Pet Portraits 101: How to Draw Pets in Pencil

1. Welcome to Pet Portraits 101: Hello and welcome to pet Portrait. It's 101 My name is Laura, and I am a professional pet Portrait artists have been drawing pets four people for over 15 years on that. People often say to me, Haidt it. So I thought I would put together this class to show you classes for you. If you have a little a photograph of your pet and thought, I really want to draw that and or you may be looked at other people's drawings online and thought high. I did, Lady. That s so what I'm gonna do, we gonna go through the sort of a six. We're going to look at the materials we need. We're gonna look at how to choose a really good reference photograph of your pets. And then we're gonna look at fundamental drawing techniques of these, the techniques that you're gonna be able to take on menus for drawing anything. Um, and then we're then gonna go one step further with that, and then I'm gonna show you how to use these techniques. Four drawing for and finally, I'm gonna work for a project with the In this case, it will be a drawing of a dog, Obviously, you know, take your in reference photographs, draw any of your pets or even your your favorite animal. So grab your paper and pencils on. Let's get going. 2. Drawing Supplies for Pencil Pet Portraits: So in this lesson, we're gonna talk about the drawing supplies that you're gonna need to complete this class. And I just want to say, don't get too hung up about all this literally. All you actually need to complete this class is a pencil on some paper. If all you've got is the HB pencil line around and you know it's a printer paper, then just use that because using the techniques that you're gonna learn in this class is still gonna be a to draw yourself a really nice drawing. But what I'm going to get through in this class, if you do want to go out and purchase the new supplies, then I just give you some tips on how to get the ones that will give you the best results. So, first of all, we're gonna talk pencils. Pencils come in a range of different grades varying from nine hate to nine B. Generally, you can get them in sets generally or you can buy them loose on. If you are planning on going out and buying pencils to do this class, I would definitely just recommend buying yourself maybe just two or three Lee's pencils But first of all, what does hate in the B me hate is the hard and hate pencil. They give you a lighter, harder lines on these the pinchers pencils that you would use for your highlights on the paler tones in your pet drawings. You're the B pencils are the black ones. They also softer. So you get dark, hurt softer line on. They are best used. The dark turns on shadows on the numbers. They show you how hard or soft a pencil is. So you're nine b is gonna be very, very, very dark on your nine. Hates is gonna be very, very, very light on. Do you really don't need such extremes just for simply drawing purport tricks? If you are going to go out and buy some pencils? Like I said, I would aim for maybe a hate to be a four b on a six B, But that's not essential. If you only have one pencil, get yourself a to B or a HB, and you will get by justifying and be able to complete the class. Absolutely no boulder. It'll and your second most important thing for your drawings and possibly actually more important than the quality of your pencils is the type of paper years that can very paper varies a lot in quality in weight on in the texture of it, so it can make quite a big difference to your drawings. So paper is weighed in GSM or pines, depending on if you're in the UK or the USA on the higher the number is the heavy of the papers they want to see. Heavier basically means thicker, so you're heavier. Paper will take more pencil layers on its less Kinsey, so you better drawn it and rubber out with that crease in your paper and that sort of thing as well. It's nicer to draw on on gives a nicer, better quality finished to your actual drawing. Sneyd surface paper is better for realistic drawings, and some people do like extra sweet for drawing on. But personally, I find it's just choose me for me, and it doesn't take as many layers a pencil as I would like, So I would recommend a heavyweight car crash paper or hot pressed watercolor paper for pet portrait. It's on when you're if you're going out to buy a paper, get at least a four size because generally the larger you draw, the easier it is then, to fit your fine details in on. If you find your papers a wee bit big, you can always then cut it down to size so as well as the weight of the paper. It's also available in smooth versus rough, as we just discussed a little bit just now. Eso here is just a couple of little examples of the extra differences between Smith and the ref paper. The rough papers more textured on it kind of has gaps in the surface. So when you draw over it with a pencil, I she can see from these examples. You can then see those gaps in the paper so you don't end up with this nice needs or polished finished to your drawings. Obviously, if you prefer to have this more textured look, then go for the rough paper. But this is why I personally prefer smooth paper, because you do. You don't get that that very destructing texture to it. It's a lot more polished finish on easier toe. Add refined details with the drawings, so to summarize for this class, you will need some paper. Like I said, I would recommend a heavyweight Smith's of this cartridge paper or hot press, which is just need surface watercolor paper. A selection of perfect pencils if you just have one, maybe go for TB. If you want to get a selection, grab yourself and hate to be a four B on 60. And as well as that makes you got a pencil shot. No, to keep your pencils nice and shop. Now be easy to get all your good you're on you Nice fine details in a plastic a razor just for rubbing out your lines when you make. If you make mistakes doing your drawing a soft putty arrays that can also be helpful, it's not essential. But it's good for lifting at any highlights and things and removing shadows if you're gonna we've it too dark. It can help with that on. Then last ball a ruler, which is useful for when you come to do your outline. Sketch 3. How to Choose good Pet Portrait reference photos: So in this. Listen, we're gonna talk about reference photographs on drawing from a reference photographs. But she, when you're drawing pits, is a lot easier than drawing from life because you don't have to contend with your subject leaping about on trying to give you licks and kisses on. Of course, you don't have that sort changeable lighting conditions, either. So in this lesson are gonna talk about what makes a good reference photo what makes a good , bad reference photo and then just a few quick tips on how to take your own photographs. So first of all, I want to say you're going to probably look at some of the photos that I've, you know, sort of shows examples of bad references, and you're going to say that they're amazing photos. So I just want to say, just because you look at a photograph, I think it's an amazing Fator. