3 Easy Steps to Draw a Realistic Dog!

Hi, welcome back. So many of you have been complaining about me using expensive tools and materials. So in this video, I'm going to use very basic tools like pencils and erasers to draw this realistic dog. And I will make the process super easy by breaking it down into three easy steps, outlining, shading and erasing. You can use these exact steps and techniques in your own pet drawings. So let's get started. As always, these are the art supplies I'm going to use for this drawing. And you can pause the video right here to note them down. I'm using this 250 GSM paper from my ordinary smooth surface sketchbook, which is available in almost all the art stores or stationeries around the world. So you don't have to use any fancy paper for this specific drawing. And the drawing portion area is nine cross nine inches. Before moving on to the grid making process. Let's mask the edges of this drawing paper using a masking tape to prevent the graphite from spilling over the borders. I drew the outline using the grid method and you can find the detailed step by step process from making the grid to outlining on my Patreon profile. Link is in the description. Okay, so let's start the shading process and I'm starting the process by filling the background. And for that, I'm scraping my 8B pencil over the scraper to convert it into powder. Now adding this powder over the top portion and using my bigger size dry brush to blend it into its place. After adding one layer, the background is still looking a bit dull. So I'm layering more graphite to achieve a pitch black shade. The lower portion of the background looks a bit patchy to me. So I'm using a clean tissue paper and going over the required portions to achieve a blended look. Okay, so let's move on to the dog and I'm firstly darkening the left ear portion using my 8B pencil as it's darker in the reference image. Now let's start the next process and I decided to add a 3D base layer in the whole dog. And for that, I'm scrapping my 8B pencil and now dipping my medium size dry brush and shading the required portions. Use a very small amount of the leftover powder to shade the lighter areas in between the darker ones. Layer more powder onto the darker portions to achieve the required depth. Keep on layering the graphite until you are satisfied with the whole 3D base. Now let's move on to the detailing process and as always I'm using my flat tip mono zero eraser. I'm placing the sharp edge of my eraser on the bottom end of the ear and now flicking it upwards. This will help you in achieving a brighter stroke with a very fine end. I'm layering more strokes in the same direction to achieve the denser look. Now let's change the direction of the strokes to define the upper outline of the ear. The process of flicking your pencil is the same as we followed earlier but make sure to keep the direction of fur in mind to mimic the natural flow of them. Notice that I'm also varying the pressure on my eraser to achieve a mixture of brighter and softer strokes. Keep on adding these fur strokes to cover the whole upper portion of the ear. Now let's make some strokes even more shiny and for that I'm shifting towards my electric eraser. I'm going over some of the previous strokes and look how bright they have started to look. Notice that I'm also adding some new strokes to give the area a more natural look. Now let's move on to the next portion of the ear and I'm following the similar back and forth motions to add these individual strokes. The only difference here is that I'm increasing the length of these strokes as this portion has longer fur. The rest of the ear only has brighter strokes at the bottom. So I'm adding them on the required portion. And by the way you can get access to our premium content and support this channel through Patreon. You can sign up through different membership levels and get access to all the outline and grid references etc. We have an ever growing library of hundreds of exclusive and real time tutorials and you will also get access to 4 new tutorials every month. You can also post your artworks in our active community of patrons and participate in our weekly critique sessions where I give my honest and positive critics on your artworks. So you can improve your skills and get better with your drawing. Visit the link in description and become a premium member today. It has always been my goal to provide free tutorials and information on drawing and art related tools to the general public. And keeping with that theme I like to thank all these incredible individuals who backed our channel on Patreon last month. Their generous support enabled me to produce this free tutorial for all of you guys. Ok so now let's move on to the forehead portion and as we know the center of the forehead is where the fur gradually flows in two opposite directions. So by keeping this in mind I'm firstly adding these straight strokes and then gradually changing the direction while flicking my eraser to achieve curved strokes. While working on the right side I'm flicking my eraser towards the right to achieve tilted