How to Draw a Bison

Cam wrth gam

1. Cam 1

   Block in the ribcage as one big oval.

   The ribcage is the largest single mass in almost every four-legged animal, and drawing it too small is the most common structural error in the whole category. Draw it in one motion and make it bigger than feels right.

   Gwyliwch Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.

   Gwirio The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.

2. Cam 2

   Put in the hip mass - smaller than the chest on almost every animal.

   The gap between the two masses is information: it is most of what separates a long animal from a compact one. Decide the gap deliberately rather than letting it happen.

   Gwyliwch Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.

   Gwirio You should see clear space between the two ovals.

3. Cam 3

   Draw the backbone as one line from chest to hips.

   One continuous curve, drawn in one pass. The spine sets the whole animal's attitude, and a spine assembled from three short strokes reads as three different animals stitched together.

   Gwyliwch Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.

   Gwirio The curve should touch both masses without a corner.

4. Cam 4

   Put the skull in, and mark the line from chest to head.

   Note where the neck leaves the chest before you place the skull - on most animals it comes off the front of the chest mass, not the top, and that single angle carries the species.

   Gwyliwch Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.

   Gwirio The neck guide should leave the FRONT half of the chest oval.

5. Cam 5

   Give the neck thickness with two curves.

   A neck is a solid with real thickness, and on most animals it is thicker than you think - nearly as deep as the head itself. Two curves, one over, one under.

   Gwyliwch A thin stick neck, which makes any animal look fragile.

   Gwirio The neck should be nearly as thick as the head is tall.

6. Cam 6

   Draw the back and the underside to make one body.

   This is where the animal stops being two eggs. Let the topline follow the spine you already drew and keep the belly line taut - a sagging belly is a decision, not an accident.

   Gwyliwch Ignoring the spine curve you drew and inventing a new back.

   Gwirio The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.

7. Cam 7

   Run the belly from chest to hips.

   The belly is a separate decision from the masses: it hangs below the line joining them, sagging most midway, and how much it sags is part of the animal - taut on a deer, generous on a cow. Draw it as one curve, not two arcs meeting.

   Gwyliwch A straight line between the ovals, which reads as a table.

   Gwirio The belly should dip below both mass bottoms at its middle.

8. Cam 8

   Draw the chest front down, and the rump around.

   Two curves seal the body into one shape: down the front of the chest into the belly, and from the top of the hips around the rump to meet it. Without them the animal has no front or back and the legs float - this is the step that turns parts into a body.

   Gwyliwch Leaving the ends open because the ovals suggest them.

   Gwirio You should be able to trace the whole body without lifting your pen.

9. Cam 9

   Draw the front pair of legs.

   Legs are chains of segments with a joint at each bend, and every leg bends somewhere. Draw joint to joint in straight strokes first; curves come later if at all.

   Gwyliwch Straight tube legs with no joints, which read as furniture.

   Gwirio Each front leg should bend at least once.

10. Cam 10

    Put in the hind pair, bending backwards at the hock.

    The hind legs fold the opposite way to the front pair - the hock points backwards. Compare their length against the front legs rather than judging them alone.

    Gwyliwch Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.

    Gwirio Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.

11. Cam 11

    Place the ears, and get their shape right.

    Ears attach further back on the skull than feels natural, and their shape is one of the strongest species signals you have. Draw the second by comparing it to the first.

    Gwyliwch Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.

    Gwirio Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.

12. Cam 12

    Add the face: muzzle first, then the eye.

    The muzzle projects forward from the lower half of the head mass. Its length relative to the skull is the proportion to measure - it is the one that changes species when you get it wrong.

    Gwyliwch A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.

    Gwirio The eye should sit in the top half of the head mass.

13. Cam 13

    Finish the shape: tail, and whatever else a bison has.

    Detail is suggested, never itemised. Put the marks where they identify the animal and stop early - texture spread evenly everywhere flattens the drawing back out.

    Gwyliwch Covering the body evenly in fur marks.

    Gwirio Step back: the big shapes should still read first.

14. Cam 14

    Draw the eye properly - iris, dark pupil, a dot of light.

    An eye is built in layers - iris, pupil inside it, one small highlight, and the brow line above that gives it a direction to look. The highlight and pupil must not touch, and the brow is what turns a circle into a gaze. This one feature carries more life than the rest of the head together.

    Gwyliwch A single black dot, which reads as a bead.

    Gwirio The highlight should sit at the pupil's edge, not inside it.

15. Cam 15

    Give every leg a foot: a base line and a toe split.

    A leg without a foot is a pole. One short base line at the bottom of each leg, angled with the ground, plus a single toe split, and all four legs suddenly bear weight. Feet are also where the ground line will attach, so place all four bases at nearly the same height.

    Gwyliwch Legs ending in points, or feet at four different heights.

    Gwirio All four feet should sit within one pencil-width of the same line.

16. Cam 16

    Put the ground in and shade beneath the body.

    The ground is one line through the feet, and the cast shadow is one flattened arc beneath the body, darkest between the legs. Together they anchor the animal - without them even a perfect construction floats in white space. Keep the shadow tight under the body; a wide puddle reads as water.

    Gwyliwch Skipping it, leaving the animal hovering.

    Gwirio The shadow should touch at least two of the feet.

17. Cam 17

    Put fur on the bison: a few tufts at the soft edges.

    Fur is an edge event: a few tufts where the coat genuinely hangs - chest, belly, rump - and nowhere else. Each tuft leans the way the coat grows, back and down, and the outline should still read as one body between them. This is also where the sealed construction line stops looking mechanical.

    Gwyliwch Scalloping the entire outline evenly, which turns any animal into a sheep.

    Gwirio Most of the outline should still be smooth between the tufts.

18. Cam 18

    Put the shadow in: under the belly, behind the shoulder.

    Two or three patches of parallel strokes - under the belly, behind the shoulder - all leaning the same way, and the drawing suddenly has light in it. Keep the patches small: shading in a sketch is a note about where the dark lives, not a rendering.

    Gwyliwch Scrubbing tone everywhere, which flattens the sketch it took fifteen steps to build.

    Gwirio All the hatch strokes should lean the same direction.

19. Cam 19

    Strengthen the lines that matter and clear the rest.

    Press harder on the outline and the face, leave the small marks light, and erase the construction ovals. That weight difference is what makes the drawing look decided.

    Gwyliwch Going over every line at the same weight.

    Gwirio The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.