cow trouble-input welcome!

[MOO]

It looks really good! I agree about th eleft front leg though-just a little shorter :-0 My son mentioned looking at horses too. I want the cow to be exaggerated in it's running to make it funnier but......I don't know. I did copy an actual cow on the first one except the head. The head is way differen tthan an actual cow but somehow we still know it's a cow.

[Lee White]

If you guys are running into trouble drawing 4 legged animals, I would suggest watching jakes "how to draw animals" video. It looks like you aren't drawing through the forms and getting a solid structural build. Look at how animators draw, wrap lines around cylinders, and make sure to use center lines to build out from. You can still stylize and make whimsical shapes using solid drawing techniques.

[Pam Boutilier]

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen Cows are tough! I need to start figuring them out for a project I have coming up and I've been dreading it. They are like buses... complicated inner workings hidden under a square frame.

I really like your first drawing.
Looking at some photo refs:

And I wonder if bringing the rear background leg down behind the udder would make it read a bit better?

[Miriam]

I thought I'd look for some references for you, too. Maybe these can help?

[MOO]

@pam-boutilier That looks a lot better, thanks.

[MOO]

@lee-white Well, actually I have watched it a couple of times but it was awhile ago. I'll go watch again. It used to be worse. I want the cow to look really excited too.....so, it's almost like a caricature of a cow and I have one on the first page that I also need to match. Thanks. It will be good to watch that again and I have also been watching visual perspective. I tried to put the cow in a box Hmmm...that could be a story idea The Cow in the Box.

[MOO]

@miriam Thanks for all the references! That was so thoughtful of you to look them up!

[Lee White]

You guys, I hate to say the same thing I did before, but I don't think i made the point as clear as i could have. You are making things much more difficult on yourself than you have to. Take some time to really look at these drawings. Understand the basic shapes and then you will have real power so you don't need great/perfect reference photos. To struggle with trying to just guess at how to draw it, or need the perfect reference is not the way any pro works. Note: the box wont help you for this particular drawing problem, but roughing out the big forms of the animal will.

All 4 legged animals have a basic build with different proportions for each of the parts. Cows don't really run, per se, so look to horses. Within two seconds of a google search I come up with these images.

Note that the basic parts are a squared pelvis and shoulder girdle with a cylinder around the mid section. Once you have those parts, then start playing with the shapes to make them more playful or cartoony.

[Miriam]

@lee-white
Ha, ha! Cows can run, Lee! ..."The running of the bulls"..."stampedes" There's a reason cowboys ride Quarter Horses more than Clydesdales.

(It's not unheard of, though!)

But I know what you're saying, and you're right--they don't seem to like to run the way horses do, and it's easy to find guides like you posted of horses. Thanks for all your input & advice! (And for putting up with me giving you a hard time!)

[MOO]

@lee-white Thanks. I'll keep trying These are very helpful.

[MOO]

I know it isn't perfect but I can live with this cow, time to finish this project so I can learn from a new one! I still have a lot to do though. Thanks for your input on this! Also, sorry for the fuzzy photo.

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