strokes. Similarly for the left side I'm moving my hand slightly towards the left while flicking to achieve the required result. Make sure to keep your mono zero eraser clean and sharp at all times during this erasing process. By rubbing it vertically on sandpaper you'll achieve a sharp corner all around the tip. That is perfect for adding thin highlights and you also don't have to sharpen the tip again and again. Just rotate the eraser and keep erasing until all the sharp corners are used. Keep on adding denser strokes for the lighter areas to achieve a shiny look. And for the darker portion increase the distance between the strokes to achieve the required 3D effect. Also notice that I'm not going over the darker patches to achieve a more realistic looking fur. Okay so now let's add some brighter strokes and for that I'm using my electric eraser. I'm going over previous strokes along with adding some new ones especially along the upper edge of the forehead to achieve a furry look. I'm continuing to add highlights using a mono zero eraser. Just like the way I was adding earlier. Just keep the size and direction of these strokes in mind to achieve realistic results. I'm also going over the previous strokes to make them look even more detailed and realistic. Notice that I'm changing the direction and adding the slightly straight strokes of bigger length for the area on the left side of the eye. Okay so now I'm filling the right side of the face by using the same flicking stroke technique. For the left eye I'm reducing the size of these strokes and filling the area with dense fur. Also notice that I'm keeping the pressure high to achieve slightly thick and bright strokes. The fur near the tip of the nose is quite thick. So I'm adding these strokes close together to achieve the required look. Now moving on to the left cheek and we can see that this portion has slightly wavy fur. So for that I'm carefully adding the mixture of concave and convex lines or strokes to achieve this wave pattern. Make sure to join these strokes together carefully so that it can look like one wave stroke instead of intersected ends. Keep on adding these strokes until the whole portion is filled with the required wavy strokes. And look how realistic the cheek has started to look. Okay so now let's add life to the eye and for that I'm firstly using the sharp edge of my flat tip mono zero eraser and adding this curved stroke on the upper eyelid. I'm also picking up the excessive graphite from the tear duct portion and look how the small highlight made it look shiny in no time. I'm adding the similar curved stroke on the waterline as well. Just like the way I added earlier. I'm adding another layer on the cheeks by moving my hand in back and forth motions. I'm now adding some thicker fur strokes to define the shape of the face by keeping the pressure high on my eraser. When you have the basic shape now let's blend the barrier that has been created between the lighter and darker portion. And for that I'm reducing the pressure on my eraser and adding these thin strokes by flicking my eraser towards the right side. You can also extend the previous fur strokes on the cheeks to achieve realistic results. Moving on to the right ear and I'm following the similar method of adding fur I followed earlier for the left side. Keep on relating to the reference image to make sure you are on the right track. I almost forgot to add the details on the left eye so I'm adding them right now. For that I'm darkening the eye first using my 8B pencil to achieve the required 3D base. And now I'm lightening this right side of the iris using my sharp tip mono zero eraser by keeping the pressure very low. This will add some dimension to the iris. Now I'm defining the outline of the lower lid by using my sharp tip 8B pencil. And look how crisp the eye has started to look. Ok so now I'm adding these teeny tiny dots in this lighter portion using the sharp tip of my electric eraser very carefully. The fur right below the lower lid seems a bit dull to me. So I'm flicking my pencil downwards and adding these small strokes in between the lighter ones. Ok so now let's add the reflection of light in the iris. And I'm creating this small dot first using my sharp tip electric eraser. And now extending it to create this irregular shape. I'm also adding this small stroke beneath the highlight we have just added to add more details to the iris. Moving on to the right side and I'm following the similar method of adding fur using a mono zero eraser just like the way I did for the left side. The only difference here is that slightly less light is reaching the right side making the fur appear less bright. So I'm keeping the pressure on my eraser low. I'm also adding less layers of these strokes to achieve the required results. Keep on adding the highlights on the eye as well just like the way we have added earlier for the left one. Now continue adding wavy strokes for the cheeks using the same flat tip mono zero eraser. Ok so now moving on to the mouth area under the nose and the fur here becomes a bit shorter in length. So I'm reducing the size