.

11. Create activity and drama

Animals are living creatures. If yous've been out in the wild cartoon yous'll have noticed that they're always on the move. You should be capturing this in your drawings also. While there'south nothing incorrect with a good animal portrait (and then to speak), I've found that images of animals in activeness always get a bigger response and accept more impact. Work hard to develop a sense of drama and life into your images.

12. Be mindful of lite and shadow

Proper use of light and shadow in your image can help heighten the feeling of drama that nosotros discussed in pace xi. I'll often push button or exaggerate the lighting of nature to heighten that feeling. Used properly, a dramatically cast shadow can deeply enhance the mood of your image every bit well as requite it a sense of time and identify.

13. Look for the big shapes starting time

A typical mistake that I run into artists make is they become too defenseless up in the details right abroad. You don't need to practise that. Instead, get down the big shapes start. For example, if you're drawing an elephant then detect the big "bean shape" of the body and lay that in, followed by the triangle or wedge shape of the head. Get their placement correct and the residuum will come together rapidly.

14. Look for emotion and personality

Whether cartoon an creature that's realistic or cartoony, try to become as much personality equally possible into the image. Equally humans nosotros look for this naturally and gravitate towards it. Use that to your advantage whenever possible. A footling exaggeration or accent can go a long way.

15. Be selective when drawing your beast's hair and fur

There'due south no need to be too detailed here. Y'all don't demand or want to draw each and every hair on an animal. Instead, make marks in cardinal spots to suggest it. Places where the body bends are a bully spot to point a hair break.

This article was originally published in upshot 183 of ImagineFX , the earth's best-selling mag for digital artists. Buy issue 183 or subscribe to ImagineFX .

Read more:

How to describe a head: A complete guide
The best pencils: the all-time mechanical, colouring and drawing
20 sketching tips to help you make your marker

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