Animals in Art

In past entries I've mused about animals and how they challenge me as a realist artist (for example, Animals for Fun and Practice). An understanding of animal anatomy is as critical as a knowledge of human structure, so one of my aims with sketching has been to study various species, from farm animals to birds and even exotic creatures.

"I'm Really Sorry," digital sketch

It's important to me to show more than accurate structure, though. Capturing a mood or movement can make the animal look real and alive. Animals show sorrow, unhappiness, sharp interest, antagonism, and a lot more in their gestures and eye positions. Capturing those sorts of nuances is a matter of constant practice and study, so here are a few from the recent past.

The digital sketch of a guilty dog is an example of the way some studies evolve. I had seen similar looks very often with my own dogs. Almost anyone who has lived with a dog knows the expression of guilt that a dog can show when reprimanded or when she knows she's offended you. We've all seen it. As it happens one of our pooches has occasionally shown such regret too, so when I saw a similar photo I did a quick sketch that combined the expression with my own dog's appearance.

"Rojo," digital sketch

A sketch of an aroused and belligerent rooster from not long ago was similarly triggered by another image I saw, but was also based on previous experiences with an angry fowl, since we raised chickens when I was a boy. (A lot of times as a little fellow I was relentlessly pursued by a protective rooster.) Since our own rooster featured a bright red comb, his name was Rojo, and so this sketch was named in his honor. He had a real glint in his eye that threatened mayhem.

Finally, from my visits to the Iowa State Fair came a number of sketches of horses. I had attended a showing of  huge Percherons and Clydesdales during one judging awed that their owners' heads often barely reached the horses' shoulders. This particular drawing is a digital essay of an expression I seemed to detect in the eye of these horses--the kind of calmness that comes from enormous strength.

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