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Artwork (Digital) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Rat
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Stupid quick doodle.
I know everyone is sick of the 'everything is a dog' thing, and how a lot of artists think every animal's anatomy is basically canine.
But this annoys me so much more with rats and mice because they're SO different to a dog.
And before I go on, yes, Im entirely aware that my VERY early art here features rats who are a little more dog-like than they are now. But I learned. Pretty damn quick.
Rats have short legs. I mean....really short, stumpy legs.
They do not 'sit' in the way a dog does. The upright upper body, bum planted firmly on the ground, legs extended to hold you up 'sit' is not possible for a rat.
At least, not in the way I've drawn it above.
Rats do not have a 'stop' on the face like a dog does. A rats head is almost one continuous curve. The tops of their heads can be a tiny bit flatter, resulting in a tiny, teeny change of angle above the eye, but it is NOTHING like a dog's head shape.
As some know, I give my rat characters a slight stop. I have no issue with a slight stop. Done subtly, it doesn't detract from the rattyness of the character yet still gives him some 'life'. But this almost 'square' head shape with a very defined brow just looks too much like a dog.
Rats heads are big, wedge shaped points. Their neck tends to run right into it, with no distinction as to where it begins, as a dog would have.
A rat is shaped like a large potato. With stumpy legs. And small front feet. And little definition of their muscles and bones.
Im too tired to go on, but the below photos should show how NON-DOG LIKE a rat is:
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/forrestrun.jpg
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/morterun.jpg
I know everyone is sick of the 'everything is a dog' thing, and how a lot of artists think every animal's anatomy is basically canine.
But this annoys me so much more with rats and mice because they're SO different to a dog.
And before I go on, yes, Im entirely aware that my VERY early art here features rats who are a little more dog-like than they are now. But I learned. Pretty damn quick.
Rats have short legs. I mean....really short, stumpy legs.
They do not 'sit' in the way a dog does. The upright upper body, bum planted firmly on the ground, legs extended to hold you up 'sit' is not possible for a rat.
At least, not in the way I've drawn it above.
Rats do not have a 'stop' on the face like a dog does. A rats head is almost one continuous curve. The tops of their heads can be a tiny bit flatter, resulting in a tiny, teeny change of angle above the eye, but it is NOTHING like a dog's head shape.
As some know, I give my rat characters a slight stop. I have no issue with a slight stop. Done subtly, it doesn't detract from the rattyness of the character yet still gives him some 'life'. But this almost 'square' head shape with a very defined brow just looks too much like a dog.
Rats heads are big, wedge shaped points. Their neck tends to run right into it, with no distinction as to where it begins, as a dog would have.
A rat is shaped like a large potato. With stumpy legs. And small front feet. And little definition of their muscles and bones.
Im too tired to go on, but the below photos should show how NON-DOG LIKE a rat is:
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/forrestrun.jpg
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/morterun.jpg
Category Artwork (Digital) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Rat
Size 868 x 412px
File Size 66.2 kB
Or the cartoony rounded "buck-teeth". Nononono!!!!
Squirrel and rat teeth don't look anything like that.
http://scienceline.org/wp-content/u...../rat-tooth.jpg
Squirrel and rat teeth don't look anything like that.
http://scienceline.org/wp-content/u...../rat-tooth.jpg
Rats with black noses is one of my major pet hates.
No rat has a black nose. Even a black coloured rat has a pink nose.
In fact, one of the things that I always disliked about the rats of NIMH, and ratatouille, was these rounded, cartoony, 'dog' like noses they gave them, balanced on the end of their face. Its just so NOT how a rat nose looks!
No rat has a black nose. Even a black coloured rat has a pink nose.
In fact, one of the things that I always disliked about the rats of NIMH, and ratatouille, was these rounded, cartoony, 'dog' like noses they gave them, balanced on the end of their face. Its just so NOT how a rat nose looks!
Agreed, though. I didn't mind it so much on ratatouille. My dumbo has a pretty big nose, pokes out a little bit so I wouldn't say its 'too' far fetched, just a cartoon exaggeration.
Then again, gotta remember a lot of this stuff is stylized just to appeal to the majority whom think rats are ugly :(.
Then again, gotta remember a lot of this stuff is stylized just to appeal to the majority whom think rats are ugly :(.
Ugh... I agree with you that most artists really can't draw anything but dogs/foxes/wolves.
There's plenty of room for stylisation with any animal, but "making it into a dog" is not sylisation...which would be just about anyone's excuse for drawing a rat in the manner on the right...
There's plenty of room for stylisation with any animal, but "making it into a dog" is not sylisation...which would be just about anyone's excuse for drawing a rat in the manner on the right...
Just to play the devil's advocate, understanding correct anatomy is important, at the same time I think it's easy to forget that with art and animation we don't have to conform ourselves strictly to realistic anatomy, the element of character design is also really important and designs can become too rigid when they're too focused on using realistic anatomy! Not to suggest that the "everything looks like a dog" thing is a good idea, there are probably a million ways to design rats
Yeah, I agree BUT these are things I see SO often as to suggest its not so much stylisation as it is misunderstanding of how rats look.
Some features I understand, but things like the teeth I just don't get. Like when people give rats big canine teeth along their jaw, like a dog, it just isn't a rat then. Its like giving a cartoon dog horns and saying its still just a normal dog.
Nose shape, ear shape, etc they can all be down to style. But adding things the animal doesn't have seems weird to me.
Some features I understand, but things like the teeth I just don't get. Like when people give rats big canine teeth along their jaw, like a dog, it just isn't a rat then. Its like giving a cartoon dog horns and saying its still just a normal dog.
Nose shape, ear shape, etc they can all be down to style. But adding things the animal doesn't have seems weird to me.
Its lazy art.
The first animal most people learn to draw are canines. They never unlearn that anatomy to learn another. I their mind it has a muzzle SOOOO it must be drawn like a dog, right?... What do you mean different animals have different anatomy?... *Gasp!*
Hence "Dog Face Syndrome"...
The first animal most people learn to draw are canines. They never unlearn that anatomy to learn another. I their mind it has a muzzle SOOOO it must be drawn like a dog, right?... What do you mean different animals have different anatomy?... *Gasp!*
Hence "Dog Face Syndrome"...
You're right, the second one looks nothing like a rat. xD but a lot of the things people are complaining about in the comments are just how cartoon rats are usually drawn. Even real dogs look nothing like cartoon ones, anatomically speaking. So yeah, anyone who owns a rat knows what they should look like, but I think cartoon style rats are simply different.
Like how mickey mouse never looked like a mouse to me. xD and id say that to realtives and they'd be like wtf do you mean? He's so totally a mouse.
Cartoon things tend to look more, I think, like how people THINK a certain animal looks like. And that's just how it is. xD
At least the rats in ratatouille had pink noses. x3
P.S. - forgive horrible typing. I'm using a phone.
Like how mickey mouse never looked like a mouse to me. xD and id say that to realtives and they'd be like wtf do you mean? He's so totally a mouse.
Cartoon things tend to look more, I think, like how people THINK a certain animal looks like. And that's just how it is. xD
At least the rats in ratatouille had pink noses. x3
P.S. - forgive horrible typing. I'm using a phone.
I will preface this by saying that I am a fan of both realistic and very cartoonish, abstracted anthro art, so I rationalize some anatomy errors as stylization. Other than the stop, the incorrect head doesn't bother me too much although if it was colored and the teeth were white that would tip the scale enough to make me hate it. The body is all kinds of wrong, though. It looks like a cat wearing a toony mascot head of a rat, which is an interesting image.
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