you’re going to think this is a very random post but oh well.
You love your golden retriever more than anyone loves their actual family member. No judgement, we get it. So when he does that head-tilt thing, you think, “I need this moment forever.”
But photos aren’t always enough, right?
Last winter, I tried drawing my cousin’s dog as a Christmas gift. Total disaster. The nose looked like a potato, the ears were giving “sad triangle,” and don’t even get me started on the paws.
Real talk: It can be really funny learning how to draw a dog of course.
I put these 15 steps together so that you will be able to draw without picking up a pencil since you were in middle school art class.
Your dog deserves better than this pototo!!!
#1: How to Draw a Dog in Simple Steps (Even If You Think You Can’t Draw)
Have you ever seen your golden retriever tilt her head to the side at you and thought to yourself “I just need to draw that face forever” ? Same. This past Thanksgiving I decided to draw my cousin’s dog and it turned out more like a potato with ears.
Begin by drawing a small dot. No, really. A small dot. This will be your starting point for the shape of the head. Then curve a half circle arc with your pencil (preferably a HB or 2B pencil) to create the skull, adding the snout which will be a bit pushed forward and a bit down.
The ear comes next, that long, floppy drop which golden retriever moms will immediately recognise falling softly from behind the eye line.
Why this works: It is kind of nice to build the bird in stages ie: head, neck, chest, back legs etc. This way you are not overwhelmed.
Next, I sketched the tail of the bird, curving gently upwards at the back. I started off fairly loosely, then when I was happy with the overall shape, I went over the tail again with a 0.5mm fineliner pen, darkening it.
If you can, choose a nice smooth white cardstock instead of regular printer paper. The lines won’t drag and you will be able to make your curves much neater.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @doityourselfies
#2: How to Draw a Dog’s Head in Profile — The Tilted View That Makes Your Drawing Come Alive
Maybe you know that look your golden gives you when you eat the last chip. Their head is turned slightly to the side and their ears are perked. That’s exactly the look we are capturing here.
Let’s start with the head. I usually begin with a very soft circular base (very light graphite – HB pencil) and this is the skull shape. It’s actually rounder than you think.
Step 4. Add two triangular ears. One up and one a little forward. Now draw a small circle below the big one so that it covers the front of it. Keep the pressure on the pencil barely there.
Note that the snout circle is lower than the center of the circle.
My favorite part is the bottom right panel, where I added a few short, flicked pencil strokes around the cheeks and chin to suggest the texture of the fur. I added three little curved lines near the eye to give the smiley face so much personality.
Work light before dark and build pressure last. You’ll have control over depth without muddy lines.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @especiallyartsy
#3: How to Draw a Corgi: The Heart-Shaped Secret That Makes It So Easy
You know that moment when your golden retriever plops down on the floor and gives you a look with those big eyes and you just wish you could capture that look on paper?
This corgi tutorial is going to change your world.
Start with a heart. Draw it in very light pencil, as the rest of the dog’s body is going to be built around it. The chest and belly of a corgi are literally shaped like a heart, and once you start seeing it you’ll be unable to unsee it.
Add a rounded rectangle on top of the heart for the head. Add 2 pointed triangular ears on each side. Corgis have tall ears, so make sure to include them. Lastly, add 4 small rounded paw shapes at the bottom.
i’m back. i grabbed a fine-tip black ink pen so i could trace all my final lines and add in the face details (2 dot eyes, a curved smile, tiny fur texture lines on the chest.
Colored with golden brown and white markers or colored pencils. The face is brown, but the chest is left white and the paws are a mix of both.
Shade under the body with a cool gray (tinted) to give your little one a grounded feel.
The heart-as-body trick means you always nail the proportions — which means less erasing, less frustration, more actually finishing the drawing.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @focusandcrooks
#4: How to Draw a Dog’s Face with Charcoal — Getting the Eyes and Nose Right
Your golden retriever just tilted her head at you and you thought to yourself, I need to capture that look forever.
That soft, soulful expression is exactly what this charcoal sketch nails. The artist used vine charcoal and compressed charcoal on smooth white drawing paper to build those deep, dark eyes and that heavy, wet-looking nose. The face leans slightly forward, like your pup is sniffing right through the page.
I started out with a light vine charcoal sketch to block in the basic shape of the head. I used compressed charcoal to draw the darkest areas — the pupils, the nostrils, and the shadow under the muzzle. The whiskers were drawn last using a white charcoal pencil or a kneaded eraser pulled across the face in thin strokes.
