How to draw a dog by Ki-Mono

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Artist Ki-Mono [gallery]
Time spent 1 hour, 24 minutes
Drawing sessions 2
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How to draw a dog

Postby Ki-Mono » Sat May 02, 2020 8:11 am

So things are kinda cluttered on this piece, so I'll try and break everything down.
Before we begin a HUGE disclaimer is that there are so many dog breeds. Each one more horribly deformed by humans then the last. So even though they mainly follow similar principals and rules, each dog breed should be studied individually before attempting to draw them. For this piece I picked breeds that looked similar to what you had drawn in hopes of giving you the best advice for what you need. The adult is a German Shepherd, the puppy is a Golden Retriever, and the face is a Labrador.

Heads are round with small eyes and thick necks that slant forward. Muzzles are cones attached to the face. Only the bottom jaw moves. Muzzles I tough and I recommend practicing with references.
The general shape of a dog's body is usually a triangle, but some breeds lean more towards a "log". One thing to keep in mind is that even though the general shape is a triangle, it isn't the exact shape! It's like a lumpy round triangle.
Dogs are large rib cages that don't bend. So be careful with how you choose to twist the bodies proportions, because if it you "break" the ribs, the pose will always look wrong.
Tails extent directly from the back. They are in fact part of the spine. So don't place them lower. Compared to cat tails, a dog's tail is usually small compared to it's body. Usually being the length of the back, but this varies.
Leg anatomy can be quite difficult to get used to. I sometimes find it best to have a better understanding of them compared to our own. The knees and elbows are much higher on a dog then on us, and they actually walk on their toes instead of their "feet". In general your legs just need to be longer and have more distinct anatomy. The best way to get better at these is using references.

I hope this helps~ Let me know if you have questions!

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Re: How to draw a dog

Postby strawberryjelly » Sun May 03, 2020 1:06 pm

Thank you for the advice! I’ll try to work on that
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