Anatomy of a Dog

Anatomy of a Dog

Anatomy of a Dog:

Right: learning about your subjects also means learning about their anatomy. This gives you the insight into how the animal moves, and it's limitations of movement by its own skeleton. Knowledge in this area is a must.

Many an hour I have studied the anatomy of my subjects while sculpting from human to animal, it's intriguing.

And when you put this knowledge into practice when doing your art.

Well.... your newly acquired knowledge makes your study all the easier when sculpting, once you have learn t' the fundamentals of its being.

Here in anatomy of a dog we have the skeleton. Look at how its basic shape is formed, now we are going back to basics here. Think of it like the guide lines you are drawing when you want to get your overall drawing right.

I want you to have a good look at this dogs skeleton. Because these are the basics of the anatomy of the dog that you need to learn; and remember: I myself constantly refer back to such pictures of anatomy when I am getting the detail right in my art.

You don't have to be a doctor, though you have to be close...... For an artist the study of anatomy brings your knowledge of it much higher then the average person out in the crowd.

And yes, we are a special bunch! Quite learner d really. And for anyone who's first language is not English.( Learner d:- is the version of to have learn t in Old English.)

See in anatomy of a dog, the picture of the muscles on the skeleton - notice how the muscles are overlaid in places. Each muscle forms the surface of the dog.

You don't have to worry about drawing the muscles underneath overlaying muscles of the anatomy of a dog, you really only need to concentrate of the top lying muscles.

Because these are the muscles of which the skin will be seen, and hence, the detail you need to capture when doing your subject.

"By the way, if you want to learn more about animals movement and anatomy, such as anatomy of a dog, you will find these tips in my free newsletter "pet art newsletter" .

Notice the rather large muscles in the hind quarters of this dog. This dog is a greyhound, and its back legs are well muscled for racing.

Front shoulder muscles are not so pronounced, Just take note that you need to study different breeds of dogs, as their muscle structure will be more or less pronounced in some areas than others; as they are all bred for their different specialties.

Here we have the front and back view anatomy of the dog. You can see where the emphasis of light and shadow picks out the dogs build and muscle density.

Putting every thing together is easier if you have a sound knowledge of the structure of your subject, "then it all falls into place". If you don't know how something works, then how can you understand it? the same applies to the artist doing their work.

When you are copying nature in all its glory, you need to know why, and how, to name a few. If it works....... don't change it. And nature is a master of this

I guess your thinking right now, I didn't think it would all be so involved....

Artists have been looked up to and respected for centuries. An elite crowd, you could say...

And it's not for just doing light-hearted work. It takes time and much work to become a good artist

OK... many have not made a living out of it through out time - there again - many have.

You could almost say that it is an art of love as much as it is an art of science in many ways. You could even say "biology" as well...

Had to put that one in...........

Anyway here are some pictures for your reference, I am sure you will find for yourself, even more pictures as we go along, but you need to start somewhere... right!