The Science of Drawing: Being a Progressive Series of the Characteristic Forms of Nature by Frank Howard is a series of drawing instruction titles that focus on trees, animals, and the human form. You can read our review and find links to the first part: The Science of Drawing: Trees. Also in the public domain is the second part: The Science of Drawing: Animals.
The book begins by observing the characteristics of the horse (and more extensively, quadrupeds) because, at least at the time, it was an animal:
so constantly the object of attention to almost every person, that the character will be most easily appreciated.
While the student can certainly start by studying the characteristics of the horse, he can easily extrapolate to animals readily available for observation. The author spends several pages noting the lines and form of the horse. This is a skill that will become invaluable to any student of drawing.
Next up is the study of the motions of the quadruped: the progressive motions and the position of the legs relative to one another for each gait. This section will be very helpful for those using our free horse unit (where you will find more information on gaits) or the horse portion of our free nature studies.
The next section of the book covers the various placement of details in one species relative to another. The details covered include:
- Eyes.
- Trunk.
- Spine.
- Head.
- Neck.
- Feet.
- Tail.
- Horns.
In the final section, this type of analysis is repeated and applied to birds, also beneficial for those using the bird sections of our free nature studies.
The Science of Drawing: Animals is another very helpful resource when it comes to being able to draw a perfect representation of the animals that one sees in nature. A skill that is very helpful to nature studies!
Free eBook
Additional Resources
Our Wonderful World: Free Nature Studies
The animal portion of our free nature series includes horses, dogs, sheep, birds, and more!
Nature Journal Notebooking Sets {Free Download}
We created these sets of free notebooking pages to make nature journaling easier — available in primary-lined, wide-ruled, and college-ruled sets.
5 Tips for Drawing Realistic Animals
Our own take.
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