Animation Source Forums

Being as I currently have no means for a new drawing tutorial (or red-lined critiques), I have used my deviantART collection of favourites to compile hyperlinks to resources I believe you may find beneficial or helpful in any manner. This is to limit your searching and lead you to high-quality, informative, and clear resources.

Enjoy!




Animation Source Guides & Tutorials:
How to: Perspective
Tutorial Listing (Posted September of 2008.)
Zuko the Cat's Photoshop Shading Tutorial

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Off-Animation Source Resources (DeviantART.)
* Be sure to read the owner's terms of use (or save yourself the time and ask them) before you use their images!

Chunga-Stock: Horses
Jin-KStock: Dogs (Primarily German Shepherd Dogs)
TheShinyRockStock's stock gallery.
Brief Bat Anatomy by wingedsonar.
Rainny-Stock's gallery. MANY animals, even comic layouts!
Tarzman's Portrait how-to.
RachelWolf's Wolf Eye Drawing tutorial.
LIBRARY: Clothing
DurantenDuring's Wolf Expressions collage
Anuwolf's tutorial gallery.
Line art with the pen tool.
Kaylink's wolf drawing tutorial.
Cedarseed's Tutorials & Stock gallery
Akeli's Cat Anatomy I
Cataclysn-X: Detailed Hair Tutorial I/II
Thundercake's 'Unique Character Design Tips'
ClaireHabib's MS Paint Shading Tutorial
Shipuh's MS Paint Tutorial
LIBRARY: Marker Tutorials
Vantid's "How to draw a Dolphin"
Realistic Wing Tutorial I
Taintedsilence's Tutorial Gallery

Tanathe's Wolf Body Communication Chart
Tanathe's wolf species size comparison
BewareTheWolf's DeviantART
Woxys's DeviantART -- AMAZING Images!
Moonsongwolf's stock
Kirada's Photograph References

Wolf Gallery
Monty Sloan
Everything Wolves Gallery
Wolfpaper Archive
SaNNaS on deviantART




Know of any more interesting or helpful tutorials? PM me the link(s) so I can add them to the list! Also, if you have any other tips, feel free to share!

Wow, these are great! Thanks for posting these.

May I ask what the best way to practice anatomy is? Like I know you will say, "draw them." I'm just looking for some tips.

I "break down" photographs. If you use the circles and lines (which I strongly suggest for accuracy), draw those lightly over the photo(s) you're using as a reference. Find out this angle, or this proportion.

If I'm having an issue with anatomy I reference photographs -- unaltered ones. (In other words, no art or photo manipulations where a new background has been added or new colors on the animal and what have you.) This is because I don't have a natural resource (such-and-such to observe in real life) available all the time, or at all. By having some raw photographs to look at, it's similar to having the creature(s) there with you.

Lets face it; we can't always go to the zoo whenever we want and not everyone owns the animal we're looking to draw -- and some of us are too shy to ask a family member or friend to pose in a specific way we need when we're drawing humans. Thank the Gods for the Internet and nice people -- those nice people make stock and tutorials to help people out worldwide. The resources are available, so use them.

If you're a Google follower, use Google Images to research something more specific. Instead of typing in "wolf," type in "wolf running" or "wolf howling." Make the search more narrow to suit your needs. Also, I don't suggest using images from Google. This is because you may get in trouble for copyright infringement; Google turns up images stolen and/or by the true owner(s). You probably won't be able to tell the difference. By using DeviantART resources or knowing a photographer (or knowing the genuine owner), you can ask for permission to reference the photographs.

For example, I privately contacted SaNNaS on DeviantART asking her if I could reference her photos to practice various breeds of canine that I am including in a drawing book I'm making. Gratefully, she even gave me permission to post those images from her photos in the book, so long as I uphold my chivalry and cite my references. While not all photograph owners may be so giving, it is still courteous to ask for permission.

TL;DR

Reference photographs and don't forget to (1) ask permission from the photograph's copyright holder(s) and (2) I don't suggest using Google Images all the time.

In addition, work slowly. While learning you want to soak it in, so don't spend 10 minutes on a full picture. Take hours, or even days. Be accurate. You will have more than one failure; don't get discouraged. Learn your weak points and squish them by practicing more.

Thanks for the great tips, Kirada! I'm going to put them into good use.

I've contacted Woxys on DA and asked permission to reference her images, and I got her full permission to do so.
From the tips you gave me, this is what I came up with so far. I found that I have trouble with noses and ears. The only thing that bugs me is, is that it still looks a bit toony to me. maybe it's just my drawing style? Or is it something that isn't drawn right?

Reference image: http://woxys.deviantart.com/art/Golden- ... -151768228

I'll print it out and red-line (traditionally because I'm too lame to have a tablet yet) it for you, Mighty. That way you can see as well as read. :]

Kirada, if you still come to this thread, do you know any good photoshop coloring tutorials? A lot of the ones I see involve using the fill tool to do solid colors, and then just spazz it up with textures and lighting layers... What I'm looking for is a good brush tutorial. Know any?

I have a slew of Photoshop tutorials in my collection on DeviantART (that don't include the paint fill). Sakimichan made a tutorial using Paint Tool Sai, but I don't understand why it won't work just as well in Photoshop. You can find some that better suit your needs here, but I would recommend Coloring Technique by Yuni (which was also a Daily Deviation).