of these strokes but increasing the pressure to achieve a brighter look. Do not overlap these strokes over the darker mouth portion as it will disturb the face proportions and features. I'm layering more strokes over the left side to achieve the required brighter fur effect. Now let's add a band of fur strokes on this lighter portion right below the darker lips area. I'm only adding these small strokes over the lighter portion and slightly extending them upwards and downwards to achieve a realistic look. For the chin portion I'm increasing the distance between the strokes along with gradually increasing the size. Now let's top this area with some bigger size fur and for that I'm adding these strokes on the upper and lower portion of the lips. As this right side is relatively darker than the left one so it's time to incorporate the darker fur strokes to mimic the shadowed effect. And for that I'm using my 8B pencil and firstly going over and around the eye just like the way I did for the left one. Now let's add depth to the fur on the right side of the face and I'm using the same 8B pencil with a sharp tip and going in between the lighter strokes. Notice that I'm only going over the darker portions and flicking my pencil very carefully. I'm also adding some highlights on the right eye using my erasers just like the way I did earlier for the left side. Moving on to the nose and let's add the texture and depth on it first using an 8B pencil. I'm moving my hand in small circular motions and keeping the pressure very low to achieve a smooth base. Coming back to the nose and now it's time to make it look shiny and 3D and for that I'm using my sharp tip electric eraser. I'm adding these small dots in between the darker ones very carefully and then using the same electric eraser without turning it on to add softer highlights. I'm also adding these random shapes on the lower portion of the nostrils as well. Let's add some final touches to the nose and look how beautiful it has started to look. Okay so now let's move on to the next portion and I'm adding these longer fur strokes using my flat tip mono zero eraser. Make sure to keep the natural flow of fur in mind while adding these strokes or keep on relating to the reference image to achieve required texture. I'm changing the length and direction of these strokes as too much uniformity in such textures make the area look flat. Also notice that I'm layering more strokes over the lighter portions to achieve the required results. Moving on to the collar of the dog and I'm carefully picking up the graphite starting from the left side. I'm only going over the lighter portion and leaving the darker strokes and outlines untouched to create some dimensions. Notice that I'm gradually decreasing the pressure on my eraser as I move towards the right to create the perfect gradient look. I'm now increasing the pressure and picking up the graphite from this metallic ring of the tag. Now let's add life to the tag and I'm focusing on the upper portion by maintaining relatively higher pressure and then reducing it as I move downwards. Okay so let's move on to the body portion and the process here is also the same as we followed earlier for the fur on the face. The only difference is that the fur here is longer than the face. So I'm increasing the length of these strokes to achieve the required texture. I'm layering more strokes for the left side and then gradually increasing the distance between them as we move towards the right. Keep on adding these strokes until the whole body portion is filled. When the base of the fur is done, now it's time to add some bright individual strokes and for that I'm using my sharp tip electric eraser. I'm gradually flicking my eraser and adding these thin yet sharp strokes to add more dimension to the whole fur texture. The collar is looking a bit dull and less detailed to me so I'm adjusting it using my graphite pencils. Okay so let's move on to a very interesting part which is the viscous and for that I'm using a flat tip electric eraser and adding these longer strokes. I'm starting from the base and gradually flicking my eraser as I move away from the mouth portion to avoid blunt ends and also keep the length and direction of these strokes random to achieve realistic results. Now continue adding viscous strokes for the chin and right side of the face. Notice that I'm keeping the pressure on my eraser variable to achieve brighter and softer strokes which help in creating a 3D texture effectively. Some of these strokes are looking wide to me so to adjust them I'm adding the darker strokes right beside them using a B pencil. This will make them look thin and sharp in no time. Now let's add some irregular shapes onto the tag to create the required metallic texture. And with this last step we are done with this super easy dog drawing. Creating these free tutorials needs a significant amount of time and energy. So if you found this one valuable please show your support by liking the video. Your support keeps me inspired to bring you more creative content. So thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.