- 1). Choose a well-lit room to create your drawing and place your reference images beside your drawing paper. Decide on the position or stance of the dog and in which direction it will be facing. Measure the size of the dog in the photo to scale your drawing. Create an easy value for proportion; for example, double or triple the size of the image. If the length from the chest to the back of the hind leg is 4 inches on your photo and you want to double the size, simply double that number to 8 inches on your drawing.
- 2). Draw a box 8 inches high and 8 inches long if doubling the size of the dog, using the same example. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of the box. The lower rectangle will be the area for the legs while the upper half will contain the torso and hind quarter. Draw two boxes one quarter the size, (in this case, 2 x 2 inches), on top of the first rectangle, either on the right or left, depending on which way the dog is facing.
- 3). Align the first square with the edge of the large rectangle and the second going beyond it.These two small squares will become the dog's head.
- 4). Draw the contour of the dog's outline within the bottom rectangle to define the chest, underbelly, back, and part of the neck. Double-check using a ruler on the photo to see how the lines run within the box. The line for the lower back should almost be parallel with the box line above it.
- 5). Draw the outline of the head in the smaller squares by continuing the neck lines into that area. Place the top of the head, (where the ears are located), in the top middle. The right box (if the dog is facing to the left), will contain the neck, and the other will contain the face of the dog. Make the drooping upper lip on the short snout hang down below the bottom of the top square to keep it in proportion.
- 6). Draw the outline of the front and hind legs, as well as the tail. The tail and half of the hind leg may go outside the box in a side-on view. Continue to detail the head by indicating the ear, eye and nose. Use curved lines for the ear and define the drooping upper lip by including a line for the chin, a bit down from the nose. Detail the whiskers as small black dots below the nose area. Darken the nose and draw the detail of the eye. Use fine lines to indicate color markings and other fine facial features.
- 7). Shade the outer edges of the legs and underside of the dog, as well as any hidden legs visible on the far side. Examine the reference image carefully to determine dark and light areas. Continue to shade the dark areas, gradually lightning as you move towards the highlights. Use a cloth to blend the shading by rubbing softly. Start in the dark areas and blend in towards the lighter ones. Finish the drawing by continuing with detail to create more realism in your drawing.
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