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to make a good reference for a pet portrait drawing , so I will explain the sort of why of that in a second. So just a few tips they before we move on. If you're not sure if your reference is going to make a good photo. Make a black and white copy off it to make it easier to see the different tones on shading that you're going to do when you then turn this reference into a photograph on. Sometimes poor references can be improved by increasing the brightness, or maybe the contrast in a program like Fatal Shop. But when if possible, try and get good references to start with. And obviously, if you're gonna draw your own pets and take your own reference vein toes. If you just want to practice drawing other pets or other animals in general, then there are lots of places you can look online for reference photographs. It's really tempting. But don't just take photographs from Google or Pinterest because if you do, then do decide to go on and show off your faith, your drawings or maybe even trying to sell them. Then you could end up in trouble with copyright, say my favorite copyright freeze. Copyright free sites for reference photographs are unflashy and picks a bait, and you might also want to have a look on Facebook because there's lots and lots of groups on Facebook where photographers are happy to share their fate owes specifically for artists teas on. In that way, you're not gonna get yourself accidentally in trouble with any photographers. So festival will have a look at what makes a good reference photograph. So these inhumane things to remember when you're looking before photos, So make sure your pet is nice and big in the frame. So you've not got this tiny little pet and you can't really see what's going on and see any of the details or anything. Make sure when you're drawing that the whole face is in focus, especially the eyes on the nose. Because these your important features that you're gonna want to get the nice details into that really make your drawing look realistic. Is getting these these important features correct? With all the yet added detail. To make an interesting drawing, you're gonna want a variety of tones and shades. Go in three from your highlights, right? Three T shadows on to go along with that as well. Have a look for a fate A. That's got really nice lighting that makes the details easy to see on. Do you need? You need to have a variety of tones on DSHEA aids. Like I said, Highlights and shadows. But you don't want areas of extreme darkness or lightness, because in that way you're going to leave the details in the dark. But also, if you go, a photograph is very over exposed. You also gonna lose detail where it's too light as well. On my last tip is to try and find a photo, at least when you're starting. If you quite new to drawing pets is to try and get one from that's been taken from the eye level off the pet cause other ways. Even though odd angles can be good fun, they can also distort the features on day. Maybe it could make things hard, make it hard to draw your proportions and things correctly and can make your final drank look like look slightly old. So the things that can make photograph M a bad reference for drawing from is basically the opposite of the things I've just discussed. That would be good ones, so I had to fake his photographs. These that lack a variety or tones, and I haven't got a lot of contrast, or those that have got extreme contrast where you've lost whole areas of detail in darkness or too much likeness. There's air taken out of order angle, and then the extra other two I've added on here is objects and obsessed access Amis obscuring your details So this might be collars. Maybe if you've got dogs with silly things like hats or wherever on horses with head collars, that sort of stuff, even if they wrapped in a blanket or something fun and then something I would say to avoid for beginners is wet or very curly for his base of these are really quite difficult to draw . But one thing I do want to say is Williams will go in through this stuff. This is mainly looking at things that make photographs, good references, the drawing kind of nice head, poor traits or your pets. So if you then decide, you do want to do something fun, you want to play about with angles. You maybe want to draw your dog wearing a Paris and glasses. Then go ahead and D that you know, just break, break the rules. It's no problem. Um, that these are just tips, especially if you're starting out. They're gonna help you find a reference that is gonna make doing your drawing easy. FDA. So I'm just gonna finish this lesson with a few tips for taking your own photos. Just want to say I'm not a professional photographer, but these tips should definitely help you. So the 1st 1 is. Take lots and lots of photos, because then you'll have a lot to choose spot. Get down to eye level with your pets, said this may mean kneeling down or getting down line on the floor with them. Um, get up close to your pet, or if that's not gonna work properly, then it just use the zoom on the camera. So then again, you you can make sure you get your pet nice and big. Actually, in your final photograph, use natural light that you might want to avoid very bright sunlight, because that's what's gonna create your heart. Harsh shadows on your areas of extreme contrast with the extreme shadows and highlights. Don't take photographs with the light source behind your pet because then you will end up with your pet will be in Salou it, and you're not gonna be able to see any of the detail on just as a little bonus tip. If you if you want to get a nice alerts or interested expression with your dog or whatever , looking at you used treats or maybe squeaky toys get help her to stand behind you with something good on just to help get your hair interested in what you're doing and looking at the camera. 4. Drawing 101: Basic drawing skills: So in this lesson, we are going to be looking at some basic drawing techniques and how you can use your pencils. Teoh make marks Andi shading and things to make your drug help. Make your your pet drawings look more realistic because the way that we make drawings look realistic is simply by including arrange all shadows on highlights on mid tones in between your very light areas on your very dark areas on do you use then the shadows and they make shapes look three dimensional on. We can also use these techniques of highly basically making shadows and highlights and your mid tones in between. Do you make you realistic for and other features of your pets as well? They're in this section. Always just gonna do is practice using our pencils. So, first of all, just take one of your pencils or two. Or maybe even if you've got three or four as many as you've got joy yourself at a few boxes . I've got 10 there, but I was using two pencils. I've got a to B and a four b pencil that I'm using here, and I'm just practicing. Layering ends in different times So I've started very, very lightly with my pencil, and I'm slowly making on darker and darker. Thing is with pencil. The important thing is to not simply just press harder to get a darker to get a darker tone . The secret to getting your darker tone is actually layering your graphite. So just as I'm doing here backwards and forwards over it until you've got sort of darker shade that you want, so have a practice and see how many different shades you can make with your in pencils between a bravery like shade on