The same goes for the major muscles and muscle groups. Once you understand that a tiger and a horse both have a skull and a pelvis itвЂ™s just a matter of understanding where to place them on the body. So here is a tip: You donвЂ™t have to memorize the anatomy of every animal! Instead, do what I do and formulate a вЂњgenericвЂќ animal in your mind. ItвЂ™s just where they are positioned and how they are proportioned that makes each animal unique. Mammals, birds, reptiles, et al., all have skulls, neck bones, rib cages, pelvises, leg bones, and more. What I mean by that is that if you study the comparative anatomy of animals or even humans you will quickly uncover that we all have basically the same bones and muscles groups. TIP: Divide the body into general вЂzones.вЂ™ and study up on the subject you are planning on drawing for the day.ДЄs you do this you will discover one very important concept вЂ“ We Are All Basically The Same! Animal comparison study by Aaron Blaise. Use Google, Youtube, National Geographic, etc. Just as with my вЂњ 7 Steps to Great Character Design,вЂќ research is crucial! BEFORE you head out into nature I implore you to do some research of the animals you will be encountering. Again it will always make you a better artist to observe the real thing rather than to rely solely on digital reference and books.

There is wildlife all around if you look for it. If all else fails draw the bugs and critters in your own backyard. Or as I did in the video above, take a trip to a local farm. I would strongly encourage you to use what you DO have access to. If you canвЂ™t get out into the jungle to draw leopards or the savanna to draw elephants thatвЂ™s ok. Over time it will make you a better, faster, and more well rounded artist. There is no better way to build your own visual library then by getting out into nature and observing real animals in a real environment. I am a big believer in the concept of a вЂњVisual Library.вЂќ That is the visual record and knowledge that you accumulate over your life that you can call upon when sketching and drawing. But, as great as those tools are they do not replace the need to draw from observation. And with sites like Youtube you can even find recorded or live streaming video of them in action. You can find detailed, high-res images of everything about them. With the advent of the internet there are a ton of great sites and online resources for finding a huge wealth of information about animals. So here, in my opinion, are вЂњ The Essentials of Animal Drawing.вЂќДRAW FROM LIFE вЂ“ (Use what you have access to) I also wanted to elaborate on some of the points from the video in the article below. IвЂ™ve created a video that runs about 28 minutes long for you to watch my process. So, I thought it might be fun to give the readers of Cartoon Brew a few tips on my process and approach to drawing animals. I get questions about animal drawing all the time. The more you understand the anatomy of real animals the better your imagined designs will be. Also, it makes me a better concept artist and creature designer. Understanding animal anatomy and motion makes me a better animator.

They really are one of my favorite subjects.

In fact, over my career I have become pretty well known as the вЂњthe animal guy.вЂќ If IвЂ™m not animating them you are very likely to find me illustrating and drawing animals. It might seem apparent from that list, but I am a HUGE animal lover. Over the years I worked on many films including Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and more. IвЂ™m also an art educator and run a website called. Hello Everyone! My name is Aaron Blaise and IвЂ™ve been an animator, wildlife artist and animation feature film director for the past 30 years.

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