AHHhh This is VERY helpful!! <3

YAY I'M GLAD. <3

i honestly, as a bat enthusiast, loathe seeing "bats" that just have the wings on their back and not the arms. (proper anatomy is more amazing to see)
can't stand when people make them look like felines or canines as well. :I

I guess I'm fine with the wings on the back if it's in anthro, cuz it's not exactly "wrong", per se. For me it's only when they switch parts of bats into other things when they are supposed to be 100% bat that bugs me.

I do agree that I love armless bats more than ones with arms. :3 There's hardly any of them out there. @_@

i got lots of winged arm batties myself. i love seeing them "proper anatomy" myself. though i guess it's same as why i like seeing anthro snakes as nagas and having a serpentine body. :3 *shrug*

also to note:
EXCELLENT JOB geting all teh noses, ears and wing variants on this! seriously have no idea how much i'm loving this tutorial for even pointing that important stuff out.
though only cuz of recent addiction to them: sad that tomb bats weren't on there :3 (Mauritian tomb bats are so cute! <3)

really hope to see more of these made in time. :) it's a huge help for people like me who want to learn to draw, particularly favored species.
raelly am hoping to see one about "foxes are not wolves or coyotes" XD (lots of differences that people never draw lol)

true true! it also bugs me when people put boobs on reptiles, BUT I WONT' COMPLAIN SINCE THIS IS, AFTER ALL, A SITE WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO LOVE SEXUAL STUFF.

It would be crazy if I tried to get every kind of bat in there. xD ahahaha.
yesss, tomb bats! ;3; <3
The drawings of the ears and noses were from old submissions I made... over a year ago I think. They worked perfectly into this~

Yes, I do plan to do more "correction" tutorials~ X3 I BRING ON THE CHALLENGE!

"BRING ON THE CHALLENGE!"
you'd have fun having me help tear some stuff apart with this for assistance if wind up wanting any lol. :) <amusing how many great overhyped artists constantly blow that stuff too!>

reptiles with boobs, mmmm feel how dry they are! fuck yes! And the males without a "mangina" (for lack of better term.)

this actually reminds me of when i got into a long indepth talk with my friend about all the anatomy differences in species. He and i got into actually playing "spot the difference" in species' various parts <all parts lol> because we were geeking out on anatomy. XD

It's always fun geeking out about stuff like that. xD

and yes, I'm most annoyed when people who draw very well don't do their research on an animal before they draw it... then they end up like a canid-thing... on anything. ._. WHHHHYYYYYYYYYY

i can name at least 12 folks like that who have a huge fanboy/girl base that'd assault us for even thinking their names too XD

lol yet, pretty much.

also, any chance of a high res version? this one is unreadable for me. :I (would love to read all the notes and be able to see it better)

Just refresh~

refresh worked much nicer ^__^
thanks

Click on the picture to enlarge or download it..it took a few refreshes until it worked for me also.

Mainly because I had to reupload it. xD It took a little while before it uploaded again. ahaha

Awesome ref, a pleasure to read. Well drAwn, and i like the anthro bat :D

yay! :'D Thank you~

It's about time!

YEAH REALLY. X'D

shorty be slow... even though this only took two days to make. XD

No I meant about time someone did this cause I see mistakes on bats all the time XD

oh ahahah xD IT WAS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER FROM WHAT I THOUGHT YA MEANT.


YESSSS. >8C

I'mma draw ALL THE WRONG BATS!

RAAAAAAGGGGEEEE!

hehe

XD Ragebats.

Thank you so much for this. I hate seeing those derpy bats myself, hopefully people put this to good use. Though, I normally don't mind seeing bats with arms and then the arms of their wings, but it really depends on the design. I learned a lot from this myself as I always have issues with wings.

I personally am fine if people draw the wings on the back. That's why I didn't mention that here. xD I mainly wanted to point out the flaws of drawing things on the bat that WASN'T a part of the bat.

