There is no secret that can help an artist draw an animal. There are techniques one can use to help draw any type of animal they want, though. Simple sketches of animals can be practiced by anyone. Unless you actually know what is under the fur or feathers of that animal, a truly realistic drawing of that animal may be hard to create. Understanding and knowing the anatomy of the animal that you are attempting to draw, is essential.

If you aren't familiar with the human bone and muscle structure, now may not be the best time for you to move onto drawing animals. In many ways, the anatomy of most 4-legged mammals can be compared similarly to that of a human. Both the animal and human structure is alike except for animal's shoulders, which seem to hang from their spine.

It is necessary to draw an animal's frame before drawing any type of animal. It is a requirement for all art majors in college to take some sort of anatomy course as this will allow them to study human and animal anatomy at a bone, muscle, joint and skin level. Piecing these layers together, an artist can realistically lay out an animal's body with proper joint movements, muscle mass, and top that with skin, scales, fur, or feathers to make the animals appearance pop off of their medium.

When an amateur artist begins drawing, they are often misled into using tactics that will only help their development. A mistake artists make when drawing animals is to use a grid system to draw an animal with preset guides. For someone that has never drawn an animal before, this can make the process seem very simple; however, this can make the animal appear very flat.

A general goal of art is to make an image pop off the page it is drawn onto. This is why an artist must think in three-dimensional aspects while drawing animals. Using building block techniques, drawing a basic bone frame, or even using sticks and lines to represent how the final animal drawing will be posed is something that can help an artist to achieve this goal.

There are so many animals out there, that an artist may become frustrated with trying to draw new animals. Having something to compare an animal's anatomy to, like a human body structure, will help greatly. Knowing what bones go where and which way the joints bend will be essential, and practicing tried artist techniques will make an artist's animal images jump off the paper. With these tips and a little studying, you could be drawing your favorite species today.