More fool-proof (and less time consuming) is to apply a dark charcoal (or similar) over the whole of the white paper to create a glossy eye effect and then leave the rest of the page untouched with blending tools.
Shade the ears heavy and loose. Keep the muzzle center almost white. That feature — high contrast between the nose bridge and cheeks — gives the face depth, and makes the whole drawing feel three-dimensional instead of flat.
Work from the top down, so you don’t smudge what you’ve already done.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @mell.art
#5: How to Draw a Dog’s Face With Colored Pencils (Step-by-Step Realism)
Have you ever had your golden retriever tilt their head at you and your heart just melts? Yeah, this technique is all about that!
This drawing shows a dog portrait mid-progress — the left side finished, the right side still in sketch form. And that split view? It’s actually the most useful thing you can study.
Start with a light pencil sketch outlining the entire face before adding any color. The artist here used masking tape to secure the paper flat on the table which made it so much easier to keep the edges crisp.
Pour la fourrure utilisez de briques rouges marron, de bouton vert, et noir pour tracer un coussin. Appliquez briques noires de façon souple et cuivrées avec des briques gris clair pour donner l’effet de l’eau.
This is the key: work the darkest areas first. ie: eyes and nose. once those feel right the rest of the lighter fur around them will come more naturally.
And I have a peach/skin tone pencil that I draw under the white muzzle area, so it’s not paper-white. That’s what makes it look real and not flat.
Keep a reference photo taped right beside your drawing. The artist clearly did here, and look at those eyes.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @georgieturnerartist
#6: How to Draw a Beagle Puppy Step by Step (Even If You’ve Never Drawn a Dog Before)
I’m sure you know that moment when you’re just sitting there with your puppy and you’re like “I NEED to draw this right now!” Yeah, same.
Start out with basic shapes. Circle for the head, a rectangle for the body, and trapezoid shapes for the legs. It makes it easier to see how everything fits together by overlaying the picture in red as shown in the image above.
Add a little extra roundness to everything. Beagles and goldens both carry that chubby-puppy energy, so push your shapes slightly rounder than feels natural. That’s what makes the final drawing feel alive instead of stiff.
For shading, use a gray marker or charcoal to block in dark zones such as ears, back and eye patches. Then pull back the highlights with a white gel pen.
I am not trying to tell you to go crazy with the dark line, but to draw it with a confident, but loose and not overly careful hand. Just try to make the dogs look like they are moving, even if their movement is imperfect.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @jenja.1993
#7: How to Draw a Cute Sitting Cat (That Looks Just Like Your Golden’s Best Friend)
My niece asked me to draw her cat one afternoon, and I freaked out because I hadn’t drawn anything since middle school. Then I found this 4-step grid method, and it saved me!
Start by drawing a vertical rectangle divided in half by a horizontal line. This line is very important as it tells you where the head ends and the body begins. Draw a round head shape sitting on top of the vertical line. Add two smaller ovals for the chubby cheeks.
The third step will be even more fun because we will be adding more details. Add pointed ears and tiny paws hugging the center line. A tail peeking out from the right side. And also add a bell collar detail which should be on the rectangle’s midpoint. Use the grid line as a guide.
Step four: Trace over the entire drawing with a fine-tip black marker. Add some of the fur with short quick strokes. Erase your grid. Dot two small orange hearts on the cheeks for blush.
Grab a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and a Micron 05 pen. The grid will keep your proportions in check, even if you’re a beginner!
I like to draw the face last. I feel it’s less scary to think about the placement of the eyes, nose and mouth when I have the body shape finished.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @moccameenn
#8: How to Draw a Basset Hound Face (Those Iconic Droopy Ears!)
You know the face your golden makes when she drops her head in your lap and just stares at you? This is the energy this sketch has. Enjoy!
The dog in this portrait is a basset hound with an exaggerated head, large, droopy nose, and ears that almost touch the ground. The artist uses simple pencil lines with light shading to give weight and depth to the ears.
Begin by drawing a large oval for the head, then drop down two long U-shaped curves on each side for the ears. They should be at least 1.5x the height of the head. Next draw a wide, bulbous nose in the dead center, and two small circles for the eyes on the top of the head. Draw a jowl line curving under the chin.
Want to give your puppy a sad look? Shade the ear with a diagonal pencil stroke going down – it will pull down the eye, and sell the droopiness instantly.
Let your pencil grip be loose. Too firm a grip will result in sharp lines and that is anything but what Basset Hounds are.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @kristin_roskifte
#9: How to Draw a Dog as a Snake — Yes, Really
Your Golden Retriever probably has a “weird” lounging pose where he looks totally boneless, as if he forgot he has legs. That is the snake dog.
