How to Draw a Dog Face

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to draw a dog face, focusing specifically on its features and characteristics.

Earlier, we showed you how to draw a dog head with all its forms and details. Here, we will focus more specifically on the face and its features, approaching the subject as a more detailed, in-depth study.

Here, we will draw everything in as much detail as is reasonable for a classical drawing while avoiding excessive refinement. We will carefully render all the necessary parts of the form and add volume using classical academic hatching.

This tutorial follows a classic approach in which you move from simple shapes to more complex ones.

Dogs come in many different breeds and can have very different facial features. In this guide, we will cover the most important principles you can use to draw a dog face of any breed.

And of course, this tutorial will also be helpful when drawing a full dog.

How to draw a dog face step by step

Step 1: Mark the position of the dog’s face

Start drawing the dog’s face with a simple sphere. This basic geometric shape will serve as a guide for placing all the details later. Next, sketch a pair of intersecting lines to help maintain the correct placement of the facial features.

Step 2: Sketch the ears with flowing lines

Begin adding details to the dog face. Start with the ears, drawing them with long, flowing lines. Keep in mind that different dog breeds have different ear shapes. For example, if you want to depict a German Shepherd, adjust the ears accordingly.

Step 3: Sketch the dog’s eyes

Using the guidelines from the first step, draw the dog’s eyes. Add thickness to the eyelids and include the creases above and below them to give the face a more natural appearance. Dogs have very large pupils, which is why the whites of the eyes are barely visible.

Step 4: Draw the nose on the dog’s face

Now, using the same guidelines that helped you place the eyes, draw the dog’s nose slightly below them. First outline the general shape, then carefully draw the nostrils and add details as needed. Pay attention to symmetry so that the left and right sides of the nose mirror each other.

Step 5: Add the upper jaw and tongue

Start by creating the upper jaw. Then, just below, sketch the outlines of the tongue and two lower canines. To make your sketch look more dimensional, try to make the closer parts more contrasting than the distant ones. We discussed this in our article on aerial perspective.

Step 6: Draw the lower jaw of the dog

Use smooth lines to create the lower lip and the edges of the lower jaw. Draw the neck using long hatching strokes. Using hatching instead of simple lines will give the neck a softer, fur-like appearance and make it look more realistic. Keep in mind that closer details should appear more contrasting than distant ones, so draw the lower jaw with darker lines than the neck.

Step 7: Clean up the dog’s face drawing

Now give your dog face drawing a cleaner and more finished appearance. Carefully erase all the construction lines created at the beginning of the tutorial. Compare your drawing with the previous steps, add any necessary details, and correct any mistakes if needed.

Step 8: Build shadows with hatching

To make the dog face drawing more convincing and closer to a real dog, add shadows. Use hatching to carefully build the shading, starting with the darkest areas and gradually moving toward the lighter ones. Leave small highlights in the eyes to make the gaze more expressive.

Step 9: Refine the shading and details

Increase the contrast of the shadows and brighten the highlights. Add more midtones and smooth tonal transitions to make your dog face drawing more expressive. Sketch additional details if necessary, such as subtle fur texture.

This completes the dog face drawing tutorial. To improve your skills, try a few additional sketching exercises.

Draw a dog face with different expressions

First, try drawing the head of a different dog breed using this instruction. Add more shadows and work on creating a fur texture.

This will help you develop your skill in drawing a dog’s head and learn how to create details that differ from those shown in this guide.

Work on emotions in your drawings by trying to depict different facial expressions. Draw a happy dog, a sad one, an angry one, a dog with closed eyes, and so on.

Practicing animal facial expressions, including those of dogs, is an excellent exercise for developing artistic skills and gaining a deeper understanding of drawing living subjects.

Next, try drawing a full dog, rendering the face in detail along with the rest of the body. This will help you understand the drawing process more holistically and learn how to apply your knowledge of individual body parts when creating a full-figure depiction of an animal.

If you liked this dog face tutorial, be sure to visit our Animals category, where you will find a large number of other animal drawing lessons.