Learn correct proportion using the grid method to draw dog portraits in pencil.

Learn Correct Proportion With the Grid Method

To draw dogs accurately, you must first get the proper proportion. In other words the basic shape and size must be the same as the original picture you are drawing. Your dog portrait just won't look real if you don't get this important step right.

To do this, I'm going to show you how to use what's called the Grid. Using the grid will make it enormously easier to get the right proportion to your drawing.

Let me says this. There are those who would tell you that using a grid to get the proportion right is some how cheating. I think that's pretty dog-gone arrogant.

Not everyone has the natural talent to get it right with out some tools to do the job.

Is a carpenter cheating when he uses his tape measure?

Or a draftsman making use of a T-Square?

Of course not. So why should drawing dogs be any different.

The grid will give you the correct proportion, which is the foundation of your dog portrait.

Actually, as you use the grid more and more, you will develop a sense of proportion. It will teach you as you use it.

After awhile you may not need the grid, but for now think of it as just another tool.

Making a Grid:

You will need one of those clear,plastic report covers that you can get at any drug store or office supply store, a ruler and a fine tipped, permanent marker.

Starting at the bottom, left hand side of the report cover, make tiny reference marks, with the marker, exactly one inch apart. Make them all the way up the side of the report cover to the top.

Go back down to the lower, right hand side and do the same thing. Make tiny marks one inch apart all the way to the top.

Using your ruler, carefully connect these marks horizontally from the left side of the cover to the right.

Draw these lines carefully, because if your marker wonders even a little, the proportion of your drawing will not be accurate.

Halfway finished.

Now start at the top left of the report cover and make those same tiny reference marks one inch apart all the way across the top edge. Go to the bottom left of the cover and do the same thing. One inch apart all the way across the bottom edge.

With the ruler and marker, carefully connect the marks vertically, from top to bottom.

Finished grid

Take the photo of the dog you want to draw and place it inside the report cover. Secure all four corners with jumbo paper clips so that the picture can not move.

Now, on a piece of 9 X 12 inch Bristol Board, make the exact same grid with one exception. This time instead of the marker, use a sharp pencil.

You will be erasing this grid, so keep the lines very light

Make the grid on the bristol Board the same way you did on your report cover.

Making these grids can be a little time consuming but they will give you the accurate proportion you need.

Start drawing your dog portrait by making an accurate outline.

The first thing to do is find out where on your bristol board to start. If you don't take the time to find that critical starting point, your portrait might be off center.

Or worse, you might run out of room on your paper.

Take your ruler and measure over from the left side of the report cover grid to the first eye. Using this measurement, find the same row of squares on your bristol board grid.

Now, meaure down from the top of the report cover grid to the same eye. Again, use this measurement from the top of the bristol Board. Where the two rows of squares meet, is your starting point.

This is the square where you will begin to draw the first eye of your dog.

Making An Accurate Outline:

Beginning at your starting point, lightly draw the outline of the eye. A 2B or 6B pencil is good for this.

Refer to your report cover. Draw what you see inside the square that contains the eye. Notice on the original photo where each line of the eye crosses the lines of the grid.

The more accurately you do this, the better your finished portrait will look.

Think of each curved line of the dog as hands on a clock. The line curves up at two o'clock and back down at four o'clock and so on.

Keep your pencil lines light. You will be shading and blending all of this later, so no harsh pencil lines.

Outline the iris by using the circle template. If the iris doesn't cross any grid lines, study carefully where it is in the grid block. Draw it at the same place.

If your dog is a side or three quarter view, the iris and pupil will be slightly oval.

Outline the pupil. Don't forget the little reflection in the eye.

Continue outlining the entire eye area inside this first block. Concentrate on where each line of the eye crosses the grid lines.

Carefully erase the grid lines as you go. If you kept your lines light, you will not have to erase most of them. During the shading and blending step you can just blend them into your drawing.

Make sure there are no grid lines showing on your finished dog portrait.

When you have the first eye outlined, go on to the second eye. Measure over from the first eye to the second to get the correct square to put it in.

If your dog has his head tilted, the second eye will not be in the same row of squares as the first. Make sure you start the second eye in the correct square.

The nose and muzzle portion of your drawing is an extension of the dog's eyes. Be sure to tie everything together smoothly.

Refer to the report cover and outline the nose and muzzle. Draw what you see.

The grid will help you draw the different parts of the dog in proportion to each other.

If your dog has his mouth open, pay attention to the detail inside the mouth and outline it. For example the tongue, teeth and jowls.

Draw the outer line of the dog along with the ears and any major hair patterns that you see on the original.

The grid lines have been removed in the next illustrations so that you can see the outline better.

Take a good, close look at your original. Outline any details that you can see. Eventually, with some practice, you will not have to outline every detail. You will be able to see them and draw them.

As with the proper proportion, you will be able to rely less and less on the grid. outline And there you have it. A completed outline with all the correct proportions.

If you have trouble finding any drawing supplies that you need at your local art store, Dick Blick Art Materials has everything you need. It's the only place I shop for supplies.

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