a very, very dark shade on is many different shades of gray in between. - The next step after a simple Tono strip that you've just done, is to try and create a gradual on where you've got a gradual sort change from your light right through to your dark times. So to do this, just don't be so. Try and copy detainees that you've done in your top strip and then where you've got your gaps where your attains change, you just need to try and blend ay from the darker one to the light ones. They start off with your darker one and then gradually press slight, lighter and lighter until you've got the same kind of tone as the lighter one next to it. A zero natives. When I'm doing this, even though I do use both grades of pencil, I have colored all the way along with my TV pencil, and I would then layer over that with my four B. And this means I've got a nice, smooth layer underneath my four B pencil. Because that's softer. You it will pick up slightly more of the texture of the drawer in paper underneath it. So if you get that nice Smead layer underneath, then that means your top players will stay nice and smooth as well. So put in your nice start carriers as dark as you can go, and then get lighter and lighter and lighter. His press legent gentler with your pencil is you. Blend that then into your mid tones on, then further into your highlighted areas and your softer areas. So the other way we can make different textures on different licks with our pencils, the lines that we make so have a practice, making some some thicker lines with side of your pencil, some nice thin lines with the tip of your pencils. Go try and decent, darker lines. They press harder and then press lighter with them and see how light you can go and how dark you can go with your pencils and then try even varying your lie in Wait with the same lines. They start off nice and heavy and then gradually petered out to a very, very fine tip at the end on that technique is a useful one for drawing for, which will show you in the next lesson as well. There are lots of different ways that you can use your pencil Teoh. Create shape on detail in your pet drawings from just going to show you a few techniques here on how you can use different lines. Different marks, different techniques to create shadows on highlights on Dad range off different debts and and just different licks is are different textures within your drawing. So it's This here is simply just using lines to create debts and shadows on. What I'm doing is to create the darker areas on pitting the lines closer together, on also layering them over the top of each other to you. Great um to make them dark up so he by spreading your lines out and making a larger distance in between them on also pressing lighter with your pencils so your lines are actually paler. To start with, you can create areas off highlights on, like two areas on by layering your lines on top of each other on putting the place it together plus, of course, person harder. You can then also make your dark areas as well. Ondas You then blend these darker areas into your lighter areas. Spread your lines. I light in your light in your lines, so don't press quite so hard and them don't let them quite so much as well, and you then get that's made the transition into won't your dark areas to your light areas on alternative T simple parallel lines is to instead use a technique called cross hatching . And then here what you do is, rather than simply drawing your lines, run in parallel to each other. You draw your lines criss crossing over each other and sometimes even kind of dragon, the against each other as well. It's entirely up to you, but the technique is basically the same but he simply used the crossing of the lines. Teoh, create your your difference in your trains from your dark areas to your midterms. And then you're like tones. So again similar to before where you were wearing your lines, all in the same direction. You now layer lines in opposite directions. The effect is still the same. You know, more layers is darker. Best layers is later. Both of these techniques, with the parallel lines North Sea, the cross hatching make nice Irma's that my sketches. So it's nice, lively, sketching a sort of technique to you. So if you are wanting to great something that had that sketchy feel to it something nice and quick, these two techniques are really good techniques to use to make a more detailed and realistic portrait there, we need to make our our shading just that look a little bit more polished. So in these bottom two boxes on working on just a couple of different ways that you can create different textures using some slightly more polished sort of blending techniques. So basically what I do is I start by picking dying an ice layer really, really light layer of pay list areas that I will have in way pictures. We see this in a picture, but it works in saying so the pale areas and then just slowly build up. So then add in a darker area and then blend that darker area right into the lighter area. So what I'm using here is just very small lines just drawing at my lines, layer in them up darker areas and then slowly again, each time lending out into the light areas. So dark lines, dark lines and then making these lines lighter, so lighter, pressing later on and then just like to enlighten again, blending out into the lighter, the lighter bits, the lighter, shaded areas on. This is just the process. You just have to keep doing the same process over and over again until you get the effect that you want. - Do Nick in this book's amusing, slightly different technique. With my pencil in the last one, I was doing kind of longer and more sort of clicky lines, so they were is in this one. I'm going backwards and forwards over my lines, said the lines there, so kind of slightly shorter on again, backwards and forwards over them, and it just creates a slightly different texture. It's a kind of more of a solid texture almost than the one I've just created in the other box, which had a slightly more sort of delicate edge to it because of the way the lines kind of flicked out. Teoh paler end of the lines anyway, where, as the end of the lines of these ones, they are the same. I'm pressing the same at the end of the line was around at the beginning of the lines, basically so it's just creating a slightly more sort of solid texture that the technique is still the same, so it's still exactly the same. You still just layer down. You're very light area to start with and then go over that slightly darker much the two colors together by creating your Umid tone between the two and then again darker and then each time imitating gets lighter as you blend it in between the tea shades that you just created. - So in this last section we are going to do a little mini project. Andi, draw a spear on. I know we always into your spheres any of these drawing lessons that you may have taken. But that is because it's one of the best examples of how you can turn a flat shape into something three D purely by using shading. So your first step, when you're doing this, just decide where your highlight is gonna be. Your highlight is your lightest part off your sphere. On it is where the light is actually touching it. So generally that is at the top. So then after that, you need to