Now if only someone does one one rabbits with paw pads *laughs*

That's what I was thinkin of while titling this. xD I could make a series of these! ahahah

I already did that http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3954021/

i'm so guilty of being lazy on my bats I'M SO SORRY ;V;

DO DEM RESEARCHESSSSS!

LIKE IF I DREW YOUR CHARACTER I'D CARE? BUT..
I LIKE REALLY REALLY TOONY STUFF... i'm so guilty of making my roomies Batish sona look like a dog hybrid with the nose sob sob sob
but its so cute its like I KNOW ITS WRONG BUT ITS SO CUTE ;-;

EVEN WITH TOONY STUFF IT SHOULD BE CORRECT! Drawing canid things on a bad will only further the confusion to other people. D: Bats with their normal noses and whatnot look cute as well! and ya can simplify the details, too. Just a general shape helps. :3

very true ;v; my roomie decided her sona is a Dog-Bat ;v; but i will try and practice some more realistic bats soon

yayayay! :'D

Thank you so much for this!
While I don't really know much about bats, I still cringe when I see bat characters that have canine or feline heads and paws.

Yesss! IT BETTER MAKE YA CRINGE! I don't get why they can't just look up bats... and not go by media representations. @_@ I hate cartoony bats for this reason. AUGH. I also hate that people ay they do that kind of dog nose on bats because it's cartoony. YA CAN STILL DO A CARTOONY BAT WITH THE CORRECT PARTS. >8C GOSH.

I KNOW!
There are so many horrible misrepresentations of animals all over the media. Like... oh gosh how many errors can I spot in every rabbit in cartoons all the time. Over grown incisors and big dog noses! And spiders with three body segments and their legs coming out of the abdomen. AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Why can't people just use a freaking reference?!

and I just saw yer tutorial on that~
I think I shall do a tutorial on rabbits as well! To push the info!
and with others, like ya said~

I don't think I'll make a tutorial at this length with this kind of info. xD Bats have been the most misunderstood (with their anatomy) than any other animal I have seen. @_@ Unless I'm forgetting something...

Yes, we must educate the masses!

The way I see a lot of people draw insects and arachnids... it's like they just stick legs in random places with a random number of joints.

Exactly. >8C I'll do something like that, too!

I think I need to do a spider tutorial. All my eight legged housemates can finally earn their keep.

DO IT. >8C

Saved, Faved, and Raved. PERFECT.

YAAAAY. <3

If you do more of these, may I request Kangaroos?

oh? what do people draw wrong on Kangaroos? I honestly don't know much about them, so I'd gladly make a "correction" tutorial like this one.

Mostly the muzzles and footpaws. I should try making one of these myself for that. :)

Yah, I can do a simple tut on that~

Most people think Kangaroos are digitgrade when they aren't.

Those silly people. >8C

YEEEE. <3

btw, just random medical note, and apology for nazi mode:

thumb isn't finger. by labels would be
thumb, 1st finger, 2nd finger, 3rd, 4th. or thumb/1st digit, index/2nd, etc. etc. :) used to get chewed out at work for accidentally typing "thumb finger" XD

ahhh, I dunno what is best then, cuz my books say it as thumb, then 2nd and so on. o-o I almost wanna put "thumb/1st finger"... maybe that would make more sense.

weird :0 i blame yer book! :P lol though i'm also going on generalized terminology for fingers/toes with that whole "thumb is not a finger" routine. (different type of bone joints) though unsure if batty thumbs rotate like humans' do....*wishes i had a pet bat to ask them*

it's just all confusing! xD

But a bat's thumb can rotate like humans do. :3 From what I've seen in videos, anyways.

YAY! This guide is wonderful! I am trying to make a spotted bat fursuit as anatomically correct as I can, but with some 'toony' anthro characteristics (mainly just the colors). Designing the feet was giving me the biggest issue---couldn't find good, clear references anywhere. But this whole guide is a life-saver! :D Hehe, you're the best! :D

+Fave for sure (^_^)

YAYAYAY! I'm glad it's a help~

this touched upon many of my concerns with artists that draw us bats as dogs with demon wings

we are not dogs ;-;

Yeah! D; I wanna smack them.

