Drawing Animals 101

Artist and veterinarian Mari Suzuki brings both disciplines to this detailed, step-by-step manual on sketching animals. Readers work through projects that range from the expressive face of a corgi to a lion mid-pounce. The lessons start from first principles and are written so that complete beginners can follow them. Suzuki covers how body proportions differ between species, how simple skeletal shapes form the structure of an animal, where muscles attach, and other physical basics that shape how a creature moves and looks.

The book draws on a wide variety of animals, including pandas, penguins, kangaroos, and elephants. Dogs and cats serve as the main model throughout, since they are easy to observe and move in many different ways. Every project is drawn in pencil, which gives the finished pieces the feel of figure drawing, whether the subject has wings or four legs.