Doodle Of Boredom

How To: Draw A [Cartoon] Dog

So this time around it’s a dog, or more specifically, a Labrador Retriever. Being more of a cartoon, the anatomy will be a bit stylized and slightly exaggerated, and the face will be a bit more expressive than usual.

So here are the basic shapes to start with on this three quarter pose. Note the extra line that cuts through the “front” of the larger oblong shape. This will be the chest area, which tapers off to the hindquarters.

So some basic outline segments are filled in here to get a feel for the view of the animal. In this pose, the dog is alert/alarmed because of a specific sound, hence one of the ears is raised.

Next comes some framework so we can plant the dog in this space, as well as some basic shapes to layout the start of the face. Now it’s established that the dog is only standing on three feet, with the front leg raised, and keep note that the upper body is shifted to the dog’s right, so that he seems to be balancing his weight on the one front leg.

Now that the framework’s established, you can start fleshing out the legs, and completing the details of the face. Note the lower lip of the dog is very shallow, and sits slightly above the lip of the drooping muzzle. Also note the exaggerated eyebrows of the dog, which are similar to real dogs that add the expressiveness to the face. Also note the line that curves from under the jaw, leading to the lower chest. This adds a bit of a contour to the shape of the dog to accentuate the neck slightly turned.

And now you can add the final touches, such as the toes, filling in the eyes and nose and adding some toning to add depth to the simple drawing. Since a Labrador has pretty short fur throughout most of its body, there won’t be a lot of detailing for that on broad surfaces of the flanks and face, but note that the fur is longest along the neck, tail, joints of the front legs and along the belly leading to the base of the thighs.

And so here you have a quick sketch of a cartoon Labrador.