How to Draw a Dog with this how-to video and step-by-step drawing instructions. Easy animals to draw for beginners and kids.
Please see the drawing tutorial in the video below
You can refer to the simple step-by-step drawing guide below
Step 1
When drawing a dog, many people tend to start from scratch. However, if you are a beginner, you may find it difficult to create the shape of your head in the first place.
That’s why we’re simplifying the process, and that means no outline yet!
Before you start, let’s decide the angle at which we will draw the dog.
We recommend choosing a side angle like Gonçalo, as it is the easiest to master for beginners.
Now, the first step to drawing a dog is to outline the base for its body.
And it’s two circles, like this:
Time to learn how to draw a man’s best friend!
The dog we are illustrating is turning to the left, so the circle on the left side will be larger.
That’s where the dog’s chest will be.
The right circle should be smaller but the vertices of both circles should be aligned.
Step 2
Now connect the two circles that you drew earlier.
The line connecting their crests is where the dog’s back is.
By connecting the bottom circle with the other, you get the dog’s belly:
The dog’s body is now ready!
In just 4 simple lines, you’ve finished drawing the dog’s body!
Step 3
After you’ve finished drawing the dog’s body, it’s time to illustrate its neck.
Draw a line from the dog’s chest upwards and then it lowers it towards the dog’s back.
When illustrating this step, pay attention to the length of the dog’s neck.
To make sure it’s not too long or too short, observe the dog’s body size – the neck should be a bit shorter, like this:
Time to add a neck to support the dog’s head!
Step 4
The outline of the upper arm of the dog resembles a loaf of bread. So go ahead and draw a cute loaf of bread and make it take up about 2/3 of the front circle.
As for the upper thigh, its contour should cover the better part of the back circle. Again, don’t bother drawing the perfect shape because we’ll show you how to tweak it later and make it look like a proper dog paw:
Step 5
Now it’s time to illustrate the dog’s forehead, muzzle, lower lip, and fly (this is just a complicated word for a dog’s upper lip!).
Again, Gonçalo painted these body parts with simple lines and shapes. Jaws open because that’s pretty much every dog’s default state when they look at you affectionately (or eat).
The contour of the lower lip looks like a triangle with a soft top.
When drawing the muzzle and upper lip, first outline the forehead and then extend that line towards the lips.
The drawing of the dog’s body is nearing completion!
Step 6
Since you are drawing a dog from the side, only one ear is visible.
A lot of dogs have triangular ears, but of course, that varies depending on the breed and posture of the dog. For example, if a dog is in guard mode, it often perks up its ears, so they will be more pointed and more threatening than usual.
Gonçalo is drawing a happy, docile puppy, so the dog’s ears are hanging down:
Give this dog an ear!
This ear isn’t exactly a triangle, but it does look like a triangle with a rounded tip.
Step 7
Gonçalo pulls the forearm and lower part slightly above the dog’s upper arm and thigh. That’s because where the two parts of a dog’s paw overlap are its joints, like this:
Again, the shape and size of the dog’s tail depends on the breed, but we opted for a slightly longer, Labrador-style tail.
That’s it, the basic sketch for the dog drawing is done!
No, let’s add some details to the dog’s head.
Step 8
Sketch the dog’s eyes, nose and teeth
To bring this good dog to life, it’s time to add its eyes, nose and teeth.
By the way, did you know that dogs have three eyelids? The extra eyelid is located below the eyelids as we all know, it helps to protect and moisturize the dog’s eyes.
When drawing the eyes, sketch an oval first, but add more angle to the dog’s lower eyelid to soften the sharpness of the eye.
For the dog’s boop-y nose, you can outline it into a circle.
You can also add a few teeth. For example, you can make the canines and some molars and molars visible.
Dogs almost always stick their heads out a little, and the dog Gonçalo illustrates is no different!
Step 9
Draw the forearm and thigh on the other side
Now it’s time to add another pair of dog paws.
Since we are drawing a dog facing left, only a small part of its leg to the right is exposed.
Let’s add the dog’s paw on the other side!
The right forearm is slightly extended behind, while the left forearm
How to Draw a Dog Step by Step | Easy to draw dog
Step 10
You are about to finish your drawing!
Since the outline is finished and all the details are in place, it’s time to shade the illustration a bit and add some finishing touches to it.
Here’s the shading!
You can take a 4B pencil and press firmly on it to make the dog’s body contours darker and more defined.
The shade mainly falls on the dog’s right forearm and thigh, but don’t forget to cover his chest and belly too!
Step 11
More dog hair
To make your dog drawing more realistic, can you add hair to it?
Feel free to draw short zigzag lines on your dog’s belly, back, and neck.
Then add pupils, nostrils and a few dotted lines to outline the beard.
By the way, don’t forget to add two lines to illustrate the dog’s wrists and ankles!
That way, its arms and legs will look real!
Alternatively, draw the fingers on the dog’s paws by sketching two short lines on each paw. Then add shorter and darker lines to the nails!
Step 12
Remove unnecessary details
The final step to drawing a dog is to delete the elements we don’t need anymore.
Take your kneaded eraser and slowly erase all the outline marks, so that the final result looks like this
