How do you SHADE an animal that you’ve created from your imagination? There are two things I think about when shading imaginary creatures.

First, I imagine a light source, such as a sun, shining down on the object from either the right or the left. So in my example above, I have decided that the light source is in the upper right hand corner. So everything “close” to the light will be brighter and everything “far away” from the light would be shaded. (Shading done using a mechanical pencil.)

The second thing I think about is the areas where things (such as ears, eyes, paws) are overlapping, joined, or protruding. So, for example, I’ve added shading underneath the neck, between the legs, and at at the bottom of the bear (where it’s paws and body meets the ground). I also added shading under the eyes.

Sometimes, if I want to double-check my shading, I’ll find an image in my stash of pet books or online that is similar to the drawing I’ve made. (This is an optional step.) Here is a polar bear image that works well, and by looking at the photograph I realized that no matter what, the area around the bear’s mouth would probably be dark due to staining, so I darkened that area. The photograph also showed that the left half of the body was in a bit more shadow than I thought, so I added a little more shading there. The photograph also reminded me to add shading on the ground.

Finally, don’t stress too much if you go overboard with your shading and put it in “wrong” places. With Imaginary Animals, you can quickly adjust your thinking so that your ill-shaded areas are dark patches of fur, instead!
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TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT: GO BLOB HUNTING!

Instructions
1. Grab a small sketchbook or stack of drawing paper and a pen or a pencil (any kind). I used an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie pen.
2. If the weather is nice, go outside. Start looking at the ground, at fences, and at the side of buildings for interesting shapes to draw; could be from a leaf, a stain on your driveway, or a sidewalk crack. Draw its outer shape (and it’s not necessary at this point to “see” anything in it; just draw a shape). Repeat four more times with different inspirations, one to a page.
If it’s too cold to go outside, you can just hunt for blobs inside! Look at marbled counter tops, stucco, your breakfast plate, or water marks left in a sink or bathtub. Draw it. Repeat four more times with different inspirations, one to a page. Here is a “blob” drawn from a piece of bacon.

3. Now, “finish” one of your blobs. Here’s how to do it: Turn your paper or book around and around and look at your blob from all four directions. Do you see something? An animal, or part of an animal? If so, add an eye and any other lines or elements to “finish” your animal. Here is how I finished the “bacon blob,” above:

First I added some legs.

Next I started adding pen details for fur. Here’s a detail:

I added a bit more fur/shading to the areas where the line crossed the top of the leg…

… and underneath the dog’s body for shading. At this point the rump bothered me…

… so I added a tail. I also wanted to add two more legs, but was a bit chicken to do it directly with pen, so I lightly sketched in with pencil first.

I finished him up by adding a ground, and looking over the whole thing to see if I wanted to add any details. In this case, I added a beard, some spots, and a few more scraggly hairs.
4. If you want to add color to your animals, head on over to these two tutorials for some ideas: Layered Poodle and Alligator Coloring Tutorial.
5. If time, repeat Steps 3 & 4 with your other four “blobs”!
6. Upload your images to the NEW Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals flickr site!
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For more tutorials and assignments, click HERE!