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Twokinds β Tkturials - Digitigrade Legs Guide
Published: 2014-03-10 04:29:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 378697; Favourites: 11857; Downloads: 6307
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Twokinds Tutorials - Digitigrade LegsLooking around Deviantart, I noticed that there weren't very many good, detailed guides on drawing characters with digitigrade legs, like those featured on my Keidran and Basitin races. Digitigrade, for those unaware, is a term for an animal that walks on their digits (toes) rather that flat-footed, as we humans do. This style of character design can be difficult for someone unused to this type of anatomical structure. Now, I am not claiming to be any sort of expert. But I have been drawing these guys for more than ten years now, and I often get asked how I draw certain things. So this is not necessarily a "how to draw" tutorial" as it is a "how I draw" tutorial, if you get my meaning.
I hope this information can prove useful for those of you who are aspiring artists, or at least interesting to those who wish to learn more about how I go about my drawing process. So without further adieu, please allow Flora to demonstrate for you how it works! Enjoy!
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Comments: 641
Anyone else notice Flora seems to look a little preggers in this?Β
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Quite informative, well done mate!
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Not only informative, but highly entertaining. It's like comparing the professor who drones on for hours to the professor who walks in and says "Let's blow things up for science!"
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... Thank you for that mental image. Totally made my day. (Bonus, for some odd reason I now imagine Flora walking in as that professor)
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YAY! This is pawsome! Love dem pawwies and how you draw them! ^w^ Definitely took to my tutorial's collection as a number 1 tutor! :3
Thank you ALOT!
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after 10 years, you have earned the title. Β
"expert" tom.Β
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Your tutorial is one of amazingness. Thank you so much. XD
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i've actually used morrowind's beasts as reference before as well, i got all happy when i read that part. Β probably my favorite in the series.
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I agree totally with your observations.Β I prefer the digitigrade legs for all my anthro-characters.Β
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Very interesting an helpful.
I was especially interested in the part about how the knees stay slightly bent even when standing upright.Β I think it's an indication of why a digitigrade humanoid probably wouldn't work in real life.Β
Part of the reason humans can stand and walk on two legs is because our knees "lock" when fully extended, allowing for simple structural support from the leg bones.Β But if the knees were always slightly bent, then it would require constant muscle power to stay upright, making it very tiring for a digitigrade humanoid to maintain that (normal) posture.
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Hmm.. I wonder if anyone's given any thought as to how mechanically efficient a bipedal digitigrade stance would be? I'm guessing, based on those stilitwalker boot things you can buy that allow humans to imitate it, that their stride would be longer, and because of the built-in 'springs' they'd run faster on less energy too...
Interesting anyway...
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Technically, this is less digitigrade and more standing and walking on one's toes. A human character can emulate this type of pose very easily, though it'd be uncomfortable unless the muscles were built up well enough. It's actually a good exercise if you want to build muscle in your calves(just be mindful of strain on your toes/feet).
A true digitigrade character would have much shorter legs and they would be locked in position, which is why it looks very awkward to see a dog standing on it's hind legs. An anthro character would be better off with flat feet if you're going for realism, but it works just fine for a cartoon, so no worries.
For further artistic inspiration, I'd recommend looking up people wearing jumping stilts, as that gives a good reference on what it'd look like for a humanoid character to have semi-digitigradeΒ legs in real life.
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Tbh digitigrade really just means 'toe-walker' as opposed to plantigrade (palm-walker) or unguligrade (tip-toe-walker). Proportions in quadrupedal animals are evidently not going to be the same as in an anthropomorphised bipedal digitigrade fluff, and proportions/skeleton can't carry over "literally" since you'd get massive problems with the hip bone as it is.
This type of anthro just takes 'a human walking on the balls of their feet' in terms of locomotion, and extends the foot to achieve that paw-y quality. Works fine for me.
'Realism' tho, you made me snicker man.
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I already said all that and was fine with it, since it's clearly a tutorial for cartoon characters. The only thing I offered was how it might look in real life and a possible reference to a real world study of it via jumping stilts.
You still need to consider how something might look outside a cartoon when drawing because the language of art might not translate your idea well. You can't assume it will always translate just because it isn't real and you can make up anatomy. That's one of the very first rules of creature design.
So relax tiger, I wasn't telling the artist that he sucks, so there's no need for the defensiveness.Β I was just offering an idea/further research option for the artist, or anyone who wants to draw anthros, that they are freeΒ to take or not. As I recall, offering advice and critique on an art piece is still legal.Β
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Not really sure who's being defensive here, my main point was defining the word XD
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Haha, I guess I misinterpreted your tone. The problem with written messaging, I guess.
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This is one of the best guides on this particular matter I have seen in a long time. You have nailed most of the factors I see other artists butchering simply because they don't understand the motion and build of the digitigrade leg structure.
Thank you for sharing this with the rest of DA!
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As a student of all art, I love this type of diagram. Also as a very long time fan of your work, I appreciate this very much. Thank you for the perspective
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Excellent guide. You're right, there aren't many good ones out there.
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awesome! I will have to use this!
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How would the legs bow -- it at all -- when neutrally posing fully forward towards the viewer?
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Think of a human anatomy, with two differences: the feet are elongated, and they stand on tippytoes. Try standing like that yourself, straight up, on the balls of your feet.
You might notice some opening of the knees, the heels moving towards each other, with a slight knee bend to compensate.
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This is so cute. well done.
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Thanks for the tip, I've been wondering on how to do this elegantly.
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This walk cycle looks wrong. Digitridate feet need more balance. It looks right on those standing poses, but then you break the previous explainings at the walk cycle. This looks pretty much like a human doing catwalk, but it doesn't look very comfortable for such creature.
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You might be right, but I'm happy with how it looks. The walk cycle is truncated (technically a half cycle), and was my best compromise between a human gate and animal anatomy. In real life, putting weight on digitigrade legs probably wouldn't be comfortable, but for a comic with cartoon physics, I think it works.
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Yeah, it's not a big problem for more cartoony style, especially that your characters seem to be much more "humanized" than regular antro animals. As someone once said "it's a manga" xDΒ
I just think that more bent knees would give the walk a more natural feel.
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Okay I very badly need very many more lessons like this... I've been trying to learn how to draw for mot of my life, and have been working on a written story that I want to turn into a web comic, decent tutorials are rare at best and one on one help is almost non existent... btw from a new fan of the comic, very awesome job and I look forward to reading more. (and that's saying something coming from someone who never had much of an interest in comic until a couple years ago)
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Informative, and entertaining enough that someone who doesn't draw, er well not much anyway, can enjoy it
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Wow, nice tutorial. I want to try to draw one now !
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I only just realised that Twokinds has digitigrade legs... I need to start paying more attention while I'm enjoying the comic....
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I started noticing it when Raine kicked Red in the stomach for playing with her tail
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<3 Ahh, thank you so much for the tutorial! I always imagine digigrade legs to be kind of like standing on tip-toes. If you actually try it yourself, you can get a better feel for how to make the character looked balance.
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Puuuurrrr fect ^w^ now I know thanks π
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OMG thank u for making this tutorial!! (Also.. I LOVE your art.. And I LOVE your two kinds comic)
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