How to Draw a Fox

ステップバイステップ

1. ステップ 1

   狐の頭の大きな円の中でブロック。

   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.

   気をつけろ Drawing it small to leave room for detail. The big shape is most of the drawing - use the space.

   チェック It should fill most of your page, with a margin all round.

2. ステップ 2

   中心線を２本加えます。

   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.

   気をつけろ Skipping them because it looks symmetrical already. It will not be by the time you are done.

   チェック They should cross at the middle of the shape you just drew.

3. ステップ 3

   口を長く狭いくさび状に描く。

   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.

   気をつけろ A short, wide muzzle, which reads as a puppy.

   チェック The muzzle should be about half the head's width in length.

4. ステップ 4

   耳を描く 外に傾いた三角形

   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.

   気をつけろ Making the ears too small and too upright.

   チェック The ear should be about half the height of the head circle.

5. ステップ 5

   ２つ目の耳を１つ目と一致させる。

   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.

   気をつけろ Making the second ear smaller - it usually happens because your hand is more cramped on that side.

   チェック Both should sit the same distance from the centre line.

6. ステップ 6

   内耳を小さな三角形の中に入れる。

   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.

   気をつけろ Inner triangles that touch the outer edges, which flattens the ear.

   チェック There should be a visible margin all round each inner triangle.

7. ステップ 7

   目を水平中心線に置く。

   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.

   気をつけろ Round eyes set level, which looks startled rather than alert.

   チェック You should be able to fit one more eye between the two.

8. ステップ 8

   鼻先に鼻を付けて口の後ろに線を引く。

   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.

   気をつけろ A large round nose, which pulls the drawing back toward a dog.

   チェック The nose should be small relative to the muzzle.

9. ステップ 9

   頭の下に丸い三角形の体を描く。

   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.

   気をつけろ Placing the body directly under the head with no overlap, which reads as two stacked shapes.

   チェック The body outline should pass behind the head.

10. ステップ 10

    尾を長く厚い曲線で描画します。想像よりも広い。

    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.

    気をつけろ A thin tail, which loses the whole silhouette.

    チェック The tail should be at least a third as thick as the body is wide.

11. ステップ 11

    白い胸と白い尾先をマークする。

    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.

    気をつけろ Shading the whole fox evenly and then trying to erase the white back in.

    チェック You should have two clearly reserved light shapes.

12. ステップ 12

    耳先、脚、口先が最も暗い。

    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.

    気をつけろ Being timid, so the darks and the whites end up only slightly different.

    チェック The ear tips should be clearly the darkest part of the drawing.

13. ステップ 13

    口ひげが少し 胸の毛がある

    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.

    気をつけろ Adding detail evenly all over, which removes the contrast between busy areas and quiet ones.

    チェック Step back. You should still read the big shape first, detail second.

14. ステップ 14

    保持したい線を越えて ガイドを失う

    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.

    気をつけろ Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    チェック The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.