Skills You’ll Learn
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.
Curriculum
WELCOME
Welcome
1. Meet Your Instructor: Monika
02:02
2. Introduction to the course
02:30
3. Introduction to Autodesk Sketchbook
02:45
1
The Basics of Animal Drawing
1. How to draw and rotate a sphere
09:40
2. How to draw and rotate other 3D shapes
05:52
3. How to draw in 3D space
07:41
4. Freehand perspective techniques
07:10
5. Accentuate the 3D form with simple shading
04:32
6. Fun exercises with snakes, fish, and salamanders
04:54
2
Drawing the Simplified Skeleton
1. The basic body plan of mammals
10:07
2. The basic body plan of reptiles and birds
09:16
3. Animals in motion
06:58
4. How to draw poses in 3D
12:10
3
Drawing the Basic Volumes of the Body
1. How to draw the simplified torso
10:02
2. How to draw the simplified head
07:33
3. How to draw the simplified limbs
09:50
4
How to Draw Heads
1. How to draw carnivore heads
10:13
2. How to draw herbivore heads
10:39
3. How to draw reptile and bird heads
06:56
4. How to draw an open mouth
09:23
5
How to Draw Paws, Claws, and Hooves
1. How to draw paws
07:02
2. How to draw hooves
07:50
3. How to draw claws
09:18
6
How to Draw Detailed Musculature
1. How to draw muscles of the torso and neck
09:54
2. How to draw muscles of the shoulder and thigh
08:19
3. How to draw the forelegs
08:42
4. How to draw the hind legs
05:27
7
How to Draw the Surface Anatomy
1. Cover the muscles with skin
06:56
2. How to sketch long fur
07:16
3. How to sketch short fur
05:34
4. How to sketch scales
07:20
5. How to sketch feathers
05:19
8
How to Study Animal Anatomy
1. My method of studying animal anatomy
06:47
2. Best online and offline resources for anatomy studies
03:30
BONUS
Bonus Chapter: Animal Anatomy and Creature Design
1. How to use what you’ve learned to design new creature
07:03
OUTRO
Outro
1. Congratulations on completing the course
02:56
Creator
Monika
My name is Monika Zagrobelna, I'm a freelance artist and a tutorial instructor from Poland. I have a deep passion for drawing animals, and I've spent years learning everything I could to make my creatures—both real and imagined—more realistic. I'm fascinated by the topic of animal anatomy and how the knowledge of it allows me to construct an animal from scratch. Thanks to my 8 years' experience as a tutorial instructor I know how to simplify what I've learned to make it more understandable for beginners, and how to design a learning process with a satisfying progression. Being happy with the level of your skill is one of the best feelings in the world, and I hope my course will help you achieve that!
monikazagrobelna