Reddit reviews How to Draw Animals (Perigee)

Keep one thing in mind, talent is something you work on. Those people that play guitar had bleeding finger tips for a while before they could finally play Wonderwall around the bonfire.

I suggest drawing. If you like animals, that book is pretty good.

And maybe check with your doc if you can't concentrate or if you feel down.

If you're talking about the Christopher Hart ones (they guy who does all the "How to draw manga" books), then yea, they are pretty bad. They are so dumbed-down, and not in the good way like to make it easy for beginners, but to the point where they are flawed. They're OK if you want references for designs and ideas, but don't get them for instructions. And as for specifically drawing hyenas, I seriously doubt you'll find one that specifically shows that.

I'd recommend anything by Burne Hogarth (the details can be a little intimidating, but he's spectacular with teaching form and composition) for learning basics of anatomy and how the body works. Here's a link to his blog for a list of his books: http://burnehogarth.com/blog/books
If you're looking specifically for animal instructions though, there's one book I have that has helped, by Jack Hamm. It's not quite in the way of step-by-step, but it is good for hints on what to look for in finding the distinguishing details in animal anatomy. This one here: http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Animals-Perigee-Jack-Hamm/dp/0399508023

Without being dismissive about it though, really the best thing you can do is to practice and practice and practice. Looking to instruction books and "how to" books is OK for introduction and familiarizing yourself with a genre, but it's far too easy to get locked into bad methodology. Either because the instructions are actually bad (again as in the case of Christopher Hart), or because what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another, and you don't want to stick yourself into a way of working that's not right for you just because you're "following instructions." Everyone has a process that works best for them, and it's best to find how you work.

If you have access to it, I think watching streams would be a good idea. Drawing is a process, so seeing a process is a good way to get into the swing of things. Again, just remember that their way doesn't have to be your way. Give what they do a try, but make yourself comfortable.

Some universal rules that I think are helpful:

• Remember that everything has form. What that means is that everything is made up of shapes. It feels like a throwback to kindergarden to turn triangles and circles into detailed pictures, but it's really true. Find the large shapes in everything.
  
  
• Work big-to-small. Big shapes first, then small shapes. Whole form, then parts. No one part of your image should be significantly more detailed than another.
  
  
• If you're working digitally, you have the advantage of being able to easily flip your image to check for balance. If you're working with pencil and paper though, it can be a little tougher; hold up your paper backward to a light source so you can see the mirror-image of your drawing, or use a mirror. Some things look right one way, but when you reverse it will look completely wrong. If this happens, fix the reverse side to make it look good before flipping it back the right way. Keep doing this back and forth until you like both the forward and reversed versions equally. That means your image is properly balanced.
  
  
• This is probably a little advanced for this stage, but will come in useful anyhow; again if you're working digitally, check your image by lowering the saturation slider to look at the picture in black-and-white. This will show you if your color scheme is too flat (you won't be able to tell the difference between differently-colored areas), and will make sure your areas of focus are noticeable. There really isn't a way to do this if working pencil and paper, unless you take a B&W photo of the picture to check. Also important, when shading, put about 50%-60% of your image in some sort of shadow (this is more for realistic styles though, so disregard if you're doing a simple flat-color cartoony style). Doesn't have to be super dark, but having prominent shadows helps lend a 3D effect to your shapes and adds a lot of depth.
  
  
• This is something I still struggle with; don't worry about a design looking "right." What this means is, don't get too caught up in anatomy and correctness. Artists take liberties with form all the time, and not to mention you're creating a creature that doesn't actually exist, so you're going to have to wing it a little bit. Worry more about the image being what you want it to be, that you have a piece you're happy with, not one that's perfect.
  
  
• And in the same vein as the last note, make sure you know what style you want to draw in. Do you like a more cartoony style, or do you want it to be more realistic? Study and reference art in the style you're going for. And don't be afraid of trying other styles, even ones you don't like. You never know what may end up working.
  
  
• Don't force yourself. Just starting out can be a hard thing, and a quick way to make it worse is to stress about it and try to force your way past it. If you find you're having a tough time, take a break. Go do something else for a little while, let your brain recharge, take a nap, and then come back to it with fresh eyes.
  
  Most importantly, and you've heard it a million times, PRACTICE. No one becomes an expert overnight. For many of us it takes years to get into our own style and even then, it will continue to change. Don't worry about what you're doing wrong, especially at the beginning, but retain what you do that you like. Look to others for inspiration, but in the end, make it your own.

I preferred Jack Hamm.

I really like having these around.

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671530771/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PXkBybWE11WY9

Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402766785/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_34kBybDYR7KZT

Dynamic Figure Drawing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0823015777/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O5kByb1YEC48K

How to Draw Animals (Perigee) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399508023/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_b7kBybRM8D7RC

When it comes to drawing made-up creatures, practice drawing the anatomy of real animals first. It will help make your creatures make more "sense". One of my favorite books growing up was How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm. Once you kind of understand muscle and bone structure, you'll be able to build on that knowledge and go crazy with it. Just keep drawing! That's just my two cents.

Jack Hamm, How to Draw Animals. I have this one and recommend it highly.

I've also got Ken Hultgren's book The Art of Animal Drawing, but it's skimpy on the how-to aspect of things.

1-3 black and white, emphasis on shading and 3D

1. smooth simple shapes: spheres, cubes, eggs, a cup, etc [squinting will help you identify shadows more easily]
   
   
2. complex shapes: crumpled paper, an old shirt
   
   
3. textures and highlights: things made of glass, fur, and metal.
   
   
4. If you want to color, do steps 1-3, but with dry mediums like oil pastels or coloring pencil. If you want to draw harder things, go to step 5
   
   
5. animals: think about shape and muscles before attempting the whole animal.
   http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Animals-Perigee-Jack-Hamm/dp/0399508023/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259883868&sr=1-4
   
   
6. people: drawing people can be frustrating, for motivation I would actually recommend that you choose a hot celebrity and just keep drawing him/her until you're satisfied. For a sort of beginner's way of looking at people, Hamm also has a good book for people:
   http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Perigee-Jack/dp/0399507914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259883868&sr=1-1
   
   
7. Apply perspective and foreshortening on all of the above (this is one of the hardest things to do in art, with every angle, the lines on any object changes). I have been taking classes and self teaching for a very long time and I still get tripped up over this.
   
   *Note, I skipped drawing landscapes because it sounded like you wanted to draw people.
   
   While you're drawing, you should take notes, things to help you remember ratios and little epiphanies that you discover along the way. Sometimes, one little revelation can completely change and improve the way you draw, so make sure you keep exploring online and talk to various other artists about how they deal with certain drawing issues like hands or objects from directly above...etc.

Take a look at this page from How To Draw Animals by Jack Hamm. It explains how the anatomy of a four-legged mammal compares with that of a human.

Two things to remember are that horses walk on their toes and don't have collar bones. The latter means that any actions of the front legs above the head are very limited, compared to what humans can do. What you suggest in your rough sketch, a horse couldn't do, or only with a lot of effort.