This style from the chart uses an elongated, low-sending body with a curved tail sweep, no legs underneath and just a smooth belly line, and head remains the same as the dog style, two perky ears, a simple snout, and two dot eyes.
Sketch your pose with an HB pencil first. Draw a long S-curve spine as your backbone guide. Then draw the rest of the body using soft, rounded lines, keeping the belly close to the ground.
The tail is curled high and wide. It takes almost as much space as the body itself. It is the tail that tells the story.
The neck stays short and thick. It connects directly into a slightly tilted head. I inked it with a 0.5 fine liner and erased my pencil lines.
Keep the silhouette clean. No fur texture, no extra detail — the snake dog lives or dies by its outline clarity. Simple shapes, feature-benefit-payoff: clean curves give you a readable pose, which means anyone can recognize your dog drawing at a glance.
And honestly? This one’s weirdly fun to practice.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @nethrix
#10: How to Draw Black Fur With Pastels (Yes, You Can Actually Do This)
You know how your golden retriever flops down in the sun and his hair looks like actual honey? I’ve always been wary of trying to capture that depth in black… It’s a challenge I’ve avoided for quite some time.
Here is a portrait made with soft pastels on toned beige paper. I love the beige tone of the paper, because it will act as my mid tone and I don’t have to start from scratch with white paper.
Start by painting with a mixture of dark charcoal gray and ivory black pastel in the direction the fur is growing. Use short, flicking strokes. Then blend in cool blue-gray over the highlights on the ears and brow to give the fur a shiny appearance.
Here the eyes are painted with burnt sienna and raw umber. The eyes are the focal point.
Keep this in mind: Never blend your black fur with your finger! Use a tortillon instead, it keeps the strokes crisp, and avoids any smudging.
I used a kneaded eraser to lift the pastel to add the whiskers around the muzzle, the little white chin tuft, and some light flecks to the nose.
I like to go dark then light then dark again. This is what gives my black fur some dimension.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @nsartwork000
#11: How to Draw Two Dogs at Once Without Losing Your Mind (Or Your Pencil)
Have you ever had a dog like my golden retriever who will not sit still long enough to snap a picture? Here is the perfect moment.
These two portraits are drawn with colored pencils and charcoal on smooth white cardstock. I like combining the two mediums as the charcoal adds a soft furry texture to the black and white dog’s coat, and the colored pencils add warm burnt sienna, raw umber and tan tones to the beagle mix’s coat.
Start with your eyes. Always. The darkest darks should be laid down first using a black charcoal pencil, and then you build out with lighter strokes.
For my tongue I’ve used a Crimson red pencil lightly, and just a touch of Salmon pink blended over top of it. This is what gives it that wet look.
I use a Prismacolor Scholar pencil sharpener (the green one is to the right in the photo) to keep my tips sharp enough to give fine detail in the fur around the muzzle and brows. I use a sharp tip, light pressure, and a few short strokes to add fur to avoid overworking the paper.
We were told to work the dogs one at a time, and to finish one dog before starting the other, so that the colors would be the same, and our brains wouldn’t get as confused.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @rightside.of.elizas.brain
#12: How to Draw Two Dogs Playing Together (Capturing Dynamic Interaction)
Your golden is always tangled up with the neighbor’s dog — noses bumping, paws everywhere, pure chaos. That’s exactly the energy this drawing captures.
This drawing shows two short-haired dogs in the midst of a play-fight. One dog stands dominantly and has his tail raised, while the other is looking up at him with a loose collar around his neck. The whole scene is sketched on a patch of grass, and dramatic cast shadows are visible under the animals.
Begin by drawing with two HB pencils, one 4B. Begin by drawing the standing dog and work out its spine line from the neck to the tail. Then start the lying dog lower down, his head is tilted back at about 45 degrees. Add the collar detail to the second dog with a thin curved rectangle and a small clasp circle.
Build up the shade of the bodies overlapping, making sure it’s very dark where they overlap as that’s what makes them contrast more with the background. Very lightly sketch in grass blades last using quick upward flicks of your 4B.
The fur texture on the lower dog’s chest comes from short, circular strokes — feature being the directional pencil marks, benefit being realistic volume, payoff being a drawing that actually looks like your dog.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @susy.lertora.art
#13: How to Draw a Running Dog Using Simple Circle Shapes
Okay so you know how your golden is always mid zoomie, ears flopping, paws flying everywhere? That is the energy this tutorial captures.
