Overview
In this lesson, we mainly studied the body structure of three different types of categories of locomotion based on the way they use their feet in walking and running.
- Plantigrade – Animals walking on their whole foot or hand.
- Digitigrade – Animals walking on their toes and fingers.
- Unguligrade – Animals walking on their fingertips and tips of their toes.
Live models
Before starting the animation, some “special models” were invited and we drew some sketches first.
This gives us a very clear visual view of what the animal’s body structure is like and how they move. We need to capture the shape of the dog’s body very quickly, and we were told that if we can’t capture the whole motion of the dog’s body, we can just draw one leg or the general direction of the spine, and it will be much easier.
Research in Grant Museum of Zoology
Grant Museum of Zoology displays models and skeletons of a wide variety of animals. I made some sketches in the museum and thought it would be good for me to better understand the body structure of different kinds of animals.
Walk
The main difference between a human walk cycle and an animal walk cycle is that the keys and the breakdowns, the strides and the cross-overs, are combined into four key positions.
For drawing the walk cycle of animals, the best way is to work in stages. And there are 3 tips.
- Animate the front and back legs separately and combine them.
- Start with the legs rather than the spine.
- Add the tail later with the rest of the follow-through.
Run
Animate an animal run cycle is easier than a walk cycle. You only have to draw 6 frames or fewer.
It should be noted that in a high position, the animal’s body is drawn to the longest point, with the chest and hips relatively separate. While in the low position, their chest and hips are tight together, and the entire body is compressed sideways to the minimum.
Reflection
It was the first time I had ever animated an animal, and it was very difficult at first. But drawing cute dogs outside helped me overcome my fear of drawing animals. I gradually began to understand the structure of dogs and the way they move. It’s really hard to figure out the way animals move their legs. If we map it to the structure of the human body, it’s gonna be easier to remember.