lay day in a very lights or base layer and just leave the paper sharing whether her like highlight is because that's gonna be the brightest layer off your sphere on Ben again. We're just gonna do what we've been doing before. We're just gonna practise the techniques. Just the layering techniques of putting Daniel darker areas and then blending into your paler area is just kind of going over that over and over again. So you need to make sure you've got a shadow area. He'll have an area off ambient light, which is where the light reflects. Back off the surface onto the base off your object. So in this case, you ball yes, fear that you're drawing, you'll have a range of mid tones which will vary from intoned depending on if you're using one pence. Lordy, I just want to point out in this whole drawing, I'm actually using one pencil. This is just a TV pencil. So just to show you, like I said in the last lesson, you don't have to have a complete set of pencils to create a really good, well shaded drawing. You can just have a TV will be absolutely fine. So you're gonna have your highlight, your shadows. Ah, whole range of mid tones between your shadow area on dure highlighted area on. Then finally finish it off with the cast shadow. And I just want to let you want to tell you just to take your time with this really practice it. This took me about 15 minutes to draw mine in real life service. So sped up with the video. But it does take it. Have it took me about 15 minutes on. And if you want to add to your sphere to the project gallery, I would really love to see that is great First practice, especially if you're quite new to drawing with pencil. I'm working on your shading and your pains and that sort of thing. This is really, really great practice. 5. Techniques for Drawing Realistic Fur: Now you've let the basic techniques for drawing and for using your shading, Teoh milled three D shapes and form of what you're drawing. I'm now going to share with you my top techniques for drawing for So what I'm doing here, I'm just laying down a light sort of base layer, as you can see using lots of little short lines. So the point is not to try and draw every single strand affair because that would just take forever would actually probably end up looking quite unrealistic. The idea is, is to make a suggestion off using the lines and how you put down your lines on your shading . So first of all, if we think about what what for? Actually looks like it starts off at the read thicker than what it is at the end. It tapers off to a solidifying kind of point at the end on to imitate this of the pencil, you need Teoh kind of make almost like a little flick is you draw each individual lines so you got your normal pressure at the beginning and then you lift off towards the end and that will give you a nice tape would point to it like fair has when you are drawing, at least when you are first learning hyo to draw animals, you are best off, starting with the reference photograph, and when you got your reference, you can look closely your reference to see which direction there is growing in because the direction the fur is growing in, it changes depending on what is your drawing and the soul bone structure of the animal when that sort of thing. So you particularly notice this on the head the way the third herbal curve round over the knows that prove its eyes and that sort of thing. So just be careful when you've got a reference. Look at it closely and always draw your fair lines in the direction off the for grace, because this will help it make it look realistic on it will help to show the form in the shape or the animal that you're drawing so for. Short for you. Keep your lines nice and close together, so keep your lines short as well. So nice, so short. Very, very short. 50 lines heat them nice and smooth and close together. And then for the longer fair use longer lines. So again, but with the same the same motion just tapering off to a point at the end. You just have a little bit longer at this school, full width of your pencil line so long for it sits differently too short, for it tends to sit in clumps. So as well as drawing the overall form of of your head of your dog or your cat or whatever is you're drawing you also. Then, with longer fair, you have these kind of clumps A. For that I've got shadow areas of the rain and the highlighted areas of the rain as well to draw so a generally start off by filling in the shadow areas on. Then slowly build up layers or different tones to create the debt and then leave the lighter lines so you can show this off highlighted hair strands, which will be the bits that are on top of the sort of clumps of fur. So long hair it moves around more than short hair as well, and it overlaps with short hair. If you're looking at a short head dog, generally the for will be lying in in the same direction. But if you've got a longer head dog, there'll be little waves and curves and it and it will be a bit sore, flicking off in the wrong direction and that sort of thing. Did you create this effect and show these rounds and bits of for just draw a few sore rogue strands every so often for extra realism, just the ones that are disappearing off in the wrong direction. So what you might find sometimes you might end up with a bit of two high contrast between your tones, so you're highlighted. Areas may look really kind of kind of bright, and they it can make you join kind of look a bit fake and not unnatural. So if you see that happening, just use ah, harder pencil and just very gently go over your highlighted lines and kind of blends them in a bit at the edges just to make them look more natural and mawr in keeping with the rest of the fire around them. You'll see me during my lines, starting and finishing in opposite directions on what this does. It helps to build up the appearance of shadows underneath the layer above it It also avoids creating an unnatural IQ averages in the for which is what you get if all your pencils tricks were starting and stopping in the same place, so the wholesale prices of drawing for it takes a long time. Have probably said there's quite a lot in the class that patients really is key When you want to draw realistic animals, eso take your time with it. Use your range of pencils. Build up your layers. All your different types of pencils, of the different harnesses and softness is they will help you create lots of different tones and different debts and that sort of thing in your drawing. So usually your pencils and be patient with It's the same as when we were just drawing our board project. And it's all about just very slowly building up layers, putting in your shadow areas and just using your different tones to suggest the shapes on direction off the first. So spend some time practicing, drawing long for and short for on. When you're happy that you know what you're doing and you're getting the results that you work, it's time to move on to the next stage, which is drawing a complete 6. How to draw an accurate pencil outline: In this video, we can talk about making your initial outline sketch for your drawing. There are several reasons why it is important to get an accurate outline on. These are the main ones. So first of all, it actually encourages you to really look at your reference