Animal Illustration: The Essential Reference

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Hanson’s endearing illustrations reflect her own early adventures as a child. She grew up in Minnesota alongside numerous pets and brothers. She’s always had an affinity for the natural world, and some of her earliest memories involve rescuing frogs from rain gutters. Her empathy for little creatures shines through in her work. Every character is designed with its own endearing personality in mind, and many scenes are even accompanied by their own poem. Christianity, on the other hand, promotes the idea that God gave humanity the power to rule over animals. This belief guided much of the art and illustration in the West. While some religions chose to combine the features of animals and humans to symbolise a bond with the natural world, Christianity believed that God created humans to be superior to animals, and so these types of depictions rarely exist. This blog post is for all the animal lovers out there who are also passionate about the art of illustration. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re an experienced artist, we have gathered a plethora of resources to help you improve your skills and create captivating animal illustrations that will leave a lasting impression. With hundreds of free illustration tutorials published over more than a decade, of course Envato Tuts+ has covered its share of animal illustrations. Here are some highlights. How to Create a Llama Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

How to Create a Curious Owl in Illustrator CS4 2. Create a Tiger Striped Cat with Illustrator 3. Create a Cute Panda Bear Face 4. Create a Super Happy Octopus Character 5. Create a greedy monkey 6. How To Draw a Cute Vector Dog Character in Illustrator It's amazing to think that this beautiful llama illustration was constructed entirely from basic shapes like ellipses and rectangles, with various warp effects applied in Adobe Illustrator. You'd never guess from looking at the end result. How to Use Brushes in Adobe Illustrator to Create a Colorful Flamingo Who says Halloween illustrations have to be scary? This is a great example of a creepy theme treated in a very non-creepy way. The illustration style transforms it from horror into something very kid-friendly. Phone Case Design Template With Cute Animal Illustrations (PNG)By looking at this change, we can begin to see how creativity has been inspired by the animal world and perhaps even begin to understand why illustrated animals continue to be an important part of our cultural construct. Our list of tutorials is carefully curated and includes a wide range of difficulty levels, so you can choose the perfect fit for your skill level. We’ve included tutorials on everything from the basics of animal anatomy to advanced techniques for adding texture and depth to your illustrations.

While many use a representational style of rendering animals, others crossover as children’s book illustrators like Helen Beatrix Potter, natural scientist and conservationist, known for her children’s book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. As a recognised animal illustrator, Sarah loves nothing better than working on creating unique and quirky images of all types of furry friends. So, whether it’s for a birthday present or a way of preserving a very special memory, we can help! With the emergence of the Age of Enlightenment, we see a move away from religion, and a new focus is placed on learning and discovery emerges. During this time, there was an immense change in the way that animals were viewed, and artists and illustrators set about categorising and documenting all the creatures of the world. Technical illustrations and detailed works of art celebrated the beauty of animals, and these works aimed to bring about a greater understanding of the world that we inhabited. A plate from George Stubbs' The Anatomy of the Horse (1766), etching. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art In this example, on the other hand, the illustrations are simplified down to basic shapes, but the artist still manages to communicate some of the character and personality of the animals. The kangaroo with a baby in her pouch is particularly lovable. Australian Animal Illustration Set Vol. 2 (PSD, JPG, EPS) The impact of our industrialisation strongly affected our understanding of the animal world. To this day, most of us will never fully comprehend the scale of this transformation. The desire to marginalise brought us to a place where the only creatures we share our reality with are now typically domesticated, farmed or caged. While we might feel that we have a strong affinity with the animal world, our link to it has been warped, faded and distorted over time. Yet, despite all of this, animals remain. They persevere. They adapt. And perhaps, most encouragingly, they continue to inspire us.As we began to become more civilised, our interest in them also changed. Fuelled by our developing imaginations and our growing sense-of-self we began to feel more distinct from the animal world. Feeling more removed meant that animals became more enigmatic. We had a new type of reverence for the mysterious nature of the creatures we shared the planet with, and cultures began to worship them as symbols – some even believed that they could be the embodiment of divinity. This vector wild animals illustration is much more natural-looking than some of the others featured here. There's a lot more detail in the poses, and the artist has clearly done plenty of anatomical research to make sure the proportions are correct. A beautiful animal illustration. Old Animal Illustrations Engraving (AI, EPS, PNG, PSD) Specializing in the portrayal of animals, the animal illustrator focuses on the anatomy, habits, and characteristics of animals.

For our third selection, we're turning our attention to the natural world. Here, we will look at some examples of where illustrators have used animals as sources for inspiration, investigation, and storytelling. In this introduction, we will look at how animals have appeared throughout history and get a general overview of how customs, cultures and beliefs have shaped the work of image-makers. Or here's another favourite feline pastime: playing with a ball of string. The string intertwines beautifully with the cat's limbs, but what makes this illustration work are the more unexpected choices like the bright red flowers and the way the cat's fur looks like a star-strewn night sky. Puppy Dog Wearing a Red Santa Hat (PNG) Animals run through so much of our visual culture that it is almost impossible to know where to begin. From our earliest cave paintings right through to our childhood bookshelves, they have been an endless source of inspiration to us. Yet while our fascination for them has always been constant, our relationship with them has changed significantly over time. This may be offered as a T-shirt design template, but it clearly draws on old animal illustrations in a traditional watercolour style. It's a good example of how you can create a complex illustration in a single colour. T-Shirt Design Generator With Animal Print Illustration (PNG)From vibrant colour to almost no colour at all. This illustration captures the bleak beauty of the Arctic wilderness. The polar bear is very simple, with no detail on the body itself, but it works very well as part of the larger composition. How to Create a Soft, Furry Kitten in Adobe Illustrator