[Susiron]

Paw anatomy tips: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=858593
Wolf face anatomy tips: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=858451


I probably don't have some of the higher bones positioned perfectly, but this is just to get the gist of where they are. xD

Before we begin, here are two detailed skeletal sketches:
http://museum2.utep.edu/mammalogy/images/mammskel.gif
http://wolfdog.ws/assets/images/autogen/a_Skeleton.jpg

Now, the first thing to recognize is that wolves, like every other species, do NOT have the same anatomy for both of their legs. Just like us, wolves have elbows that bend BACK, and knees that bend FORWARDS. Something that really helps with getting these bends right is knowing what bones you're looking at, and where they are.

I've labeled all of the bones so you can what's going on here. If you want to know more on these terms then I say here, then don't forget that Google is your friend! : 3

Okay, to start it off-- a wolf's wrist is LOW on the leg, but not so low that it hits the phalanges (fingers/digits) right away. There are metacarpals right before the paw, so make sure to get some decent bit of space between the wrist and digits. You can especially see this when the leg bends, as the paw overhangs quite a bit.
Also note that there is a tiny bump RIGHT before the metacarpals. See it better in the references I've given, or the paw anatomy tips thing that I did-- viewtopic.php?f=33&t=858593

The elbow is high up and tucked close to the ribs.

And for the hind leg, the knee is up in that rounded area. MAKE THE ROUNDED AREA. So many times people just make a straight line down, and then just bend the wolf's leg back, but you NEED that round front. Having the round front of the leg allows you to easily make the back of the thigh curl in, as it needs to be. If the leg isn't defined like this, it looks very stiff.
And the ankle is LOW. The ankle is NOT tucked up close to the curve of the rump. It should be considerably lower, right after the end of that curve in at the back of the thigh, THEN you get to make the leg straight with the metatarsals.

With the bent legs I made the metatarsal area a bit too long, but I mainly wanted to show how the leg works when it bends. If I remember right, I always thought that the last part of the leg-- the yellow metatarsals-- were the shin, because, well it just made sense in my head, LOL. BUT you can clearly see that the bones that make up the shin-- the fibula and tibia-- are up in that bend.

And, lastly, an excellent wolf photograph that lets you see this anatomy at work:
http://sikaris.deviantart.com/#/d349kow


Always reference, and keep practicing! C:

[ThunderCry]

This is awesome, informative, and accurate. wonderful job! this should be featured! but why is it in beginners? this is intermediate!

[Susiron]

This is awesome, informative, and accurate. wonderful job! this should be featured! but why is it in beginners? this is intermediate!

Thank you. xD

It's in beginners-- like all of my tip sketches-- because it's the people in the beginners section that need to see it most. :3

[ThunderCry]

ah, okay. this is really cool though, like, the coolest freakin' oekaki I've ever seen. like EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!1