Drawing Bears : How to Draw Bears For the Beginner
Because they travel by walking with their four feet, bears are often seen standing on their shoulder's height. Some bears have thicker-looking hind legs because of thicker fur on their lower body. The forelegs of bears appear relatively longer compared to their hind legs (especially those who can climb trees) because their lower body has a rounder mass. The difference in leg length (distance from the base or body) is apparent on adult bears and but it is hardly observable when they are walking.
Bears don’t have dominant shoulder lines like humans, their shoulders are sloped downward because of their thick necks and big heads. When standing, bears are slightly slouching; with their arms (forelimbs) crooked forward and paws down. Their legs (back limbs) are short and always apart. Due to their thick fuzzy fur, they appear bigger than they already are.
Establish the basic figure of the bear. Convey the figure with basic shapes. The thick body of a giant panda can be easily established with an irregularly shaped oval.
Use reference lines to easily place the facial features. Place the cross reference mark to locate the sphere front center of the sphere/head and establish the position of the head. Make a semi-cylindrical shape for the muzzle.
The hind limbs are folded while on a sitting gesture, so the length should be shorter than the forelimbs compared to the usual (with an outline like an upside-down 'L' or 'J').
Draw the facial features and the other small details. follow the reference lines to position the parts properly.
Darken the black spots of the head and start conveying the fur on the main outline.
Use a fairly light and thin lines with different lengths to effectively portray a bright/white fur. Place some hatches right above the level of the muzzle (the gap between the eyes). These hatches should also be arced like the others. it is important to follow the dimensions of the figure as you define the fur. As you get to a brighter area, gradually loosen the gaps between each hatches and lighten the line strokes.
For the area with black fur coating, the short lines should be thick and heavy. Fill the areas with tightly close rows of hatch lines nearly overlapping the ends of each line strokes. Use heavy and short hand strokes and don’t leave any gap in between the rows of the line marks.
Create a thick layer of dark short hatches with few subtle highlights. Gradually slant the short lines as you get nearer to the edges of the base.
Make several rows of short light hatch lines bending along with the round dimensions from the belly and up to the back of the bear.
To depict a subtle fold on the surface, change the position of the curves row of hatches. The row of hatches coming underneath the bottom of the bear should be relatively closer to each other. The hatches at the bottom are slightly darker.
Do the same process at the back limbs just like what you did with the front legs.
More detailed and easy to follow step-by-step instructions including more examples are available in the book. https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/drawing-bears-how-to-draw-bears-for-the-beginner