Drawing Dogs in Crayon

It turns out you can capture a dog’s delightful essence using only a single material. I unleashed my Neocolor II crayons¹ to draw our daily reference dogs this week — what a treat it was!

The perfect canine crayon color pack!

Prompt

Create a canine-inspired color palette using only one or two types of materials. I highly recommend Neocolor II’s if you have them, but if not, this is also fun with whatever is on hand!

Raw sienna, golden ochre, beige, sky blue, and sepia,

A few ideas to keep in mind when drawing dogs in color:

When looking at a dog, which color do you notice at first glance? Do they lean more yellow, red, or blue? Most dogs’ coats are pretty close to one of those three primary colors, so figuring that out first is an excellent place to start.

Curious about color-testing? I share some insights in this video.

I like using a mix of muted and saturated crayons to create a range of colors. Make sure to include at least one or two very dark colors to use for details and tone.

There’s a lovely library of color videos to watch here.

Take risks and break rules! It’s okay to add materials later. A purposeful color palette is an entry point, and one less thing to think about so you can enjoy the delightful process of drawing dogs!

Wondering how to weave a new color into your practice? Watch this!

I can’t wait to see your canine colors. You never know who you’ll inspire by sharing your choices! Here’s the chat thread for sharing your canine color pack. Be sure to bring them to our next drawing session…

We’re drawing with THE Jason Chatfield on Tuesday!

I made a Google Drive folder, so you can drop dog photos right in if you haven’t shared them with me already.

P.S. We also have a Soundtrack Session this afternoon at 5pm EST that’s open to all. Can’t wait to draw with you soon!