Animal Anatomy for Artists

Mastering animal anatomy is fundamental to creating dynamic, believable animal drawings. Whether sketching from life to capture realistic depictions or designing creatures from the imagination, an understanding of the animal form is essential. Authoritative and accessible, Animal Anatomy for Artists will equip you with the knowledge, tools, and reference material you need to take your animal drawings to the next level. Introductory chapters by artist and instructor Joe Weatherly focus on a structural approach to drawing, exploring core topics including gesture, rhythm and posing, construction, anatomy basics, proportions, and more. This is followed by the visual reference library, an expansive collection of stunning animal photography with detailed overlaid illustrations showing the skeletal structure, musculature, and contour forms of a wide variety of animals, illustrated by artist Shannon Beaumont. The library also contains numerous pose sketches, both stationary and mid-action, of each animal. Whether you are an oil painter, traditional sculptor, or digital concept artist, the informative resources within this book will help you to improve the quality and accuracy of your art. With an enlightening foreword from artist and teacher Marshall Vandruff, Animal Anatomy for Artists is a key resource for artists of any skill level who seek to capture animals realistically, or aim to exaggerate the animal form to create fantastical creatures and characters. The clear presentation and incredible details provide a keepsake resource that will enable you to create anatomically correct images for years to come.

From the author of the classic Human Anatomy for Artists comes this user-friendly reference guide featuring over five hundred original drawings and over seventy photographs. Designed for painters, sculptors, and illustrators who use animal imagery in their work, Animal Anatomy for Artists offers thorough, in-depth information about the most commonly depicted animals, presented in a logical and easily understood format for artists-whether beginner or accomplished professional. The book focuses on the forms created by muscles and bones, giving artists a crucial three-dimensional understanding of the final, complex outer surface of the animal. Goldfinger not only covers the anatomy of the more common animals, such as the horse, dog, cat, cow, pig, squirrel, and rabbit, but also the anatomy of numerous wild species, including the lion, giraffe, deer, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephant, gorilla, sea lion, and bear. Included are drawings of skeletons and how they move at the joints, individual muscles showing their attachments on the skeleton, muscles of the entire animal, cross sections, photographs of live animals, and silhouettes of related animals comparing their shapes and proportions. He offers a new and innovative section on the basic body plan of four-legged animals, giving the reader a crucial conceptual understanding of overall animal structure to which the details of individual animals can then be applied. The chapter on birds covers the skeleton, muscles and feather patterns. The appendix presents photographs of skulls with magnificent horns and antlers and a section on major surface veins. Incredibly thorough, packed with essential information, Animal Anatomy for Artists is a definitive reference work, an essential book for everyone who depicts animals in their art.

From the author of the classic Human Anatomy for Artists comes this user-friendly reference guide featuring over five hundred original drawings and over seventy photographs. Designed for painters, sculptors, and illustrators who use animal imagery in their work, Animal Anatomy for Artists offers thorough, in-depth information about the most commonly depicted animals, presented in a logical and easily understood format for artists-whether beginner or accomplished professional. The book focuses on the forms created by muscles and bones, giving artists a crucial three-dimensional understanding of the final, complex outer surface of the animal. Goldfinger not only covers the anatomy of the more common animals, such as the horse, dog, cat, cow, pig, squirrel, and rabbit, but also the anatomy of numerous wild species, including the lion, giraffe, deer, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephant, gorilla, sea lion, and bear. Included are drawings of skeletons and how they move at the joints, individual muscles showing their attachments on the skeleton, muscles of the entire animal, cross sections, photographs of live animals, and silhouettes of related animals comparing their shapes and proportions. He offers a new and innovative section on the basic body plan of four-legged animals, giving the reader a crucial conceptual understanding of overall animal structure to which the details of individual animals can then be applied. The chapter on birds covers the skeleton, muscles and feather patterns. The appendix presents photographs of skulls with magnificent horns and antlers and a section on major surface veins. Incredibly thorough, packed with essential information, Animal Anatomy for Artists is a definitive reference work, an essential book for everyone who depicts animals in their art.