Draw three overlapping ovals: a large one for the chest and two smaller ones for the hindquarters and head. These are your circles. These circles will be your skeleton.
Next, sketch in four loose leg lines angling forward and backward to nail down your horse’s mid-run pose. Add in a fluffy triangular tail that shoots upward at roughly 45 degrees. Use short, feathery pencil strokes to add in the horse’s ears, snout, and chest fur.
This is a great way to draw! The circle method gives accurate body proportions so your dog will look like a dog and not a potato with legs.
You will start out by using a light HB pencil to make the basic shapes and then go over with the lines with a 0.5mm fineliner pen to make the lines crisper.
And if you’ve got this running pose down pat you’ll definitely want to try sketching your pooch from different angles.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @theodoodles
#14: How to Capture That “Happy Dog” Expression (Mouth Open, Eyes Soft)
The Golden does that thing where she looks up at you with her mouth open, her ears flopped sideways, and a soft squint in her eyes. I have that photo just waiting for the right sketch.
Start with a light gray marker or Procreate brush to rough in the snout shape first — not the outline, the middle. Caleb Freese’s technique here builds from the nose outward, which is why the muzzle feels so alive. Use hatching strokes in short, curved lines to suggest fur texture without drawing every single hair.
To give more color to the dark patches around the ears, lay down a mid-tone gray and go over it with dense crosshatching in black only where the shadows are darkest. Leave the chin and muzzle almost white, in order to give more expression to the face.
keep your pen pressure loose. down below is better as a few lines fur than tight and controlled.
And the collar? draw it as a broken circular line, dogs never sit still enough to draw perfect circles!
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @zoooooooooom
#15: How to Draw a Fluffy Black Puppy With Colored Pencils and Markers
Your golden girl has that same “I’m-just-gonna-flop-here” energy — paws stretched out, eyes locked on you, totally unbothered. That’s the exact moment this drawing captures.
This piece shows a dark, fluffy puppy lying on a sandy surface with a blue sky behind him. It is done with Prismacolor Premier colored pencils and Prismacolor markers on tan-toned paper. It shows just how easy picking the right background paper can be. The warm background helps me with the lights and shadows. I don’t have to worry about fighting with the white paper.
A sketch in black and dark brown Prismacolor pencils was used to block in the fur. White and PC-938 White Prismacolor pencils were used to fill in the highlights on the chest and paw. The yellow eyes were filled with PC-1034 Goldenrod Prismacolor pencils with a black pupil.
You have to “draw” the fur in short strokes, always following the direction the fur grows. Otherwise, the result might just look like a texture.
After doing the sky (the blue marker), I layed down a golden tan marker so the marker can “show” the sandy ground. After that I did another layer of colored pencils to add more details.
Make sure your pencils have sharp tips or you will end up with muddy fur instead of fluffy fur! It’s all gone with the softness the artist provided.
📸 Photo credit: Instagram @mikelovesdrawing
The One Sketch Mistake That Makes Every Dog Look “Off” (And How to Fix It)
Okay, real talk — most people start drawing a dog by outlining the head first. That’s the trap. I used to do this too, and my dogs always ended up looking like weird potato blobs with ears.
To begin, a good place to start is the rib cage and hip circle. Draw two ovals that overlap. The bigger oval represents the chest and the smaller one is for the hips. The rest of the body can come off of these two shapes, such as the head, legs, and tail.
Not long ago, my friend showed me this technique and I fell in love. My golden retriever sketches went from “what is that creature” to actual goldens.
The other big pitfall? Drawing all four legs at the same angle. Real dogs plant their weight unevenly. Shift one front leg slightly forward and watch your whole drawing feel alive.
Also, the placement of the eyes can trip you up. The eyes on a dog sit much lower on the skull then we normally envision. Move them down and your portrait will stop looking so cartoon-ish.
Your Home Deserves Better Than a Muddy Mess
pick one mat. try it for a week. you’ll see the difference before you even notice it, no more sidestepping the wet, grimy spot by the door every morning.
Your dog’s golden is not going anywhere. Neither is the mud. But you can stop fighting it and let the mat do the work.
And obviously, my favorite part of all of this is that a really cute, easy to clean mat protects my whole entryway from showing wear and tear! It means my space is always looking picture-perfect!
Which one did you notice first, the pretty one or the heavy duty one?
Amr Mohsen is a software engineer who traded his keyboard for a leash — at least on weekends. His love for dogs inspired him to share what he learns as a dog owner and enthusiast, bringing a detail-oriented, research-driven perspective to every article he writes. If it’s about dogs, he’s probably already looked it up twice.
