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creepygoth666 β Basic Deer Species tutorial
Published: 2010-02-16 07:59:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 45572; Favourites: 1312; Downloads: 675
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Description
To go along with my anatomy tutorial, a species / coloration tutorial.I usually always see these three deer combined into one; you'll have whitetail's tails on a spotted deer resembling an Axis (or Fallow) deer's body with a mule deer's antlers, or some other combo, so I thought I'd separate each one and give you each basics. You also get Buck/Doe variations in there as well. :>
Also included different variations on the fur coloration that you'll see in the wild.
Hope this helps people!
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Comments: 70
This may be an odd question, but I'm curious. Β Do you know if it's possible to cross-breed these different species of deer? Β Since artists like so much to combine the characteristics of the three, I wonder what a real life hybrid deer would look like.
This tutorial was also enlightening to me, by the way, Β as I was previously unaware of the difference between mule and white-tailed deer.
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Whitetails and mule deer often cross breed where their territorial ranges Intersect (usually in the mid Western states of the US). I noticed no one replied to this so I thought I would.Β
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I was going to say I don't want to nitpick, but I want to nitpick.Β Albinism stops or decreases production of melanin, not pigmentation in general.Β It's leucism that causes a reduction in all body pigments.Β AFAIK, a white deer has leucism.Β I'm not a biologist, so my information could be partially or completely incorrect, but this is what I've read while trying to learn about deer.
That said, this and your other guide guide are incredibly (incredibly) helpful to me as I really want to start learning about deer so I can draw them effectively.Β Thank you so much.
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I've been thinking about drawing some deer. this is going to be helpful. im goign to download it and take it home to study~ thanks
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Thank you for this! When you put them all next to each other you can really see the differences between the three of them.
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Thanks for making this. It was helpful. 
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Really great. I'm currently sketching out a painting I want to do of a deer and I'm trying to get the correct antlers. Google was not really giving me much. THANKS!
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I'm trying to draw a deer running from behind. Any tips???
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Just keep the basic shapes simple. 
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Any advice for someone wanting to draw a musk deer?
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One of the little muntjacs? Think prehistoric cave drawings for those. Short, more rounded bodies and heads. :>
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It's really amazing artwork, I myself am still working on improving how my animals turn out :U Only thing is wouldn't it make more sense if 'Kinds' was used instead of 'Species'?
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Each one is technically a different species of deer. Sub-species (kinds) would be like the Florida Keys whitetails - they're much smaller and thinner than the whitetails you find everywhere else.
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You are educated on the different types of deer I've noticed, do you live in an area with them close by, (every once and awhile I get the privilege of seeing three or two in my backyard.)
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I live in Michigan, and when I can afford to, hunt whitetail. :> It's good to know everything you can on a species you hunt!
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hmmm, so you hunt, how much would you say you know on the topic of whitetails?
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A good deal. not everything, but i've studied up on anatomy, diet, and behavior
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If you don't mind me asking, off topic, what imspired your user name?
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nickname in Jr. High was Creepy.
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hmm? Care to share? I'll tell you what I was called up till around 10 years old.
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A Mule deers ears are bigger but this is alot better then i could ever do. thanks this helps alot
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Oh, I know they are, I'm just not too good with side profiles of ears, lol.
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Your talent and skills are amazing, I have quiet the pasion for deer and hopefully can start my comic book soon. I do plan to site your reference sheets inspirational work when I do begin to work on it. It impreses me that you know so much about them. I love it when I meet others with the same interests as I and it seem that lots of people really don't perfer deer (though whitetail deer are my favorite animal) amoung other animals. You;'ve really done your research. I'm glad I browsed around on here cause I almost used that same referance picture with the buck browsing in the trees as a referance for a referance sheet. I see you've beaten me to the chace >
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lol ours in michigan are pretty symmetrical. maybe a few centimeters off on tines, or one or two on either side that aren't counted, but for the most part deer antlers grow symmetrical. Non-typical deer (with drop tines, for instance) are either caused by damage while the antlers are developing (and following years the growth of new antlers follows this pattern of damage) or by genetics. Size, tines and thickness are usually determined by available food and genetics.
I hunt as well, so I've really studied whitetails and their behaviors. :>
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I just recently visited Cass City, Michigan this summer and I have to say the deer up there really didn't have a whole lot of fear. They were just out grazing in broad daylight, mid day. I've also noticed that all the deer I observed there where larger than the deer here and had more of a coper toned redish coat. The deer here have a more brownish coat with a chocolate/gray mixed in. My fevorite time of year to observe the deer is about right now threw febuary or so. I love the thick gray coat they get in the winter time. There are also lots of skewbald deer where we live. My uncle took a masive skewbald buck three years ago, and he truely was a beautiful specimin. He had a big white patch that spread up his chest and white legs. I have a good friend that's a taxidermist and he said he's mounted two albino deer from our area and five skewbalds. We have never had a history of melanistic deer here but it makes senese seeing as the only sightings I've heard of generly come from the lowwer states sutch as Texas and Mississippy.
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Yeah, the deer in the Cass City region and the Metro Detroit region are pretty fearless. Where I'm at, we're not allowed to hunt since it's a suburban area, but the deer here over-populate us and some of the bucks are massive. The whitetails here are only that copper color during the spring and summer, and will get that muddy gray coat within a few weeks from now, if they don't already have it. :> I haven't seen any melanistic deer at all, but my uncle's seen at least one up in Kalkaska, as well as a few albinos. There's also a herd of albinos in the Lake Orion area, at the whitetail museum.
Hopefully that albino your friend mounted died naturally, since it's a federal offence to hunt them! Or, it could've been a white deer - it's still got pigment in the nose and eyes - which is perfectly legal to hunt.
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We live close to a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary called Broadbent. One of the albino deer he mounted was a fawn that had been taken to the wildlife sanctuary and had died a few weeks after they had attempted to nurse it back to health. The other was a four point buck that he showed pictures to me and I'm sure he mounted it illegally seeing as the guy who had killed it is a known deer poacher in this area. He's an under-the-counter taxadermist so I don't doubt it a bit. Bouth these mounts had entirely pink noses and hooves.
Thats verry inriuging to know that melanistic deer have been sited in the northern region. It gives me hope that they are somewhere here in the east.
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Thing with the melanistic deer is that it's a very, very rare coloration. They could happen anywhere; it's just that in the south it seems to be more common. Just like albinoism, it's a genetic trait or mutation that can be passed through generations as a repressed gene and only show up once every, i dunno, several generations. :> Regional sightings or locations just shouldn't factor into whether or not they exist outside of those spotted regions.
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It just seems that the trait is stronger in the south because there have been more sightings, but I agree with you that there are probubly Melanistic deer in many other regions. It would even make sense that melanistic deer aren't seen as much because of their coloration because it would be much harder to spot a black or extreemly dark colored deer and it's verry posible for a scheptic to think it is some other animal because they aren't familliar with the genetic deformity. I really enjoy talking to you about them, you are so intelagent and a very amazing artist at that. It truely means alot to me that you respond every time I send you something because most artist of your magnitude are usually far to busy to speak to someone other than their close friends. You have earned alot of respect from me int that sense
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I like to study as much as I possibly can and learn all I can about the animals I'm hunting or drawing. :> I like sharing my knowledge about them to others, too.
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This is great for reference knowledge. There is a lot on this tutorial that I did not know before. Thank you for making this!
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You're very welcome! :>
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These are so informative! I want to draw deer now D:
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lol yeah they do. they're very pretty though!
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what a great resource for people, nice job with the different species
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