vato and to consider the different shapes and shadows and highlights and the importance of parts off the photograph that you actually want to draw attention to as well. Of course, it makes sure that you place your important features correctly, the eyes and the nose and the my fears, all the important things that have to be in the right place. It makes sure that your proportions are correct so that everything is correct in terms of where it is in relation to everything else. So the I is the right distance from the ears, and the nose is the right distance from the My Onda also helps you to add in your difference or areas of shadows and possibly even highlights. If you wanted to do outlines, where you're particular highlights would be a swell that what all of this does is it creates a foundation on which to build your your shading, so because when you start adding your shading when she was, particularly if you've got dark areas in the areas of shadow is a lot harder. Once you started doing this drawing and adding retains in your values Teoh to correct mistakes. So it's important at this stage to make sure your outline is as accurate as you can possibly make it to ensure that when you do start adding your shading, your dog is gonna look really stick. Andi, Andi, Correct. And you know, look at it and think what that looks. So let's get going and I show you how to do it. So I start off by drawing what is called a binding books. On this signing books will give you a square around what will rectangle, obviously a shape around the subject that you want to draw this signing books will give you ? I will make sure that you keep your drawing within one space on it will help you keep your proportions correct. So this is drawn on the reference photograph here. I'm using just quite a light pencil and measuring it as in drawing it as well, because it will need to be transferred onto paper, which he's what is going on here. So obviously, like I said, I measured it so measured it now on to the paper, and I'll put it in the same work out where I want the at George drawing to go on paper on. Then our measure, my binding books on Draw that when you draw on your paper, make sure you use just reels off light pencil line. So I would suggest using a harder pencil on like a to hate Jews. Don't think I'm not sure if that's what I'm using. Actually hear myself for dinner From taking my own advice, I would suggest to make this like a th pencil and just press real nice and lightly because obviously you wanna revive this binding books. When you draw it on your reference photo, you can make it dark hurts, so it's easier to see. So now you'll get so different advice, really, on this whole stage off mucking out your outlines. A lot of people work with with basic shapes, so they'll look at a photograph and think of this little shapes that make up the object of the drawing. The animal that they're drawing. I don't intend to work like that. I find it easier to look at lines and angles, which is what I'm drawing here is just drawing the angles of of the nose Onda the years. So this is just looking at the difference, or lines and shapes that are need to put onto my drawing. So I at these just again quote vice a fairly lightly here, but you can do a heavier on the reference for it. Just remember that you do. You need to be to see the reference photo. If you did want to draw yours, your guidelines a bit heavier, your angles and off measurements and things heavier. You could always put out a couple of reference straight A's and use one to draw the details from and the other justice. Work out your basic shapes. Andi, Um, angles and things from another thing. It helps with these lines is to measure distances. Say that line there. Is that the distance between the edge off the paper on where the ear would start and they're off the market in of halfway along. My bag looks either along the top or along and along the sides as well. So to divide my books into quarters or maybe even maybe nine over every czar 906 So after you marked it all on your reference later, it's now time to transfer it on that to your paper. Now, what I've done actually here in this example is I've done it by I, which you will see later. It was a little bit of a mistake because did actually get it slightly out. So if this is your first time drawing your own outlines for freehand, I would maybe suggest during these initial guidelines in with a ruler. So you might want to draw in the gap between the edge of the paper in here and maybe the line of where the dogs eyes on that sort of thing, where the year, the width of the era's vowed to draw that in using a ruler rather than just guessing with lots of using your eyes. If you are a little bit more experience with you drawing, then you maybe what needs do that, Your Majesty, it'd be each easier, and you might be Justus. Well, just using doing it by or using a pencil or your fingers. Just just make rough measurements. It doesn't really matter what you start with, which it a bit I've started with news. Um, another thing with your measuring angles and things like I'm doing here, make sure your reference vato is lined up at the same angle as your paper because you'll be measuring and transferring your angles on. If your paper is a different angle than your reference photo, then your angles are going to be off and you may find if you meet the reference photograph later and the proportions are going to be out because you're angles off at one point as well. So when you start drawing in your actor outline off your dog, just keep your your lines nice and light. Just use the harder pencil, give you lighter lines. Just press real gently as well. I don't worry about going Avia lines a couple of times on you, conducting them up as you go sort of later on as well. But to start off, just keep it nice and light that I am actually using our softer pencil there. I think that's a three B that I'm using, which wouldn't necessarily recommend because It's fairly easy to make heavier, darker lines. But you have done. He had just thinking so you can see what I'm doing. I should concede that I'm just amusing the pencil as a guide to make sure I've got that angle right between the top off the dog's head on and and and the end of his news. So what we're doing here is just just drawing out the outline like a surge of sketching out nice and light e putting in the important features that their eyes on the nose on that something and what I'm gonna do I'm just gonna speed it up with this whole sort processes. Hold roaring of this outline took me about 45 minutes. I just wanna let you know you don't need to rush it. Obviously, I'm gonna condense condensed in this video. So you're not sitting watching you draw for 45 minutes, which is, frankly, really quite boring. So I've spent it up, but just make sure for you just take your times, then lots of time looking at your reference, checking your reference to your drawing, measuring things and going back. Teoh those lines These initial angles on bond and little guidelines that you made yourself to make sure that everything is in the right shape and everything is in right. So we got the proportions and everything lined up correctly. It was at this point that I realized that I've actually drawn the ear to white, so I just want to keep