Weird funny animal art questions

[ngman7]

What is the "proper" way to draw claws on a humanoid cat's hand? Would you have the claws protrude from the fingertips or would they protrude from the tops of fingers like fingernails?

What's the "proper" way to draw a mustache on a cat? Cats have whiskers.

How would you draw hair on a rooster or a hen? Chickens have combs on top of their heads. Or would you fashion the comb into a hairstyle?

[Nae]

Personally, I don't think there such a thing as a 'proper way' with the unreal/unnatural. It's up to you as the artist to determine what YOU think looks best. It's called artistic license.

[Felis]

At 3/30/11 10:39 PM, ngman7 wrote: What is the "proper" way to draw claws on a humanoid cat's hand? Would you have the claws protrude from the fingertips or would they protrude from the tops of fingers like fingernails?

Cat claws are retractable, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem normally. However, cat claws are also not fingernails. The claw pretty much is sucked in and out of the cat's "finger". If you have a cat, you can press on a digit and the claw will come out. This is also a good way to confuse and piss off your cat.

What's the "proper" way to draw a mustache on a cat? Cats have whiskers.

Mustaches are just bunches of fur on humans. We have hairs all over us; certain parts just grow more. Whiskers aren't the same. They're specialized hairs for navigation. For a cat with a mustache, treat it like a goat with a beard; it's just furrier there.

How would you draw hair on a rooster or a hen? Chickens have combs on top of their heads. Or would you fashion the comb into a hairstyle?

The comb isn't hair, so that wouldn't work. Birds don't have hair, so you'd have to take creative liberties with that choice of style.

As Nae said, artistic license is acceptable and recommended. A lot of animals weren't built to be human, so you'd have to make great modifications. It depends on whether you want to make something more animal or human, because skeletal structure must be human in order for it to move like a human.

[ngman7]

You can shape the comb on a rooster and make it look like a mohawk.

[ngman7]

At 3/30/11 10:49 PM, Felis wrote:

At 3/30/11 10:39 PM, ngman7 wrote:

Mustaches are just bunches of fur on humans. We have hairs all over us; certain parts just grow more. Whiskers aren't the same. They're specialized hairs for navigation. For a cat with a mustache, treat it like a goat with a beard; it's just furrier there.

Hi-can you please elaborate on that?

[maficmelody]

At 3/30/11 10:39 PM, ngman7 wrote: What is the "proper" way to draw claws on a humanoid cat's hand? Would you have the claws protrude from the fingertips or would they protrude from the tops of fingers like fingernails?

What's the "proper" way to draw a mustache on a cat? Cats have whiskers.

How would you draw hair on a rooster or a hen? Chickens have combs on top of their heads. Or would you fashion the comb into a hairstyle?

I don't know about a "proper way".. but I gave each a shot. =D

Probably should have referenced a hen/chicken.. but yes, I chose a stylization and a hair style of a sort. Makes things easier to keep track of while animating. Think the goal too would be to make the character more unique and distinguishable.

Same with paw-hands. I wouldn't draw the claws unless they were called for in a scene/action. Less to keep track of/ draw. Chose a bad angle but I think claw nails would imply more humanish-ness. I draw claws as they'd be seen on an animal.

Best bet is to watch a ton of Tex Avery toons and the like.

[ngman7]

At 3/31/11 12:44 AM, maficmelody wrote:

At 3/30/11 10:39 PM, ngman7 wrote: What is the "proper" way to draw claws on a humanoid cat's hand? Would you have the claws protrude from the fingertips or would they protrude from the tops of fingers like fingernails?

What's the "proper" way to draw a mustache on a cat? Cats have whiskers.

How would you draw hair on a rooster or a hen? Chickens have combs on top of their heads. Or would you fashion the comb into a hairstyle?

I don't know about a "proper way".. but I gave each a shot. =D

Probably should have referenced a hen/chicken.. but yes, I chose a stylization and a hair style of a sort. Makes things easier to keep track of while animating. Think the goal too would be to make the character more unique and distinguishable.

Same with paw-hands. I wouldn't draw the claws unless they were called for in a scene/action. Less to keep track of/ draw. Chose a bad angle but I think claw nails would imply more humanish-ness. I draw claws as they'd be seen on an animal.

Best bet is to watch a ton of Tex Avery toons and the like.

I am writing a comic so I don't have to wrry about animating it.

I was thinking of Garfield-I can remember in the cartoons he would unshealth his claws.

I think the mustache could work on a cat, just simply put it over the whiskers.

When I was thinking of chickens with hair I was thinking of Steelbeak from Darkwing Duck:

[img]http://images.wikia.com/villains/im ages/4/40/Steelbeak.jpg[/img]

[ngman7]

I would draw the cat's hands the way I normally would and just have the claws arched outward and protruding from the fingertips. Draw the claws like thin hooks. That works.

If I draw them like fingernails it's going to look weird.

I am thinking of Garfield.

[maficmelody]

At 3/31/11 01:40 AM, ngman7 wrote: I would draw the cat's hands the way I normally would and just have the claws arched outward and protruding from the fingertips. Draw the claws like thin hooks. That works.

If I draw them like fingernails it's going to look weird.

I am thinking of Garfield.

Awesome. Hope to see the comic soon =D

[ngman7]

At 3/31/11 01:58 AM, maficmelody wrote:

At 3/31/11 01:40 AM, ngman7 wrote:
I am thinking of Garfield.

Awesome. Hope to see the comic soon =D

No-I meant I was thinking of Garfield in terms of how the claws should be positioned on the cat's hands.

[ngman7]

Creating a HUMANIZED character can be tricky to do.

I was thinking of Steelbeak when I posted this thread. HIs comb was kind fo shaped up to look like a hairstyle:

[PigeonOnAStick]

At 3/31/11 09:26 AM, ngman7 wrote: Creating a HUMANIZED character can be tricky to do.

No it's not, you're thinking about this far too much.

Have a go at drawing some sketches, so you can identify what's tricky.
Then you can post them up, and people can help you tackle the problems more convincingly.