Product Description

The WEATHERLY GUIDE TO DRAWING ANIMALS focuses on learning how to draw animals using solid drawing principles. The emphasis of the book is on learning to draw animals by understanding action,analysis of form, construction, expressive drawing, and simplified anatomy. An approach to drawing animals from life (a challenging and somewhat frustrating exercise) can be learned from the principles layed out in this book.

The importance of drawing from imagination and methods to go about it are also a key topic. THE WEATHERLY GUIDE TO DRAWING ANIMALS is geared toward all levels of artists from beginning to advanced. Anyone interested in learning how to draw animals or take their current animal drawing to the next level, will greatly benefit from this book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199044 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 166 pages

About the Author
Joe Weatherly is a Southern California based artist specializing in the drawing and painting of animals. His style is bold and vigorous capturing the essence and drama of the subjects he draws and paints. The attitude and expression of the animal's character along with telling a visual story is what his work conveys. Conservation of the natural world is something Joe is very passionate about and hopes his work will motivate people to protect it and promote its survival.A recent publication of Joe's is the Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals that he wrote and illustrated. This book has sold many copies around the world and is used as a textbook in several art colleges and universities. Teaching drawing is a part time endeavor of Joe's and some of his clients include Dreamworks Feature Animation, Universal Studios, Laguna College of Art and Design, and The Academy of Art in San Francisco. Joe is an associate member of the Society of Animal Artists, holds an M.F.A in Illustration from California State University Fullerton. He has also had one man Shows of his oil paintings at Ford Motor Companies Corporate Headquarters and California State University Fullerton.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Welcome to the exciting world of animal drawing, a world where you can create your favorite creature through the use of line and tone. It is the hope that this book will take the mystery out of animal drawing by showing various methods and procedures used to draw them. Solid drawing principles necessary for strong draftsmanship is what this book is based on. Learning to draw animals well is both rewarding and challenging, and with a little study and dedication, you will be well on your way.

The book emphasizes solid drawing principles. I believe there is no better way to learn how to draw than by studying how the Great Masters went about it. Michelangelo, Rubens, and Da Vinci to name only a few, discovered and passed down methods of drawing that set the standard for solid drawing. Their drawings all had volume, anatomy, and motion, and these are key elements to good animal drawing.

No matter what your ultimate style will become, you must first learn the rules before you can break them. In other words, you can't cut straight to the chase and skip the fundamentals. It is the fundamentals of drawing that serve as a foundation in which to build upon. When the fundamental principles are not understood, the results are obvious. The drawings show a lack of true understanding.

So what are the drawing principles that I am talking about? Well these will be discussed throughout the book, but they all stem from the "Big 3": Action, Construction, and Anatomy. An understanding of these principles gives the artist the power to create drawings that are solid, expressive and full of life.

Customer Reviews

Animal drawings so live you might have to feed them
Joe Weatherly stresses from the beginning that knowing your subject, knowing the anatomy is the only way to accurately draw. If you know the animal, you can draw him from any angle or position with or without a live example. This is true even in quick gestures. As a result he offers no shortcuts and no formulae, just a sound, understandable method by which you can construct anything.

Weatherly backs up what he says with hundreds of beautiful, lively examples using many different mediums and in many different styles. The idea is not to copy his drawings, but to see the possibilities.

I also enjoyed Jack Hamm's book, but I will say that this one wins easily. Hamm's is more of a formulae book, showing you exactly how to draw this or that animal in a particular pose. This may be comforting for early beginners, but it won't lead you close to true mastery. Also, the difference in method between Hamm and Weatherly clearly produces different finished products. Weatherly's animals are enfused with life and action, while Hamm's seem more static in comparision. This is the result of Weatherly's laying down action lines before constructing the figure.

A definite must for drawing animals or any form of life

I cant believe how good this book is!!!
I needed a book that would cover all my needs on developing my skills in drawing animals and creatures...and this book helped so much in just the first day of looking through it. It uses all the lingo of life drawing and isnt hard at all for those who are beginners who need to understand terms used. There are so many images for reference and sections that cover a number of animals individually. I seriously recommend this book, it isnt just a picture book, its a guide book to animal drawing with pictures.

Finally, a "How To" book that's worth getting!!!
The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals is the best animal drawing book I've ever seen. There are very few books out there that show the nitty gritty side of sketching and drawing animals. I love how the writing is thorough and to the point. This book gives you the barebones on how to approach drawing animals from direct observation and from your imagination. It covers other topics like how to simplify muscle shapes and how to spot boney landmarks, which are very important in drawing any living creature. I highly recommend this book for those who always wanted to learn how to draw animals, but never knew where to begin.