this in to show you the everybody makes the stakes. And if you do make a mistake, it's no. Actually, it's not a disaster, and it's not, you know, that difficult to correct so she can see what I've done here. I'm just rubbing I on replacing the ear, So don't ever feel that you can't rub your lines that when she put them in, that's why I say as long as you use a good quality paper, Andi, like nice light lines with a pencil is gonna be really easy to just rip the might and then we draw them. If you do, you find that you put something in the right in the wrong place, and what you will find there is quite often is if you put something out like here, so the ear was too wide. That then means that other things are or proportion as well. So when you come across something like this situation where you have done something not quite right, then make sure that you measure of everything else and the you like, in this instance particularly. I then had to check the length of the nose on that I was in the right position because now , of course, the eyes too far away from the So in that case, and maybe the nose is too short, which, looking at this it which looking at it, checking it actually was. So this is why I mentioned it. Beginning is maybe a good idea to actually measure your guideline through other than simply just judge that you can manage it by I something I did quite a bit when I was drawing in. This part of the dog's head was to use the technique bog noticing negative space. So you negative spaces, your area around your dog between the bindi. But the binding books on the dog so often that's another useful way of making sure your outline is correct is by comparing the space you've got around the dog on your drawing to the space for it. is around the dog on the reference vato. Now, Lem, another way of making sure that you've got your outline accurate. So if any point you look at your picture and your drawing anything well, I'm not entirely sure if it's right or not. There are a couple of ways of comparing your drawing and your reference photograph. Um, that make it easier for you to spot the mistakes on where the mistakes have, where you've actually made the mistakes. So one of my favorites is to turn everything upside down, because when you turn everything upside on, it no longer looks like a dog. You're enables you to concentrate more on the lines on shapes. Andi, these sorts of things rather than thinking in your head, I must draw Dog needs to look like a dog on your brain than taking a bow and thinking, Well, I know what dog looks like once has turned upside. I'm there. Isn't that that temptation? Teoh think that you know what you're doing is far harder. So then you do concentrate on simply drawing what you actually see. Another one of my favorite ways is to hold up your drawing on do your reference photograph together and competitive in a mirror again in a similar way, the turning upside down. It just confuses your brain. Enough Teoh. Then start looking at the shapes and things rather and the spacing and the proportions and things like that rather than simply looking at it as, Oh yeah, I'm drawing a dog And I know my dog should look like this. And another way, if you're quite a bit for bit clever, where technology is to take photographs off the reference not off the reference of the drawing and then put it into photo shop or something like that and actually overlay your drawing over the reference, it's another from way of doing it if you've got for tea, shop or any other. So, um, you know, software that can help you do that right? So at this point, I've actually started putting in some detail. It's entirely up to you how much detail you add to your outline, sketch and high, really much that we're shading you put into it. But I like to add a little bit in, especially what you put your guidelines in place. ATTN. This point you condone. It's a good way of making sure that you've got everything in the right space because you can draw in your shadows and then you may find the parts, not got room for a shadow or not got room between shadows. And it's another way then of looking at your shapes on your proportions and working out where everything is in relation to everything else and making sure you've got it. Correct. A city. It's a pencil drawing. You're gonna be shading over anyway. So it's quite a useful way of just making sure you've got in those particular sort dark areas on bomb. Making sure that you've got this sort base sketch there to help that you work from says it is up to you. How much cheaper in some people might put in a lot of those my any put in a little, and I do find it helpful to put in a little a little bit. Obviously, you wouldn't do this if you were doing a color drawing. But seeing as we're just working in pencil, it's on a really, really great way or just putting in like mapping out your shadow areas. Really, Then just another way of checking that you've got everything in the right place. I say now when your drawings done, you shadows a map denial that we really need to do now is rabbi your binding books on your guidelines, and then you'll be done on order all night. And then the next step would be to move on, of course, and feel like you're cheating. 7. How to draw a Pet Portrait outline using the Grid Method: So in this lesson, I'm gonna show you an alternative way of getting your outline down on paper without doing it Freehand on the method I'm going to show you is using Agreed. I like to use a grade because there's no special equipment required. It helps speed up the actual drawing process. And it helps you draw this Acura outline and keep your proportions correct by basically you're working a tiny square at a time. So you've only got this inch by inch square toe work in, which is not a lot of space to get things wrong, basically. So each little square that we work in works like a little mini binding books like the big box that we drew when we did our freehand drawing with the grid. You've got lots of little tiny ones. So first of all, you start by drawing your grid. You need to put a grade on your reference photograph, and you need to be agreed on your drawing paper. What I've done is drawn inch by inch squares. It's entirely up to you. How big you didn't square. You'll need to draw the same side squares on your reference fatal breath and you're drawing paper. If you want to do your drawing at the same size as your reference, this method is also useful way off scaling your references up on Dina's well. So if you want to make your drawing twice the size of your reference, then you would draw your squares when you're drawing two times the size off the squares that you've drawn on your reference photograph or half it if you want to make it smaller. When you do your lines on your drawing paper, make sure they're really nice and light on. You're gonna bed above the might easily because we'll be seeded. Want anybody seeing these guidelines on your finished drawing doesn't matter so much. Any reference photo. And if you've got a dark reference photo, then you may need to use and pretty solid lines. But that's that's fine. It doesn't matter only reference photograph. I would recommend if you're gonna use this method to print out two copies of the reference , one that you can put your grid on on, then