Once you’ve trained your eye to see three simple shapes, you can easily draw any dog from any angle. This process is a lot like training your dog, because you have to be patient and let mistakes happen.
You can draw most dog breeds with these three shapes.
When Reggie was young, we enrolled in a Civilized Canine class to learn some leash manners.
“How do I teach Reggie to walk like a gentleman on a leash?” I asked the trainer.
“Let him sniff and explore,” she told me. “Taking a dog on a walk and not letting them sniff around is like going to Disneyland but not riding any rides.”
So I let him sniff. Instead trying to train him walk straight, I let him do what comes naturally to dogs. He’d stroll alongside me, sniff a mailbox or two, and I’d feed him tiny pieces of hot dogs and tell him he was a good boy. This worked well for many walks, until we crossed paths with neighbors and their poodle. To say he lost his cool would be putting it mildly.
When we went back to class the next week, I was frustrated. “He did great the first few times, then forgot everything!”
“Well, he’s not a robot,” our instructor said. “When your parents told you to do something do you do it perfectly every time?
That’s where the patience part comes in. Whether you’re drawing or training a dog, you have to allow a bit of room for errors. Dogs aren’t robots, and neither are we. Somedays we need time to sniff some flowers, and eat a treat, and explore shapes without pressure to get things right.
Congrats to Reggie for learning how to walk on a leash without acting like a maniac (most of the time — remember, not a robot). And congrats to you for drawing a challenging, and incredibly fun subject!
✏️ In the video
We’ll observe and draw my variety pack, Charles, Reggie, and Vigo! I’ll explain and demonstrate (with the actual dogs) what I’m looking for while sketching, so I can capture their personalities on my paper.
