How to Draw a Fox

هەنگاو بە هەنگاو

1. هەنگاو 1

   Block in the big circle of the fox head.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Drawing it small to leave room for detail. The big shape is most of the drawing - use the space.

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

2. هەنگاو 2

   Add the two centre lines, lightly.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Skipping them because it looks symmetrical already. It will not be by the time you are done.

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

3. هەنگاو 3

   Draw the muzzle as a long narrow wedge.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە A short, wide muzzle, which reads as a puppy.

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

4. هەنگاو 4

   Draw the first ear: a tall triangle, leaning outward.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Making the ears too small and too upright.

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

5. هەنگاو 5

   Draw the second ear to match the first.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Making the second ear smaller - it usually happens because your hand is more cramped on that side.

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

6. هەنگاو 6

   Add the inner ear as a smaller triangle inside each.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Inner triangles that touch the outer edges, which flattens the ear.

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

7. هەنگاو 7

   Place the eyes on the horizontal centre line.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Round eyes set level, which looks startled rather than alert.

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

8. هەنگاو 8

   Add the nose at the tip of the muzzle and a line back to the mouth.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە A large round nose, which pulls the drawing back toward a dog.

   پشکنین The nose should be small relative to the muzzle.

9. هەنگاو 9

   Draw the body as a rounded triangle below the head.

   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.

   چاودێری بکە Placing the body directly under the head with no overlap, which reads as two stacked shapes.

   پشکنین The body outline should pass behind the head.

10. هەنگاو 10

    Draw the tail as a long thick curve, wider than you expect.

    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.

    چاودێری بکە A thin tail, which loses the whole silhouette.

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

11. هەنگاو 11

    Mark the white chest and the white tail tip.

    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.

    چاودێری بکە Shading the whole fox evenly and then trying to erase the white back in.

    پشکنین You should have two clearly reserved light shapes.

12. هەنگاو 12

    Shade the ear tips, legs and muzzle tip darkest.

    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.

    چاودێری بکە Being timid, so the darks and the whites end up only slightly different.

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

13. هەنگاو 13

    Add the few whiskers and a suggestion of fur on the chest.

    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.

    چاودێری بکە Adding detail evenly all over, which removes the contrast between busy areas and quiet ones.

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

14. هەنگاو 14

    Go over the lines you want to keep, and lose the guides.

    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.

    چاودێری بکە Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

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