More Animals

Practice drawing animals of all kinds is useful to the realist, and certainly to me. As I posted in September animal anatomy is important, but animals show many expressions, from joy to sorrow. And trying to capture those expressions is an interesting challenge.

Hoff, "Bonobo," digital

Of all animals, the great apes are closest to us genetically speaking. There are four groups of great apes--gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos. The latter were often called pygmy chimps in earlier times but are a distinct species. Drawing these apes has been fascinating because of the astonishing similarity of their eyes to human eyes. In the drawing of the bonobo at left, I fancied I could detect real human emotion in those eyes. She seems to be wary, curious and ready to run at any moment. Bonobos are now endangered and may number less than 100,000 in the wild.

Hoff, "The Pitiless Eye," digital

Reptiles are primitive-looking, their scales and appearance probably dating back millions of years. Alligator eyes in particular, with vertical pupils and a nictitating membrane (which protects the eye underwater) give a particularly flinty and unblinking cruelty to their looks. It was that sharp predatory focus that interested me in this drawing of an American alligator. I emphasized the light on the upper edge of the orbit and around the triangular socket while deepening the pupillary darkness as much as possible. These animals are frightening simply because they're so utterly alien.

Hoff, "Motherhood," digital

Elephants are becoming more and more scarce. They're increasingly hunted by poachers for the ivory in their tusks. Their habitat is shrinking and the modern world making the remainder less and less inviting. Yet these huge gentle creatures continue to fascinate us and provide lessons as well. The image of a mother elephant helping her newborn to stand up for the first time struck me as a metaphor for all motherhood. Mostly I wanted to emphasize the connection between the mother and her baby, using the sinuousness of her trunk as it wrapped around the baby's belly. To me the mother's gaze is tenderness and love.

Although I'm mostly doing digital sketching these days, my plan is to return to traditional media--particularly graphite and charcoal--for a while, just to practice.

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Related posts:
Animals
Animals for Fun and Practice