Christopher Hart - Drawing Fantastic Furries: The Ultimate Guide to Drawing Anthropomrphic Charaacters

Contributing artists:
Denise Akemi, Paulo Henrique, Tina Francisco,
Christopher Hart, Morgan Long, Roberta Pares

Copyright 2010 by Art Studio, LLC

Design by vest design

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill
Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

WATSON-GUPTILL is a registered trademark and
the WG and Horse designs are registered trademarks
of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hart, Christopher, 1957
Drawing fantastic furries : the ultimate guide to drawing anthropomorphic characters / Christopher Hart. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-0-8230-2714-9
1. Fantasy in art. 2. Anthropomorphism in art. 3. DrawingTechnique. I. Title. II. Title: Ultimate guide
to drawing anthropomorphic characters.
NC825.F25H384 2010
743'.87--dc22
2010017489

v3.1

You have just picked up a book on the cutting edge of art technique. Enter, if you will, the alluring world of furries. Furries are seen in fantasy illustration, comics, and movies. Each year, furry conventions are held all across the country, attended by legions of fans in furry costumes. Its pop culture at its most curious.

Furries are animal-human hybrids. These are fascinating creatures, neither man nor beast but something in between. They stand upright and talk. Some even wear clothes. To draw furries, you need to know how to combine animals and humansin the correct proportions. Make them too human and they lose their magic; make them too animalistic and theyre unable to display complex emotions.

So, what kinds of furries are there? There are cute furries, heroic furries, and adventurous furries. There are retro furries, funny furries, glamorous furries, and even seductive furries. Well also explore the land of occult and magic, with its wizard and demon furries. Well enter the enchanted land of fantasy furries, with its goddesses and medieval characters. Yes, it just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.

If youve ever entertained the idea of drawing furries, then this is your ultimate, gotta-have-it, wont-take-no-for-an-answer type of book. Dont let an opportunity like this pass you by. Look what furries did for the career of Charles Darwin. Yes, Darwin was a furry fan. Used to dress up in a monkey suit and hold danceathons at his estate in the Galapagos Islands. That Darwin.

But do furries really exist? Or are they merely legends, such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster? Theres only one way to tell. Join us. Take the plunge as we go on a guided tour along the road of mystery and into the strange world of furries. Curious.

A furry is an anthropomorphic beingthat is, an animal with human characteristics. There are also furries that are primarily human but with animal traits. Usually, a furry will retain much of its animal personality. So a fox furry will be cunning, a raccoon furry will be mischievous, a lion furry will be proud, and so on. Lets take a look!

The easiest way to create a furry is to draw an animal standing upright, in a human posture, with a human expression. In this way, the character still remains quite animalistic.

Another way to create a furry is to take a primarily human character and add a few animal features, such as markings, a tail, animal ears, and so forth. This book will cover both methods of creating furriesand everything in between! Lets check out the polar extremes of furrydom.

Real Wolf

Animalistic Wolf Furry

Human-Style Wolf Furry

When female, furries can be cute and appealing; however, to create an attractive furry, you need to first select an animal that conveys gracefulness, such as a fox, cat, or deer. Its not so easy to turn a pig or a goat into a female furry; it just looks like you put lipstick on a pig.

The attractive female furry gets all dolled up. Look at those eyelashes. This is one of the few times that an animal wears makeup. Dont try this at home on your pets. Take my word for it. It just annoys them.

Note how kittenish and playful this pose is, reflecting the furrys catlike personality. Remember: The personality is driven by the characters animal instincts.

Real Tabby Cat

Animalistic Tabby Furry

Human-Style Tabby Furry

When your character stands on four legs, it looks like a true animal. Even when a human torso is added, its still mainly animal because it is still on four animal legs. In keeping with that, the face retains strong animal features. But when the character stands on only two legs, as a human does, the face starts to change into that of a human. The character retains only the vestigial signs of the zebra, such as ears, tail, and mane. If the image all the way to the right looks like the normal one of the batch to you, youve already passed an invisible furry line of no return. Keep going.