Drawing animals I know
Art & Design · Early Years · The School
Counting the parts
Before you draw an animal, count its parts. How many legs? Does it have a tail? What shape are its ears? A cat has four legs, a tail, and pointy ears. Counting first stops you forgetting a part halfway through.
Where legs really attach
Legs do not come out from the middle of a body's underside. They attach near the TOP corners, at the front and the back. Look at a photo of a dog, side-on. The front legs are near the head end. The back legs are near the tail end.
Ears, tails and other details
Ears sit on top of the head, not the sides, for most pets. A tail comes out of the back end, not the middle. Small details like these are what make a drawing look like a real animal, not just any four-legged shape.
Draw a cat from memory first. Now look at a real photo of a cat, side-on. Check the legs. Are they too close to the middle? Move them nearer the corners. Check the ears. Are they on the side of the head, or the top? Check the tail. Does it come from the back, not the middle? Fix one part at a time. By the end, your cat should look far more like the real photo than your first try did.