How to Draw a Fox

Askel kerrallaan

1. Vaihe 1

   Lohkare ketun pään isossa kehässä.

   Everything else gets measured against this, so draw it in one motion rather than in short careful passes. A slightly lopsided shape drawn confidently is more use than a perfect one built out of twelve nervous strokes, because you can correct a shape and you cannot un-see a hesitant line.

   Varo, mitä teet Drawing it small to leave room for detail. The big shape is most of the drawing - use the space.

   Tarkista It should fill most of your page, with a margin all round.

2. Vaihe 2

   Lisää keskiviivat kevyesti.

   These are the rulers for everything that follows. Without them the two halves of the fox drift apart by a few millimetres at a time and you do not notice until it is finished and subtly wrong. Press lightly - they come off at the end.

   Varo, mitä teet Skipping them because it looks symmetrical already. It will not be by the time you are done.

   Tarkista They should cross at the middle of the shape you just drew.

3. Vaihe 3

   Piirrä kuono pitkäksi kapeaksi kiilaksi.

   This is the shape that says fox rather than dog. It comes off the lower half of the circle and it is longer and thinner than feels right - compare its length to the head circle rather than guessing, and it should be about half as long as the head is wide.

   Varo, mitä teet A short, wide muzzle, which reads as a puppy.

   Tarkista The muzzle should be about half the head's width in length.

4. Vaihe 4

   Piirrä ensimmäinen korva: pitkä kolmio, joka kallistuu ulospäin.

   Fox ears are big - roughly as tall as half the head circle - and the outer edge curves in slightly rather than running dead straight. Set the angle deliberately, because the two ears must agree.

   Varo, mitä teet Making the ears too small and too upright.

   Tarkista The ear should be about half the height of the head circle.

5. Vaihe 5

   Vedä toinen korva vastaamaan ensimmäistä.

   Compare it to the one you just drew rather than to your idea of a ear: same size, same angle, same distance from the centre. This is the comparison habit that fixes proportion everywhere, and a pair is the easiest place to practise it because the error is obvious once you look for it.

   Varo, mitä teet Making the second ear smaller - it usually happens because your hand is more cramped on that side.

   Tarkista Both should sit the same distance from the centre line.

6. Vaihe 6

   Lisää sisäkorva pienemmäksi kolmioksi kunkin sisälle.

   Set in from the edges and slightly lower than the outer point. This is where the dark goes later, and it is what makes an ear read as a cup rather than as a flat shape stuck to the head.

   Varo, mitä teet Inner triangles that touch the outer edges, which flattens the ear.

   Tarkista There should be a visible margin all round each inner triangle.

7. Vaihe 7

   Aseta silmät vaakatasoon keskiviivaan.

   Fox eyes are almond-shaped and angled - the outer corner sits higher than the inner one, which is what gives a fox its sharp expression. Leave a full eye's width between them.

   Varo, mitä teet Round eyes set level, which looks startled rather than alert.

   Tarkista You should be able to fit one more eye between the two.

8. Vaihe 8

   Lisää nenä kuonokopan kärkeen ja linja takaisin suuhun.

   A small rounded triangle, and it points down. The line from the nose back along the muzzle is what separates the top of the snout from the jaw, and without it the muzzle reads as a solid wedge.

   Varo, mitä teet A large round nose, which pulls the drawing back toward a dog.

   Tarkista The nose should be small relative to the muzzle.

9. Vaihe 9

   Piirrä vartalo pyöristettynä kolmiona pään alle.

   A sitting fox is essentially a wide-based triangle with the head on top. Overlap it with the head circle rather than butting them together - the overlap is what makes the head sit in front of the chest.

   Varo, mitä teet Placing the body directly under the head with no overlap, which reads as two stacked shapes.

   Tarkista The body outline should pass behind the head.

10. Vaihe 10

    Piirrä häntä pitkäksi paksuksi kaareksi, leveämmäksi kuin odotat.

    This is the shape most people undersize. A fox tail is about as long as the body and roughly a third as thick, and it curls round the base of the body rather than sticking out behind. Draw its outline as two curves, not one.

    Varo, mitä teet A thin tail, which loses the whole silhouette.

    Tarkista The tail should be at least a third as thick as the body is wide.

11. Vaihe 11

    Merkitse valkoinen rinta ja valkoinen häntäkärki.

    These are the two shapes that make a fox recognisable without colour. They are areas you leave alone, not areas you draw - deciding now where the paper stays white is what stops you shading over them in the next step.

    Varo, mitä teet Shading the whole fox evenly and then trying to erase the white back in.

    Tarkista You should have two clearly reserved light shapes.

12. Vaihe 12

    Varjosta korvien kärkiä, jalkoja ja kuonokoppa pimeimmin.

    A fox's dark points are its ear tips, its lower legs and the very tip of its muzzle. Get real contrast between those and the white chest - a fox in a narrow band of grey looks like a stuffed toy.

    Varo, mitä teet Being timid, so the darks and the whites end up only slightly different.

    Tarkista The ear tips should be clearly the darkest part of the drawing.

13. Vaihe 13

    Lisää muutama viikset ja ehdotus turkista rintaan.

    Detail is suggested, never itemised. A handful of marks in the right places lets the eye fill in the rest, and drawing every one flattens the drawing into texture. Put them where they matter and stop early.

    Varo, mitä teet Adding detail evenly all over, which removes the contrast between busy areas and quiet ones.

    Tarkista Step back. You should still read the big shape first, detail second.

14. Vaihe 14

    Mene ohi linjojen, jotka haluat pitää, ja hävitä oppaat.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    Varo, mitä teet Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Tarkista The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.