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This tutorial will aim to show artists the key details of canines, felines and the different species within those categories.

I've been an artist for about 6 years now, I've gone through the same processes of learning that artists the same age and older than me have gone through at one point, and that new artists will go through in the future. I had to learn a lot of things myself gradually because unfortunately, a lot of tutorials never leave room for stylization and just aim to force realism on to you. That being said, this tutorial is for semi-realistic and realistic artists, if you practice stylized art, feel free to PM me for tips on how to add aspects of this tutorial into your art! I'll try my best to help.

The Main Characteristics of Felines

When I started art, I often failed to make canines and felines look different. Usually, cats would just have pointy ears and dogs would have floppy ears. However, if you have ever seen a cat or a dog, you know that they actually have a lot more differences than that, and even that dogs can have pointy ears and cats can have floppy ears, so that doesn't entirely work out.

Allow me to start with a cat, just a simple stereotypical shorthair:

image credits

You can already tell that this cat is not a dog, wolf, jackal or any other canid. So let's represent that in your art.

Let's start with the legs. Cat legs tend to have a large haunch, slanting downwards at the "knee" and then the leg from there goes forward. Think of it like there's two bends on the front, and three at the back.

Here, I sketched some cat legs. The top ones were done without reference, from my own memory. You can see my own advice being taken, however, when you look at the bottom sketches; you can see major differences. I included bones guides, which I don't often use myself, however if you need them please do use those.

Next, the tail. This one is fairly simple however a lot of people tend to do it wrong. Cat's tails are skinny and long. If they ever have a lot of fur on them, that fur will droop down rather than stick out in all directions because of gravity.

Fairly simple.

Now for the neck. Cats tend to be flat at the neck when standing, but when sitting their necks are a whole vertical drop.

Finally, the most important part, the face. All the details of a cat's face are completely different to that of a canid's. Cats have round, large eyes. Cats have short snouts. Cats have flat noses.

Now! Let's combine everything we've learned. I'll be using the cat image at the top as reference.

You can easily see the differences between the two!

Just remember, cats have slanted hind legs with large haunches. Cats have long and thin tails. Cats have large, round eyes. Cats have short snouts. Cats have flat noses.

Note for mods, all references I used were from the same stock source as linked on the first image, and all sketch references were done by me!

I'll be doing this part of the tutorial with wolves, because dogs are too diverse. Plus, this is a wolf site, so.

I will be using this wolf as reference.

image credits

I'll start by listing the main traits of wolves. Wolves have very fluffy cheeks. Wolves have small, round-ish ears. Wolves have small angular eyes. Wolves have large noses. Wolves' tails are wide and short.

There are some extra traits you can pay attention to that will really emphasize the canid ordeal. Canids tend to have their neck sectioned in two with flat fur at the top and fluffier fur at the bottom; it can help to make these parts sectioned in your art. Wolves have different fur at their shoulders that can help to be outlined, this fur is usually a different colour to the body. Canids, like most other animals, have a 'tuck' at their belly; this is where the skin at the belly and haunch connect and the softer inner belly is behind it.

Most of the details are only at the front of the body, so I will be focusing there.

I went over the top on one but that's okay.

The traits I listed are represented here.

Note for mods, all references I used were from the same stock source as linked on the first image, and all sketch references were done by me!