These drawing tips will help you add movement to your animal drawings and stop them looking stiff and lifeless.
It’s an easy trap to fall into. You spend hours getting the details right, refining the shading and sharpening the edges. Before you know it, you’ve tightened everything up and lost the sense of movement you wanted in the first place.
The trick is knowing which drawing techniques create that feeling and when to use them. In this guide, I’ll show you seven simple ways I add movement to my own wildlife drawings.
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1. Use Lost and Found Edges to Suggest Movement
One of the easiest drawing techniques for adding movement is to stop defining every edge.
A sharp, continuous outline tends to make an animal look fixed in place. Break up some of those edges and the drawing immediately feels looser.
Artists call these “lost and found edges.” A found edge is clear and easy to see. A lost edge fades away, blends into the shading, or disappears completely.
I use this technique a lot in my wildlife drawings. I might keep the head and eyes sharp, then soften parts of the body, legs or fur. Sometimes I’ll blur the graphite. Other times I’ll erase an edge or leave it unfinished.
You don’t need much. In fact, it’s easy to overdo it. Keep your focal point sharp and experiment with losing a few edges elsewhere.
It’s a simple drawing trick, but it can make a surprisingly big difference.
2. Vary Your Line Thickness
Lines with the same weight throughout can make a drawing look flat and controlled. Varying them adds energy.
Press harder where you want a strong, definite edge. Ease off the pressure elsewhere and allow the line to become faint or broken. You can also thicken a line in places and taper it away in others.
Pay particular attention to the outside contours. You don’t want to trace around the animal with one uniform line.
This is one of those basic sketching skills that’s worth practising. Try it as a quick drawing exercise before starting your next piece. Draw a few simple shapes and vary the pressure without lifting your pencil.
You’ll soon get a feel for how much more lively the lines become.
3. Leave Some Sketch Marks Showing
Don’t be too quick to erase all your preliminary sketch marks. Leaving a few construction lines and loose marks visible can give a finished drawing more energy.
When you tidy everything up, you can easily remove the life from the original sketch. Those early lines are often more spontaneous because you’re searching for the shape rather than carefully defining it.
I like to leave some of these loose marks showing, especially away from the main focal point. They don’t have to make sense individually. They’re there to keep the drawing looking fresh and less controlled.
The trick is knowing when to stop. Clean up anything distracting, but don’t assume every stray line needs to go.
4. Tilt Your Vertical Lines
Perfectly upright lines can make a drawing feel static. A slight lean can suggest direction and give the image more energy.
You can use this with vertical elements, fences, posts, trees etc. The change can be tiny. You’re simply encouraging the eye to move across the drawing instead of stopping dead.
Think about the direction your animal is facing. Think about tilting the focal point. A portrait will feel more dynamic placed at a slight angle to the viewer.
This works especially well when you’re drawing movement without an obvious action pose. A small adjustment to the angle can be enough to make a quiet scene feel more dynamic.
5. Keep One Area Sharp and Let the Rest Go
You don’t need the same level of detail across the whole drawing. Pick a focal point and concentrate your sharpest details there.
With animal drawings, that’s usually the face and eyes. As you move away from that area, loosen your marks and leave some parts less finished.
This contrast helps direct the viewer’s attention and stops the drawing from looking too controlled. The detailed areas hold the eye, while the looser sections add energy.
It can be difficult to leave parts unfinished when you know you could add more detail. Sometimes knowing when to stop is the hardest part.
6. Use Repeated Lines and Cross-Hatching in the Background
Repeated lines and loose cross-hatching can add movement to an otherwise empty background. Instead of filling the space with smooth, even shading, use visible pencil marks to give it more energy.
Keep the lines loose and vary their length, spacing and direction. You can build up darker areas with cross-hatching and allow other areas to fade away with just a few marks.
The background doesn’t need to represent anything. Abstract marks can be enough to break up the empty space and make the drawing feel less static.
Keep it simple. The background should add interest without competing with the animal.
7. Use Directional Shading
The direction of your shading can change the whole feel of a drawing. Instead of laying down pencil strokes at random, angle them so they work together.
You can use diagonal shading to lead the eye across the page or follow the general direction of the composition. Even a slight angle can make the drawing feel less static.
Keep the direction fairly consistent in the looser areas. You can change it where needed, but too many conflicting angles can make the drawing look messy.
This is an easy drawing technique to overlook. Your shading isn’t just there to create tone. The marks themselves can add movement to the drawing.
Drawing Movement: Final Thoughts
Adding movement to a drawing doesn’t require complicated drawing techniques. Often, it’s the loose marks, broken edges and unfinished areas that make the biggest difference.
Try a few of these drawing tips in your next sketch. Experiment with your lines, shading and level of detail. Don’t feel you have to use every technique at once.
The aim is simply to loosen things up and give your drawings more life. Like most drawing exercises, the more you experiment, the easier it becomes to see what works.
If you need more help, why not get a drawing course.
If you prefer video, try this drawing course by Brent Eviston
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- How to Create Depth in Your Drawing: 7 Expert Techniques
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- How to Find Your Drawing Style: 8 Ways to Develop Your Skills
- 18 Animal Drawing Ideas With Tips and Tricks
- How to Draw White Lines in a Pencil Drawing (Without Going Mad)
- How to Make Your Drawings Interesting: 14 Ways to Improve a Drawing
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