Ok...I suck at drawing but ever since I saw some of the amazing pieces of art that some of the people here can produce, I was inspired to want to practice drawing a bit. A few days ago, someone made a picture with Paint.net (I forgot who it was). Out of curiosity, I downloaded it and have been playing around with it.
I'm currently trying to produce something kinda decent while trying out the program. So I started this little project. What I just posted it the outline of a deer body that I did in probably twenty minutes. I'm tired as hell right now (it's quarter to 4 in the morning) and I wasn't pleased with the way the neck and head were turning out. That's when I figured that maybe it would be better to focus on a part at a time rather than stressing myself out over trying to make the
whole thing look good.
So there's the body...I think the tail is too small; it doesn't scale well with the rest of the body.Then the far front leg just looks awkward...I'm actually pretty happy with the back leg and the way the back itself turned out. Though I do feel that the buttocks part is too straight. Maybe I'll round it out later; but for a writer, I think I did ok at my first serious attempt at art.
Anyway, I'd be very grateful for some advice on how to make it better and how I should approach the rest of the deer. Then, of course, if you have used Paint.net before...I'd be extremely grateful for some tips on coloring. (I plan on looking up some tutorials. if any exist, but I always like hearing from people who actually have used it.)
Edit: I made some changes on the
original based on the advice given to me. So I figured I'd update it with at least that much. I'm still working on the head...I wasn't pleased with what I kept getting.
okie dokie let's see what we
what I would say is that the upper part of the front leg needs to be a little longer, and the butt doesn't have a little corner to it. The tail bone starts from the top of the butt and tapers downward a little. And when my piece was critiqued, someone told me a neat little trick for the head: the head is triangle shaped. so when you get ready to draw it, start with a triangle and go from there.
Here's an awesome site that I just found for you with nice 3-D pictures of deer anatomy:
http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/292686
hope this helps! C:
I haven't gone insane......I've gone awesome.
That's awesome for just
Anyway, the thing that I find helps the most is drawing from life (or, more likely, drawing from photos). Studying an actual deer's anatomy is probably the best way to get a feeling on how their bodies are shaped, and rest assured there are pictures on the internet of deer in every position, angle, etc. Try Corbis or Flickr to look for pictures that show you what a deer looks like when they are sitting. Cato's link was also very helpful, because seeing the bone structure really let's you visualize what is placed where.
Also, even getting a closeup shot in TEF would be a good idea, if you wanted to go by how the TEF deer look.
As for the drawing itself, the advice I have is this: Like Cato said, the tail is a continuation of the spine, so the base of the tail should be attached higher up. Deer tails are triangle shaped as well, with the widest part of the triangle connected to the body and it tapers upwards, as seen here. Also, deer are two-toed, so the hoof that you've drawn should have a split in it. The back leg, as all of their legs, has three joints, so there should be a more prominent "ankle" on the back leg. As for the front legs, I think the problem is that there are too many folds there and they need to be simplified. That curve you have connecting the right foreleg to the neck doesn't need to be there, and instead there should be a chest starting from the bottom curve of the neck. Also, those "Y" shaped lines to demonstrate the front leg joints don't need to be there either, instead the joints can be drawn more "knobby" looking. This outline of a foal actually demonstrates what the legs should pretty much look like, since deer and horses are pretty similar in overall structure. (I like using pictures to explain, since I'm so long winded and have barely explained anything once I'm done xD)
I hope this helps in some way. Good luck with it, and I hope to see the finished product!
ouh that is pretty good!!
http://www.ketnertaxidermy.com/deer_laying_1_op_800x515.jpg <--- adult deer
http://www.jamerantik.dk/images/DJ/DJ1147a.jpg <--fawn (moore chobby <3 )