How to Draw an Anime Dog
In this tutorial on how to draw an anime dog, you will see how the style of drawing anime animals differs from the realistic style.
In addition, I will give you additional tips and tricks that will not only help you learn how to draw anime animals, but will also generally improve your skills in the field of fine art.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Steps on how to draw an anime dog
- Alternative method
- Additional content
- Conclusion
How to Draw an Anime Dog: Introduction
Now I will show you how to draw an anime dog. There is much anime where dogs are the main characters. This animal always lives next to a person, provides assistance, shows its devotion and other qualities.
In the picture, you see an ordinary anime dog. This character was created for anime or manga, but it looks quite realistic. The dog has a realistic muzzle, the correct proportions of the body, and a fairly realistic color.
The lesson includes nine simple steps. As you progress through the lesson, you will be given small hints. This will help you achieve great results. Be attentive, and accurate. Memorize all drawing steps. This will help you in the future when you want to draw the dog again.
In addition, at the end of this lesson you will find another instruction that will help you consolidate the acquired knowledge, and additional PDF materials will help you not to lose this lesson even if you do not have access to the Internet.
And of course, the second instruction in drawing an anime dog will help you delve deeper into the topic and sketch a variety of cute anime animals on paper without any difficulties.
Anime Dog Drawing Tutorial
Materials
- Pencil
- Paper
- Eraser
- Coloring supplies
Time needed: 25 minutes
How to Draw an Anime Dog
- Sketch the large anime head and body.
To begin, lay down the foundation of the anime dog by drawing two large connected shapes: one circle for the head and an oval or bean shape for the body. The head should be slightly bigger than usual for realism, since anime-style animals often have larger heads. At this stage, it is very important to correctly outline the basic shapes and use very light lines, since mistakes at this step are much more difficult to correct later.
- Draw the large anime eyes and eyebrows.
Next, begin shaping the dog’s face by sketching the features. Draw two large oval eyes placed wide apart. Above the eyes, add small curved marks to indicate eyebrows. Keep the eyes oversized, as this is a key anime trait. Be sure the eyes are at the same level.
- Sketch the dog’s nose, mouth, and cheeks.
With the eye positions set, add a small triangle or oval shape for the nose, positioned between the eyes and slightly lower. From there, sketch a couple of simple curved lines for the mouth. To make the face look fluffy, draw short tufts of fur along the cheeks.
- Add the pointed ear shapes.
Ears give the anime dog its character and covey emotions, so sketch two large triangular ears on top of the head. Make them tall and slightly pointed, but not sharp. Add inner ear details with smaller triangles inside each ear. Try to draw them very symmetrical. Add some fur details inside the inner outlines.
- Draw the curled anime tail.
Anime dogs often have tails that are more exaggerated and larger than real ones, so don’t be afraid to make it very fluffy. To draw this anime tail, sketch a rounded, spiral-like curve. Use jagged, wavy edges to convey fur texture. After that, draw the fur on the chest of your anime dog.
- Sketch the front leg outlines.
With the head and tail are complete, sketch two smooth legs under the front of the body. Avoid too much detail, in anime style, paws are usually simplified into basic oval-like shapes. To give the legs a more anime look, you need to indicate the toes with very short curves.
- Add the rear legs and paws.
To finish the body structure, sketch the hind legs near the back of the dog. Use the same approach as with the front legs, drawing simple shapes tapering to rounded paws. Anime-style animals often have very minimalistic details, so don’t try to draw extra details or muscle lines.
- Remove any remaining overlapping shapes.
Remove the overlapping lines inside the body where the head and body shapes intersect, as well as the extra sketch lines around the tail and legs. Clean up the facial guides, if you used them for eye placement, leaving only the final large ovals for the anime eyes. Once the extra lines are gone, trace over the remaining outline with darker strokes, trying to give them real anime look.
- Fill the anime dog with flat tones.
A light brown or cream shade is a great choice for the fur, while the inner ears and belly can be colored slightly lighter. The eyes should be filled with a dark tone such as black or deep brown, then small white highlights can be added to give them the shiny anime look. You can also add soft blush spots on the cheeks.
Bonus Tutorials
Alternative Anime Dog Drawing Tutorial
Here you can see a slightly different style and a different angle from which we see the anime dog. Additionally, you can see a different sequence of steps. Try to draw an anime dog using this method too, to deepen and improve your skills.
As you can see, here the drawing process starts with basic outlines, and gradually moves into details.
First, sketch the outlines of the torso and head, then outline the details of the face and ears. Then add the limbs and fur lines on the torso. After that, remove all unnecessary lines and color the anime dog drawing.
Easy Technique
To draw this anime dog, sketch the outline of the head first, including the ears. Next, connect the neck and body with smooth curved lines. After that, add the legs with short paws.
Continue by drawing the tail in a spiral shape and then refine the line of the back and chest. Place the facial features such as the eye, nose, and mouth, keeping them simple in the anime style.
Once the outline is complete, add color with a two-tone scheme for the fur to make the anime dog stand out.
Summary
So, drawing anime animals, especially dogs, is a very simple process. Just like in drawing other animals. You can start with something general, then gradually go deeper into the details, or draw the details separately, as in the first instruction.
The main differences between anime animals and realistic ones are about the same as drawing anime characters and real people. This is primarily a deliberate simplification in certain places, anime shadows and, of course, facial expressions.
