Animal art detailing

Question

i mainly draw reptiles, whales, sharks, and occasionally big cats and other animals, but i lack the detailing in it. i dont know how or am not good at drawing fur that looks like fur, scales, i cant draw the shimmering of the water on the animal, i suck at drawing water from above or below, i also suck at coloring or painting my drawings, case if i try to i usually mess it up, and my landscaping sucks, so when im done with my drawing i just have the basic outline of the animal(and no color is added), body outline, eyes, nose, flippers, fins, etc. if anyone knows a book that can help me by showing and telling how i can learn how to be good at detailing my art i would appreciate it.

Answer 1

Though I don't have any specific suggestions, there is no shortage of good books on this subject, and you could start by looking through these to decide which is most appropriate for you:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002...

Be aware that understanding the anatomy of the animal is just as, if not more, important than just knowing what the outside looks like, as you must understand the forms of the animals if you are to be able to draw them in an advanced way, understand how the light falls on muscles and forms for shading, etc. Any good drawing book will cover this in detail (you may even want to buy one specifically on animal anatomy).

There are also plenty of resources online, so have a look through some these:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=animal+...

References of the creatures you enjoy drawing for poses, patterns, textures, etc., in the form of books, photographs or even Google image searches, will also be useful to you - collect a big library of reference images on your computer. Study videos of them too, and how they move, for this is important for drawings that capture them mid-motion.

You could also look at books or tutorials on pencil drawing techniques, nature and landscape drawing for surroundings, and so on, if you feel that you are weak in these areas.

Good luck. :)

Answer 2

draw from a photo refrence, if you draw in pencil, make sure your refrence is in black and white, you can convert color photos in photo imaging software, and just try drawing what you see. look closely at all the little details and try duplicating them on your paper, mechanical pencils are great for this