Before looking at references, I tried to make a rough skeleton animation of a 4-legged animal. I thought that 4-legged walk cycles were just regular 2-legged walk cycles happening at the same time on 4 legs. I didn’t realize how flawed that thinking was until I looked at the skeleton animation I made, which looks like a robot marching.
After looking at references and drawing out several leg sketches & also a simple sketch of a cat (that sadly also looks like a robot), I got a better understanding of the anatomy of 4-legged creatures.
We then proceeded to go downstairs and watch a few dogs running around. I had difficulties in sketching out the dogs as they were moving and also because I’m extremely scared of them, but it did aid in my understanding of their walks. I noticed that the hind legs always move more dynamically than the front legs.
Then I tried to draw it out digitally. It first looked like the dog had a limp and something was off, but I couldn’t pin-point what it was. Maybe because I was too conscious about the fact that the hind legs move more dynamically. After asking for advice, I realized that there was something wrong with the hind legs so I tried fixing it. I think it looks less limp now.
To get my mind off the walk cycle, I also tried to do the running cycle. I think there’s something off when the dog goes down from a jump, which is something I’m still trying to fix.