How to draw DOGS [Starrypoke]

[ChibiMaestro]

Created by Starrypoke

I AM CURRENTLY RE-DOING THIS TUTORIAL WITH MORE DETAILS AND BETTER ARTWORK.

NOTE: To understand this tutorial, you must have a thorough understanding of your existing art software. If you are new to this, you can use http://www.muro.deviantart.com and follow along with me.

Ah, Dogs. The wonderful, best friend you could ever have. BUT, they can be a pain to draw, depending on who you are.
Now you can learn how to draw dogs that you can use for adoptables on your website that will look so awesome others will envy you! What kind of dogs? Well, you can draw any dog you choose with a few simple steps- whether it be drawing on the computer or on paper!

+++Since this tutorial is focused on how to draw dogs and not how to work your program, if you need help with getting started on your art program, go here: Art Program Tutorial +++


STEP 1
Start a sketch
We will start by creating a sketch of your doggy. All dogs have the basic body shape. However, their ears, eyes, noses, legs, etc., can vary greatly. Start by getting a reference image of the dog you want to draw. I WILL BE DRAWING A JACK RUSSELL TERRIER. To start off your drawing, select your "sketch" layer and draw in red or blue (something other than black) using a slightly transparent brush. This is just a reference to get you going- very important. Draw a circle for the head, chest, and rear end, then draw the muzzle out of the head, the legs out from the chest and back side. Also sketch out the ears and the tail. Pay attention to PROPORTIONS. Is the leg three times longer than the head? How wide is it compared to the paws? How thin is your dog's belly compared to its chest, and how big are the ears?

You can choose realism, meaning all proportions are exactly correct, or you can choose to do cartoonism, which is adding features such as larger eyes, ears, nose, etc. Since I am mainly a cartoonist, I choose to draw in cartoonism. Drawing in cartoon has proven to work more effectively for adoptable sites though.

Right now I am drawing on a transparent background. We will change that later. I did not draw the circles for chest, head, and rear, but you might want to, just to help you out a little.


STEP 2
The lines
Now, trace over your basic sketch, AFTER SELECTING YOUR MAIN LINES LAYER (which should be on top of your sketch layer.) This is where most of the detailing comes in.

Let's go over some of the basic dog features.

Eyes- Expressive. Large pupil, shiny, and colorful iris. If you choose to give them a gender, add eyelashes for girls, and none for boys.

Ears- Pay attention to hair inside the ear, and how large and droopy or small and perky they are.

Mouth- Mouth starts just about at the edge of the eye and extends to under the nose. Be sure to add an adorable grin in there.

Nose- The top of the nose should be flatter and larger that the bottom. The bottom is in a "V" shape while the top is more of tilted "0."

Paws- Dogs tend to have smaller paws, and their nails show, so be sure to add the little nails in there. If they are facing one direction, only two or three of their toes should be visible. But if they are facing forward, be sure to show all four of them!

Tail- Can be short or long, furry or short-haired.

Legs- Pay attention to how muscular, long or skinny they are.

Fur- Even on short-haired dogs, be sure to show fur on the head, behind the ears, and on the shoulder blade. Also, no matter what kind of dog it is, it always will have fur in its ears.



STEP 3
Start to color
Delete your sketch layer, and select your color layer. The color layer should be below your main lines so that nothing overlaps your lines. Color carefully, being sure to get inside the lines as best as you possibly can. Pay close attention to spots and try your best to get the exact color you are looking for. If you color your background layer a color other than you will have for your dog's main color (for instance, my dog is white and brown so I do a blue background) you can notice parts that you get outside the line more easily.



STEP 4
Shading and lighting
Select your lighting tab, and create a translucent white brush. Color on places on top of the dog's body, and outline some of the fur. If the lighting looks to light to you, just lower the layer's opacity. Do the same for shading, only use black and select your shading layer. You may also create a shadow under your dog if you like.



STEP 5
Remove your background, and Voila! You have a piece of art ready for whatever you want! NOTE: If you want to use it as an adoptable, make sure that it is smaller, and not very large. Large adoptables never fit in someone's signature, so simply go to iaza.com, upload your image, and make it smaller.



Adoptable size:



Making other breeds of dog
Using this tutorial, you can create any breed of dog that you like, just make sure that it resembles the dog breed. How do you do that? Just make sure all the body features match up. (Step 2) Using this tutorial and the same method, I can make a german shepard! Notice how its legs are longer than the Jack Russell's , and the ears are different, as well as the tail and fur. The coloring is also different and more complex.

https://2img.net/h/oi52.tinypic.com/33y2oeh.png

You're Done!
Congratulations! You have an awesome dog!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!

IMPORTANT NOTE: All art in this tutorial is owned and copyrighted by me with a Creative Commons License. You may not use this art for your own adoptable site or claim as your own. If you want to show others anything in this tutorial, provide a link to this thread, but don't steal. This tutorial is made to help you draw your own dogs- so you have no need to steal mine.

Thank you for using this tutorial and I appreciate any thanks or reps, and I always give a rep back to you if you do the same for me.