How to Draw a Dog That’s Cute Enough to Pet

graphite beagle

Okay, who *doesn’t* love a good doggo? Sharpen your pencils and learn how to capture the cuteness with a little bit of practice. Though this tutorial walks you through how to draw a beagle, the same method applies to any and all breeds.

Draw a Dog

Level: Easy

What You Need

  • 6B pencil
  • 4B pencil
  • 2B pencil
  • White Eraser
  • Kneaded Eraser
  • Instructions

    1. Block In Your Shapes

    dog drawing outline

    Start your dog as all drawings begin: a block-in of the basic shapes. Use circles and ovals to create the different forms found in your pup’s face, and draw very faint horizontal and vertical guidelines to help you align the eyes, snout, etc.

    Work to refine your block-in until you have a basic contour.

    2. Lightly Shade

    shade dog head

    Once you have a clean contour line, clean up the sketch by erasing your guidelines. Begin shading the fur and features. For the blackest parts of the dog, like the eyes and little black nose, use a dark 6B pencil.

    3. Define the Texture

    adding texture to dog head

    This step totally depends on your dog’s breed and type of fur — our beagle’s short, straight coat is much different than, say, a poodle’s curls. But no matter which type of fur you’re drawing, you want to shade with directional strokes using a 2B pencil. Don’t get caught up trying to draw individual hairs.

    defining fur on dog

    As you work, build up the tone and details of the fur by increasing your pressure to define darker sections in your drawing. For even darker effects, switch to a 4B pencil.

    4. Use an Eraser

    erasing dog fur in drawing

    Mold a kneaded eraser into a thin point with flat edges and gently stroke it over the shaded areas of fur. This picks up a little bit of the graphite from smaller sections and makes the fur even more lifelike.

    5. Add the Final Details

    graphite beagle

    Keep working on the fur using your different pencils until you’re happy with how your pupper looks on paper!

    Comments
    • (will not be published)

    19 Responses to “How to Draw a Dog That’s Cute Enough to Pet”

    1. Bridget Graves

      Learn how to draw a dog:
      Step 1. Draw a dog.
      No learning involved in this “lesson”.

      Reply
    2. emily

      ecscuse me but ths is wrong ima begginner i dont know what a 6B pencil
      4B pencil
      2B pencil
      White Eraser or a
      Kneaded Eraser is.

      Reply
      • Nora

        I don’t know what the pencils are but a kneaded eraser is a eraser u can mold to what’s ever shape u need white eraser is almost like a regular eraser

        Reply
      • Renae Brennan

        Go to Walmart and buy a basic sketching pencil set. It’s like 6 or 8 dollars and has all the pencils mentioned and more and it comes in a time metal tin for storing. You will learn about the pencils better if you own some

        Reply
        • Renae Brennan

          I also forgot to mention the set comes with a kneading eraser and a sharpener as well. Make sure to choose the one for “sketching”

          Reply
        • Renae Brennan

          I also forgot to mention the set comes with a kneading eraser and a sharpener as well. Make sure to choose the one for “sketching”. And you can also get a sketch pad as well there tooo

          Reply
    3. Erica Peralta

      This is helpful because if your a true artist you just need your eyes to see how things are done your a visual learner yes I am.
      Very helpful.

      Reply
    4. Andrea Rai

      The link to the free eGuide for “Learn How to Draw Better Animals” just sends you back to the homepage. Can you fix the hyperlink, or send me a copy of the eGuide? Thank you!

      Reply