another one without the grid on so you get do so you can actually see all the details properly, and it's not obscured by a grid. Once she grid zone drawn out, it's time to you start doing your actual drawing, so I always make sure you can't be squares to make sure that you're starting in the right place because I've done that before and started in the wrong square. On the whole, drawing has been out by an inch when you get to the other end, which is definitely frustrating. So what you do want you to put your box? It doesn't matter. Way start. It's entirely up to you. I started with the eyes here, which is just a habit. I do tend to start with the eyes, and what you do is you use your little box to draw what you see in the corresponding little books on your reference photograph. So use the box to place your the facial features any sort of lines or edges and shadow. However much detail he want upon it is entirely up to you. So as you look at your box, look at the position of things inside the box so they right in the middle and the up against the lines of the kind of halfway up or a core of the way up or whatever, and then figure bits that overlap the boxes cities of the soul of your shadow lines. Or maybe Reggie Nose and the edges of your eyes, and you have a look at where bites on the box they overlap and move into the box next to it . So again, this might be halfway up the edge of the box, or it might be a poor of the way up. It might be right at the top. You might have things sort of interacting and a corner where you've got four boxes meeting . So just look at each little box, individually and highly things inside the books and how the things going outside of the box whereabouts their place and then just copy that over a books at a time on Teoh your drawing paper. It's entirely up to you how much detail you add at this stage. Only you can know what is useful for you, and then when you get to the end, do one last or final check with the drawing as a whole, because often, especially if you're doing a big drawing, you get very, very focused. Doesn't just drawing one box at a time and then forget to look at the drawing as a whole. So it take a step back right at the end, have a look at what you've drawn as a complete drawing and compare it to you reference. And then you can make some of any adjustments than if you need Teoh. 8. Complete Dog Drawing Project Demo: in this lesson. I'm going to demonstrate, however, into practise the techniques that I've shown you in the last couple of lessons by completing a full demo off a job. Boring. So the reference for this is linked to in the project section so you can follow along and do the same drawing with me or just use this to my prosecutorial on, then usual in reference photos to draw your own pets. So before you start, just make sure you've got your nice, sharp pencils you're going to get We're fine detail in with nice, hard, sharp pencils. So this is the TV that I'm using at the moment, and it's actually what I've used during most. All this demo is just playing TB pencil. And also grab yourself a piece of clean paper to put under your hand like you can see me doing here. Just this stops you smudging the pencil and get in pencil on your hands, which he convinced magical, she drawing at a later date. So what? I don't First of all, I've marked out thieve very light areas, though in this case of the reference that I was using noses kind of backlit blow and abroad Quite a bright highlight, a lot kind of around the dog around the dog's head and also on the very top of his head. So I've kept those areas nice and pale. I've kind of just marked around them and then colored in a nice, flat, kind of base layer of very pale grey with my pencil. It's this very bottom base layer. It was kind of a little bit scribble e, which is fine. You don't have to worry about it because you're just gonna draw over all of it anyway. But just make sure that the very you find the very lightest parts off your reference drawing mark them out and make sure that you just leave the white paper sharing through in these areas and then you'll end up with a really nice light highlights. So the first area that I start adding detail to you is that I This area is gonna be the kind of focal point of the drawing on the eyes generally are. When you're drawing pet portrait, it's so a focal point is the bit that you want. You want people to look at it a bit that you won't catch in the most attention from people . So if your focal area, you need to make sure there's lots of nice, sharp detail, um, lots of nice range of tones and all that nice shot detail on the Nice Ranger times will give it a really, really stick look. And then you can then contrast that by making other areas slightly less detailed, maybe a little bit darker. You don't have quite bright highlights, and the hot the contrast that people nature's as well between your tone. So in this particular reference, and the in my drawing the head, the faces, this or paler area with all the detail, the nice chuck detail in it, and then down into the bottom of his mind on his neck were were dollar and more in the shadows, so those areas didn't have as much detail in them. There's something you notice me doing quite a lot with this drawing is moving it around and leaving my reference photograph around as well. So I tend to do this because I find the easier when I'm drawing in my for so I can see what I'm doing is well, I haven't got my hand obscuring what I'm doing, Onda Also, I find the easier Teoh go from left to right with my first rakes, so I'll leave it around so I can go from left to right. Easier on DSI What I'm doing. So it's perfectly fine to do that. Media. Your drawing around Just make sure that you've got your reference lined up at the same angle as you're drawing. If you're going to do this and media paper about yeah, do so you'll see as I watch this demo that to draw a realistic pet portrait drawing or you are doing is simply adding multiple layers off pencil with different areas of tones. So you have ducked its You'll have pale bits on your have your various mid attains in the middle. So what I do is I me from section two sections in this particular one. I started with the area around the I and now have moved on to the here. There isn't any particular order. I tend to do it, but I do often. I'll start with the face and then we want to the neck. But as you'll see later with this one, I did sort of move about a bit. I did a bit on it on his neck and then I came back. And it is no use and and around his mouth and his muzzle in that So what I do, I start with the darker a dark areas, and this gives me It gives me an edge based businessman to fill in. Eso I put down. The darker areas are now know that those bits of the darkest and then I barely use these dark areas is a guide for filling in my mid attains on my other light areas. So sometimes you'll notice my bottom layers are a little bit untidy, which is is fine, So even on these lower layers that are a little bit untidy, I do withdraw my lines in the direction off the for great on. This will help build up some nice, realistic looking depth to your pet, portrayed as you then build there more detailed layers on top of that. So start with the dark areas, and then you can fill in the light areas on