I don't consider myself an artist, that's a very big word.

Artist was MichelAngelo or Titian or Velazquez or Pericles. Even Leonardo Da Vinci was not an artist. It is really a very big word reserved for a handful of men chosen by the gods.

That being said, I consider myself a graphic student. To be honest, for me, the learning process is more important than the result itself.

I don't believe in tutorials or courses or anything like that. Each human brain works in a different way.

Today I am going to explain how mine works, but, do not try to imitate it, do not waste time, instead, try to understand how yours works.

Step by step

I do not work from photos, since photos do not allow me to see the deep structures that are the basis of my drawing.

For this series of drawings about animals, I spend a lot of time watching YouTube documentaries on Wild Life. They are awesome, and even more interesting if you watch them with a learning purpose.

References

An old Indian proverb says:

"A man only possesses what he is capable of recovering in a shipwreck."

For me, this means that I am only what I can put on a sheet of paper, locked in a room with no relation to the outside.

(A good reference on this is Stefan Zweig's short novel, The Royal Game).

Well, let's go back to the drawing. In life drawing, I need to understand the inner structures, since all my drawings are done by imagination and not by copying photos.

It is not enough for me to draw a tiger one day if the next day I cannot draw it in any other position. I need to understand how a tiger moves, how the different mechanical parts of its anatomy are related.

So, I search for the Tiger or Impala or whatever skeleton and try to memorize it. I make sketches over and over until the bones and their proportions are correct.

Impala Skeleton
Cheetah Skelton

Study of Impala Skeleton

Then I close my eyes and imagine the tiger in any position. If I am able to visualize it, then I am able to feel it. This word is very important. I would say that it is the base of knowledge in any discipline. Feeling a concept means being able to apprehend it from another point of view. In the case of drawing, the ability to see in space with closed eyes must be developed. It requires practice, effort, discipline and sacrifice. Qualities that are less and less seen in the western world.

Well, when I am able to visualize it, then, I draw it. And if the result is correct, then it gives me excitement, a kind of aesthetic pleasure. If I don't feel that pleasure, it means something is wrong and I start again. The goal is feeling that the drawing is alive.

Once this step is succesfully achieved, I go for a walk, and let one night pass. During the night, my brain, maybe yours too, or maybe not, orders all that knowledge, keeping the essentials. This is the part where knowledge passes from the conscious to the unconscious substrate. And, think, what we really know is everything we never talk about. We know how to walk and breathe and we hardly ever talk about it unless we work in medicine or some similar field.
At that time, I know that I have apprehended to draw a tiger or any other animal. And I have learned it forever.

Then, I can start drawing what I have in my mind.

I begin with the skeletons:´´

Sometimes I made correction on the previous sketch,focusing on dynamics:

Then I rendered muscles and textures:

and this is the final result:

Hope you like it, have a nice sunday. Don't spend money, instead, study.