Animals are a fascinating subject, but they're really hard to draw realistically if you don't know their anatomy—especially when you want to draw one from memory. And learning animal anatomy can be a pretty challenging task on its own—it's so easy to get lost in the world of lengthy muscle names and complex bone shapes, while studying convoluted diagrams designed for veterinary students.

But there is a better way to learn! In this course I'll teach you everything you need to know about animal anatomy as an artist—you'll learn why animals look the way they do, and how to apply this knowledge to draw an animal from start to finish completely from imagination. I'll be using a dog as a main example, but I'll also show you how to use the same method to draw any other species.

This course is for anyone who loves animals and wants to draw them realistically from imagination, without having to search for reference photos before every drawing session. If you're interested in creature design, this course will allow you to make your creatures more realistic. If you've studied the subject of animal anatomy earlier, this course will also help you organize your knowledge.

By the end of this course you will have a greater understanding of how animals are constructed and how their anatomy affects their overall look. You'll know how to start a drawing of an animal using a simplified skeleton, how to fill it with simplified body forms, and then how to make it detailed and realistic by adding the musculature. Most importantly, this course will make you less reliant on references, which will give you more artistic freedom. Because your imagination will be supported by the knowledge of animal anatomy, you'll also be able to draw more realistic imaginary creatures.