your your more visible layers. The bits that people will see years of top players. They do you need to be need to the new lower layers. Say these lines, particularly when you're drawing a short head dog like this one and keep the nice and sure nice and close together. And remember what I said about making the lines kind of overlap so you don't get any kind of weird hard edges. And also keep your pencil really nice and shop is that this is a TV. I like a TV for this kind of drawing, because you can keep the pencil really nice and sharp without having to sharpen at every five minutes. So it may take you a little bit longer to build up those layers with this G B pencil the impacts of the four B But you will get sharper lines with it because it is a hard A pencil . The other thing you'll see me during a swell as we gave through the demo is going back over the sections that I've already done, So I d like I said, the idea section. Leave it around the eye, and then I moved on to the ear and then you'll see me go back on. Add an extra layer or two and an extra bit of detail to the area around the eye. So what I advise you to do is to take a step back every so often, maybe activate section and look at the whole drawing. And then you can make sure that your tones are unified across the whole drawing and you don't get perhaps the year that looks dramatically darker than the whole of the rest of the portrait. And then that could make everything looks with the on board and the lighting looks strange . So as you may have guessed, one of the most important things when doing this kind of realistic pet portrait is to be patient. So this whole drawing took me about 4.5 hours. If you're new to this level of detail with a pencil than your during, could take you a lot longer in some of them. Do you take some of my drawings? Do you take me awful lot longer than 4.5 hours as well? So it's just a process of live building Daniel layers doing, working on a section at a time, standing back, checking in sections, making sure your whole drawing works, and Dokka said, Don't be afraid, Teoh, go back and add a few layers in a section that you've already done. When you're working with graphite, it's always you need to be working from light to dark, because if you go to dark with your pencil is really, really hard to make it lighter, whereas it's nearly always possible to go darker with a graphite pencil. So that's why I said patients is definitely key when during this type of drawing yeah , okay, - yeah . - So , as I said earlier, the IAEA is nearly always the focal point off a pet portrait. So it's important when you get to this stage to really just slow down and look at your reference page about I make sure that you're are drawing what you see rather than what you think you see, because often we think we know what we're drawings. They, for instance, with eyes. We know that eyeballs around, so maybe we will try and draw. I is round, whereas in real life he actually is round obviously. But when you look at it in a photograph as a two dimensional object, it's not round because it is covered by the eyelids. See what your top eyelid and your bottom eyelid. You've then got the shadows from the eyelids, and also it will depend on the angle off the photographs. If the dog is looking at you or is a slight side angle, that will make a difference as well. So it just gave you a sleigh with it and make sure that you're drawing exactly what you see in your reference photograph. So I tend to start with the people in the middle. Starting with the dark hair is, so I'll start with that after putting in the shading around the edge in the kind of writer eyelid parts. Always make sure you add a highlight in this. Makes your island kind of really bright in the life in them, even if there's not one in your reference photo, I would just recommend adding just a simple white highlight, just leaving a tiny bit off the paper showing and the irises in your eyes that never flat either. It's never just one color, so if you shade over and then make sure you put in November early when we were drawing our steers and we had ah highlight in our mid tone in our shadow areas. This is basically the same, but obviously there's an eye, but it's still round. So you're gonna have you shaded areas where the eyelids cover the eye on dry in the very edges as well. And around the edges of the people will be normally slightly darker than the rest of the iris as well. So this final stage of the drawing I've taken my nice soft duck six B pencil to add in the final, darkest areas off the drawing. So these are the areas that I really just want to be nice and bold and for people to notice and will really make you draw in pop. So it's in the darkness of the nose and the eyes and some of the shading under the years on the my. But if you take a look at your reference photo, so you said she's the areas that you want to look nice and bold and just add in these real dark areas there. So just that this used to set this pencil the same issue did your other one just with nice short, sharp lines and blend that each other is into the layers that you've already added unless you do, you particularly want an area. There's got a nice old Chris edge to it. On this drawing, I have added a background, which is entirely optional, and it's not something I deal with all of my drawings, but in this particular one, it really helps to accept rate the highlight around the dog. It also creates a visual contrast between the playing kind of sketchy background on the detail under realism in the drawing off the dog itself. So the background is created with just a simple hatching technique, using a blunt three B pencil. The fact that the pencil is blood creators nice kind of soft, fuzzy texture. So it's a nice kind of light mid tone that is darker than the highlight but lighter than nearly a lot off the rest off the dog. It's a fairly even tone, maybe slightly darker, towards the dog and then fading out towards the edges on you know, the fact that it's a little bit kind of boring and playing, and so it really does push anybody that pushes the attention to the actual detail in the drug, drawing the hype. You know, you have enjoyed watching this demo and you find it helpful if you do. You have any questions? Still, please don't hesitate to ask in the discussion area off the class and I will answer all your questions. So all you need to do now is finish your own drawings. Onda upload them to the project gallery, and I can't wait to see what you have created. 9. Thank you for watching: Hello again. Congratulations on getting to the end of the class. I really hope you have enjoyed it. And I hate you've been left with lots of lessons. Lots of new techniques that you've learned on. I hope that you are inspired and encouraged. Teoh, take these techniques and go out on draw Lots more animals, all sorts of other things as well. So please, that led your predicts to the gallery. I can't wait Teoh to see what you've drawn, as always had asking the discussion form if you've got any questions or if you want any sort critiques on what you've drawn or or on your techniques or anything like that s Oh, yeah, Just ignore again. Great. Big. Thank you for joining me on Die. Hopefully I'll see you again soon. I can't wait to see your projects.