Drawing the Body Shape of a Cat

In this blog post, I have decided to draw the shape and facial features of a cat as a comparison for two things; my drawing post on the body of dogs, and my first blog post.

My first blog post included a drawing of a cat from Japan named, Hana. Here is a my drawing of the cat from the post as well as a comparison of the drawing to the original photo:

 

As you can see in this drawing, it's a lot more sloppier and more hesitant. The blending isn't all that great as well as the shading. In this next photo of another cat from Japan named Ura, you can see a major difference.

 The photo on the left is the base I started off with to draw Ura. 

I find that Japanese cats, especially ones with large pupils and eyes are the easiest to draw for me because photos capturing them mainly focus on their facial expressions rather than their fur markings.

Going onto the topic of the base used for Ura, you can see a major difference in the base I drew for my Siberian Husky. According to Hammond, "A cat has a very round contour" she continues, "Some of the most common shapes in an animal are the sphere, the egg, the cylinder, and the cube" (53). As you can see in the picture of the rough base, I made Ura's head an oval like shape, and the rest of her body roundish.

Hammond has talked about the differences cats and dogs have before, saying that their shapes differ in the way that cats are more eggish and dogs are more boxy (67). Only after drawing a dog then a cat did I truly realize how different their shapes truly were. This made me realize that learning to draw more than one animal would help me in the future.

Do you agree with me? That learning to draw more than one animal body shape will benefit drawing other animals in the future?

The purpose of my inclusion of my first blog post was to reflect back on how I drew only a couple months ago, versus now. I'd like to say I see a major difference, do you?

Hammond, Lee. Drawing realistic pets from photographs. North Light Books, 2005.

Drawing the Basic Body Shape of a Dog

In all my previous blog posts, I have only drawn the face of my subject, Hiwakea. There was only one attempt of me trying (and failing) to draw part of her body. However, Hammond has a specific section in her book dedicated to drawing the shape of a dog, cat, reptilian, and even rodents!

It peaked my interest to see that cats and dogs have different outlines when drawing them. Hammond compares the two animals and implies that dogs are more angular, whereas cats are more round (67).

In her section on cats and dogs she provides examples of how the two differ, a cat having more of a egg shape whereas a dog is more pointed. Hammond states, "Dogs, however, are more muscular than cats and that makes them generally boxier in shape" (67).

The way I see it, when outlining a dog and its basic shape, using rectangular structures make it easier to add in details like fur and markings.

Do you think there are other methods to outline a dog when drawing?

This evidence made me worry less on having the perfect shape of Hiwakea. I learned to use a rough foundation and to build from there by adding details to their facial features, body, fur, and background. I then began to build up the tones and blend them together as well.

As you can see, there were parts of my pup that were lighter, or were darker than most of her fur. Doing this portrait took lots of shading, blending, and erasing when I put too much on the paper.

Adding parts of her like her tail and her belly that were furry were also a challenge in itself, due to the fact that it needed to stand out, but not to harshly. Looking at the finished drawing below, you can see parts of her body like her tail that I tried my best to replicate real fur.

Side by Side comparison. The original photo features the model Hiwakea, and my little sister

Hammond, Lee. Drawing realistic pets from photographs. North Light Books, 2005.

                  

Drawing the Face of a Dog from Pictures

As stated in my previous post, the motive for wanting to draw realistic animals was to focus on drawing my Siberian Husky, Hiwakea!

Using about three different photos, I tried to recreate her as best I could. Showcasing my failed attempts is to let you know that as a reader it takes time to draw something, and you have to work up to drawing that something. 

Attempt #1                                                             Attempt #2                                                           

  

Attempt #3 

 

The first step to drawing the face of a dog according to Hammond, is to check the accuracy of the line drawing (31). The impact on doing so made my sketch of Hiwakea more accurate and to scale to the original photo, as shown above. 

Hammond also states, "Carefully study      

each of the facial features and memorize 

their characteristics as you go." (30).  

A crucial part in drawing a photo of a dog 

is to capture its emotion and one way to do 

so is through its eyes. 

I agree with Hammond with saying that 

emotions are seen in animals through their

characteristics, do you believe there are 
other ways emotion can be distinguished in 
art? 

In the photo of Hiwakea to the right, you can see
that in her eyes that she seems to be focused and
strong. However, the seemingly slight smile she
gives with her mouth says that she can also be
playful.  

The second step to drawing the face of an animal is to
add tone and the final step is to blend. In this photo up close, you can see the layered individual pencil strokes and how it blends out. Near her mask, or the crown of her head, I smoothed out the harsh coloring. The fur looks thick because of the many layers I have drawn and blended with my tortillon. Since my dog has what I like to call eyeliner around her eyes, it paints her as serious or more guarded.  

Hammond, Lee. Drawing realistic pets from photographs. North Light Books, 2005.

                                                                                                

Drawing Realistic Animals From Photos

Drawing in general is a controversial topic in itself, but drawing realistic things? Animals, especially? How could someone capture every single detail, from the wetness of a dog's nose to the scales of a goldfish? My strong suit in the drawing department is cartoonish, and so realistic drawing seems so out of reach.

The ability to draw, I feel is subject to person. Some people count sketching as drawing, some do not. One thing that people can agree about drawing however is that, if you put emotion behind your art it will shine through.

In this guide on Drawing Realistic Pets From Photographs by Lee Hammond, Hammond expresses the connection between emotion and art. "Artwork is always more inspirational when you are in love with your subject matter." (7.)

Hammond's statement stood out to me through the motivation behind choosing this guide. That motivation would be to draw my own dog, a Siberian Husky puppy named Hiwakea. I agree that using emotion behind artwork makes it easier to accomplish.

Do you agree with Hammond and I: is emotion is the foundation for the motive and inspiration of artwork?

Hammond introduces the use of graphs and how useful they can be. Useful in the sense of proportion - size of the ears, eyes, nose - and for later on shading and blending. The squares isolate the different shapes of the animal, making it easier to emphasize and define. Hammond claims using grids serves as a base for the mentioned techniques. (20). This is Hana the Japanese Cat and my use of graphs.

Hammond, Lee. Drawing realistic pets from photographs. North Light Books, 2005.

Mastering manga 5

    To represent rain, draw different lengths of vertical lines.  Make sure all the lines are sporadic (Crilley, 99).  All the various lines make it more realistic, like it’s really pouring rain outdoors.  This also creates some perspective in the picture, as the longer lines maker the person look extra small and lonely beside the rain.  It also makes the picture much easier, as there is no precision in the length of lines, it’s freehand so anyone has a different design.  The rain is one of the main points of the  picture, to create that loneliness feel so it has to be present.

        “These also need to arranged in a random way, with small ovals beside large ones.  There should be no discernible pattern to the way you’ve arranged them” (Crilley, 100).  The drops are what complete the picture.  Without the drops, the vertical lines are useless.  The drops really add that cherry on top, where the whole picture is solid and brought to life.  No pattern makes the picture look realistic as well, as if it’s actually raining, since real rain has no pattern too.  This ties in with realism, another form of art.  Although it’s manga, you need to make the scene look realistic enough.  The vague instructions allow some space for you to choose, and create.

Do you prefer to draw your pictures with a theme, or just freestyle?

Crilley, Mark.  Mastering Manga 2: Level up with Mark Crilley. Cincinnati, OH: Impact, 2013. Print.