Deconstruction of a Ferret
Alyssa Stump
Sophomore, Stamps School of Art & Design
Medium
Drawing on tonal paper
Abstract
This piece depicts the anatomical structure of a ferret in four parts. The first being the normal version with skin and fur along with a select few close ups of body parts, then a depiction of a ferret skeleton, organs and finally a muscle structure. It was made using tonal paper and graphite pencil.
For this piece I spent about a week researching the anatomy of ferrets as well as drawing from observational photos to accurately depict the reality of a ferret’s body. The concept for the artwork is based on that of traditional scientific illustration with a modern twist in form and line weight to appeal to a wider online audience. This is a literal representation of the anatomical structure of a ferret, how all the bones fit together, how all the organs are spaced to create such a long figure and how the muscles are quite analogous to the majority of small mammals such as that of an otter or a weasel. I thought it would be fitting to show a few close ups of the ferret’s body to better understand the character an individual animal can have which can be seen in the facial structure of the bottom left.