Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals [Paperback]

Lindsay Cibos (Author), Jared Hodges (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2009

Winner of the 2009 Ursa Major Award, the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Awards.

How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals
What do you get when you cross a human with a horse (or a hamster, or a hummingbird)? You get any one of a number of fun anthropomorphic animals, also known as "furries" to their friends. From facial expressions to creative coloring, this book contains all the know-how you need to create anthropomorphic cat, dog, horse, rodent and bird characters.
Step by step, you'll learn how to:

• Draw species-appropriate tails, eyes, wings and other fun details
• Give your characters clothes, poses and personalities
• Create the perfect backgrounds for your furry antics - with two start-to-finish demonstrations showing how

Packed with tons of inspiration - from teeny-bopper bunnies and yorky glamour queens to Ninja squirrels and lion kings - Draw Furries will help you create a world of crazy, cool characters just waiting to burst out of your imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Hodges and Cibos have created a thorough guide. Describing the creatures in terms of a sliding scale from human to animal, they begin with some tips on basic anatomy and style. Introductory material includes several versions of an impala that illustrate how various levels of "human" characteristics affect the overall character. The rest of the instruction is grouped by the kind of animal portrayed—felines, canines, equines, etc. Full-color spreads throughout show what can be achieved with practice, and the book concludes with chapters on color and perspective. Lanza includes watercolors of elves and similar creatures such as sprites, gnomes, and dwarves. Materials and basic skills are explained before moving on to chapters that explore faces, figures, and settings. This approach makes the projects accessible to artists who may not have worked with watercolor before. Sidebars feature mini demonstrations focusing on flowers or other details. Useful coloring instructions specify brush and color choices. These fantasy-friendly books provide plenty to explore.—Lisa Glasscock, Columbine Public Library, Littleton, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges are the creators of the three-volume graphic novel series Peach Fuzz (Tokyopop), which has been published in numerous languages around the world and syndicated in newspapers. Peach Fuzz also placed as a graphic novel finalist for the ForeWord Magazine 2004 Book Of The Year Award and won grand prize in the second Rising Stars of Manga competition.  They have also authored several how-to art books, such as Digital Manga Workshop, for publishers including HarperCollins, Ilex Press, and Impact Books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: IMPACT (December 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600614175
• ISBN-13: 978-1600614170
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Cartooning

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Freshly Creative December 27, 2009

By B. Lewis

Format:Paperback

Alot of drawing books I own give step by step instructions to drawing a specific character. How to Draw Furries does something a little different. It not only gives the step by step instructions, but it also provides instruction on how to color and how to use perspective in backgrounds. The most impressive quality of this book is that it opens up new possibilities for anthro artists. It covers a wide range of different types of 'furries' that spans not only from cats and dogs, but to birds, horses, and rodents as well. Beautiful and well done.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I found it useful. January 3, 2010

By Mr. K

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

For all the stigma that "furries" get, it's amazing just how detailed some of the artwork is at times. Much of it is incredible because of the artist's knowledge of both human and animal anatomy.

I picked up a copy of this book because I do dabble in anthropomorphic drawings from time to time. I usually have a hard time with animal facial details, longer snouts like many dogs especially, but this book gives a good visual breakdown of how it should look. The same holds true for the other types of animals covered in the book.

At the start of the book there is a (very) quick breakdown of human anatomy and each chapter goes over the defining features of the animal type. It's not a perfect resource, but it does help greatly if you're trying to wrap your mind around getting your drawing to look like what you want.

My only complaint really is that it doesn't go into greater detail with the anatomy, but if it had, the book could easily be twice as thick. It would also end up being quite repetitive at times.

Artists with some previous skill would probably get the most out of this book. Even advanced artists could draw some inspiration.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful December 27, 2009

By Susan A. Fisher

Format:Paperback

I got this book for Christmas, and I have been drawing pictures everyday since! This book is very helpful! I have been searching very far and wide for a book like this to come out. I find this book to help with anatomy very much, as well as, shading, coloring and most of all, drawing out furries. If there was one thing I could add to this book, it would be to anthro dragons. I have a hard time drawing dragon, anthropomorphically. Any way, buy this book!