It may be time to mess with Quips's design a bit to make him look more like a bat instead of a dog/bat hybrid, which he is not :I but he's not a full bat either, I mean he doesn't have those kind of wings. Maybe after I get around to it I can send you my designs and you can review them? Maybe throw in some suggestions as well :3 That would be awesome

Ya can~

Wooh! Thank you so much!

I like bat character that actually look like fuggin bats. The only thing I do like in "redesign" is giving the character use of his or her hands. Some sort of winged arm hybrid.

Back wings are lame though. I don't even put them on my dragonoid characters. Over done and obnoxious on the character design I feel. I just resort to magical wings if a character is gonna have them at all.

I agree!

Back wings on bats does seem a little odd, though I do enjoy them on other things... made up things. :3

While my fursona is most definitely more human like than completely bat like (I will change the ear/ace/head shape, but the wings I have attached to the arm in a different way, and a way that's actually functional for my character), but future non-me bats will definitely be accurate!

I'm planning on a hammerhead character. NO ONE has one of those guys...

It's always good to draw things that can work for your character. :3


HAMMERHEAD BATS. <3

SHORYUKEN! *super thumbs up spinning jump*

but ive been interested in making a hybrid despite it never working thats half bat

GO FOR IT!

but i got negative 50 art skills

honestly i stunned my friends by failing a stick figure

FFFF stick figures are ew. Ya can't really fail at it unless ya forget to add legs/arms and a head. xD

I BET YA CAN DO IIITTTT

That's what my highschool art teacher said untill I was recommended to take a new elective

Another thing that I've noticed is 'relaxing' bat anthros, with their toes stretched out. When bats chill out, their feet naturally clench things.

And now I have an image of an anthro bat sleeping under a woven blanket, his toes clawed through the blanket in his sleep.

With an anthro I don't find too much of a problem with it, because bats feet do that from needing to hold onto things. Anthros usually don't hang upside down. XD;

I was reading a Nightwing comic today, and they had the bats perched on the edge of a building like a bird. It made me cringe every goddamn time. I thought of you lol.

BAAAHHHH that's super annoying. D;

You are like, the Moses of Bats, coming down from Mount Easel with the Bat Drawing Commandments.

MUAHAHAH YES. X'D lawllawlawlawl

i have an urge to make a character who is a Hoary bat...and one who is a spotted bat =w= i love this tutorial.

DO IT. WE NEED MORE BATS!

this is actually really helpful for us writers! i'm currently writing a story that revolves around bats myself, and it's hard for me to get a picture of what their like X3

to be honest i've been looking at Pierce a lot and his refs XDD

WHHHHHHY UOI LOOKIN AT PIERCE FOR A REF FOR A BAT? X'D Pierce isn't a bat at all so going off of him would make your bats odd. @_@

you*
oh gosh how did that mess up? xD

X3 becaaaaaauuuuuussse! I'd like the bats in this story I'm writing to have human like arms as well as wings! hard to grip things when you only have a thumb and maybe one digit to move.^.=.^;

OMG This is amazing! You've helped me out. I kinda did resort to paws :.-.: With this I might be able to get a ref sheet that actually is accurate.

yay! good good good! DO DEM CLAW FEETS!

I love it, makes me want a bat character now *hugs* awesome work hon. Keep it up. Also still need to hook up sometime. Moved though, no longer in Mound, in Coon rapids now.

MAKE ONE!

and yes! D: you live so far awaaaaaay!
WILL YA BE AT THE FURRY SPRING PICNIC? Maybe I'll attack you there. XD YOU AND YER AWESOME SUIT.

You bet I will. I always go to the picnics. Look forward to seeing you there.

YAAAAAY. I hope I'm not nervous and just sit there. xD I wish I had a suit to wear. GRRRRR.

It takes a while to get one. I'm just getting into fabricating things for suits and such.

yah it sure does. ;3; hurgh.

You'll get it. Maybe we can talk bout stuffs. Love to have some unique prototyping going on.

