Studying Animal Anatomy

Well, today I was studying animal anatomy while taking a break at a cafe. I still have only a vague knowledge of these, so I needed to learn to theorize them well.

I will share my notes with you all for what I studied today, and I hope it will be of some help to you.

[1st page]

(top left, bottom left)

When I make a drawing, I start with a simple frame that is as large as possible. This is a technique often seen in drawings, oil paintings, etc. From this point, I proceed from rough areas to details, making it easier to maintain the overall balance of the painting.

I sometimes draw without doing this, and usually get the size of the body parts wrong. That is how effective this technique is. If you are curious, try drawing a simple character in this way to see if it works.

(top right, bottom)

This is a rough skeletal drawing of a horse and a wolf. It is good to keep in mind that it can be applied to all creatures and characters that look similar to these. It can be applied to an even wider range of characters if only the spine, rib cage, and pelvis are used, and can also be applied to the skeletons of the dragons in Monster Hunter.

The tricky part of drawing animals is the forelegs and hind legs. I still have a hard time with this part. The length of animal leg parts is totally different from that of humans, but the number of bones and the direction in which the joints bend are surprisingly the same.

The figures on the right and below are color-coded images of human limb bones and horse and wolf leg bones. As you can see, the part of the animal's leg that is the hand in humans accounts for a large proportion of the animal's leg. Humans stand with their toes to their heels on the ground, while most animals stand on their toes alone.

If you look closely, you can also see that parts of the hand that are barely functional, such as the carpal bones (bones that connect the wrist to the fingers) and the heel equivalent, are also well preserved.

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[2nd page]

(top left, top right)

Many people are probably unfamiliar with action lines, and many are not very familiar with them. I was the same way until recently. Action lines are said to be lines that show the energy of movement, but they are tricky because there is no clear rule or one correct line. It is tricky because the action line varies a bit depending on who draws it.

However, it is a mistake to assume that the action line is the same as the line of the spine. Many action lines may go through the spine, but not always.

So what criteria should we use to look at action lines? One answer is to look at the action line as if it were the main pillar of a clay sculpture.

Look at the horse in the upper left corner. If we were to try to make this horse in clay work, we would first prepare a wire that runs largely through the entire body. If you attach the body and legs along that wire, the whole body will be held in balance. This is one example of how to look at action lines. Remember, of course, that this is just an example.

The other diagrams are captured by the animal's torso and cube. The shoulders, torso, and hips can be drawn as a collection of three cubes. We'll get to the next study opportunity from here.