STUFFS. ALL THE STUFFS.

I do wonder when the Spring Picnic will be... I checked the MNfurs website and it doesn't list it at all. It has all the meets and the Anime Detour thingy, but nothing about a Picnic. D:

The planning peeps probably havent gotten around to it just yet. If I hear anything I'll letcha know though.

okies! >w< <3

Thank you for this :D Ive got a bat adoptable I can draw more correctly now >w<

GOOD! <3

Yaaaaay bats! This is so very useful, because I see these mistakes being made all the time as well.

I dunno if there is any other animal/species that gets this many mistakes done. @_@ IT'S CRAZY!

Thanks~

No guide for bat genitals? :-P

Nope. I wanted this pg.

Ah gawd. I literally just finished my ref for my leaf-nosed bat male fursona >_< now I gotta fix it xD

The part on noses made me laugh. SUCH A COMMON MISTAKE D;

IT SERIOUSLY IS. DKSBSLKDFBLKSDBFJSLDFAJK

!! Great tut! :O

OH I would add one thing-- teeth! People always give everything dog teeth, including bats!

Nicely done

Huh, I never knew the first and second fingers were bound like that in the wing. Damn, I need to draw bats again, it's been a while.

I actually learned a few days ago that it's the membrane/skin that connects the two. The two fingers' bones don't

WHICH I NEED TO FIX THIS.

That does make more sense but I imagine it's very hard to actually see that they're separate?

It is very hard. But morghus, who told me about this, took an amazing picture of a flying fox, showing that they don't connect, and even it has its own nail! http://morgh-us.deviantart.com/art/Wing-356287296

Wow that's a great ref photo!

sweet

A wonderful display of truly artistic talent.

This is useful information for the people to know! I admit my own character has bent some of the rules quite a bit, especially in the past. I usually handwaved that away by claiming that he was a "bat mutt" of mixed ancestry. Been thinking of trying to streamline him down a bit more though.

Well, now I wanna draw a bat!

Somebody recently told me they'd love to see me draw some bats, and I totally will because they're adorable and they fascinate me. And this is a very good reference! Thanks for making this. :3

Researching an animal you're not familiar with should be something all artists do before they even attempt drawing 'em. ...Even I'm guilty of not researching enough sometimes, but that is just because I draw a lot 'on the go' and have no references at hand. xD

IMMA DRAW AN AWESOME BAT. also, best bat tutorial I've ever seen. I accidentally stumbled upon it while looking for something in your gallery. XD

Would you mind looking at this piece I did about a year ago, and tell me how I did? Was my first, and only, bat. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10168657/

It's hard to give a crit if I dunno what bat it's based off of. xD;

and thanks, too~

aaah, thought it had on it.

its supposed to be a Giant golden-crowned flying fox, but I think at the time she told me fruit bat. XD I'm not sure which I used for reference. >.<

The golden crowned flying fox IS a fruit bat, so they are one in the same. Any bat that eats fruit is a fruit bat.

All I'd say is the ears should be smaller and the nose reffed off of the golden crowned flying fox. They have tube-like noses, which are connected together.

so, not perfect, but not bad? ^^

Not bad. xD

I really like this tutorial! I'm just afraid my bat sona is gonna get some serious schooling :( I made her nose look less canine like and accurate to the shape of the bat's nose, I just wanted it to stick out! Fucking thank you about the feet I have a peeve of people use paws for five-toed creatures. At least I got that right xD I feel bad about the tail on mine now, after seeing this. I just wanted to add that unique touch. Thank my lucky stars I researched wings tho. Life saver I swear.

Can my character design get away with it? :x (Is a toon bat)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10786110/

I'd say no for the face. He looks like a rabbit.

But, since the toony style is a Disney-type style and he (Disney) just ruins the noses of other things, it can pass for that.

So am I good, or bad? :I

I personally say "bad". It's up to you if you want to make the changes or not.

This is really cool and helpful!

I don't have a single bat character, but this was informative and very well made. I love it!

This is incredibly helpful! Thanks.