drawing animals anatomy: Dog face, eyes, and nose

Before a few of months ago, I had never really been super interested in art, I would do drawings and paintings but I wouldn't be super engaged in what I was drawing or painting. So I would always have these art pieces that were half done, and I would never go back and finish them. It wasn't until recently I started taking art more seriously. I started doing more human anatomy studies. I have always drawn animals, but they are little cartoon animals. Since I have been taking art more seriously I figured I should study animal anatomy.

The book that I have decided to study is called "The Artists Guide to Drawing Animals" by J.C Amberlyn. This book has made it clear in chapter one about dogs, "Getting the shape and proportions of the muzzle correct is a key part of drawing any dog breed"(Amberlyn 13). I was pleased that the book showed the progression of each picture. For example, the artist would start with a circle for the head adding a cylinder for the muzzle and triangles for the ears.

 Formatting the general shape of a dogs head

This section of the book was all about dog heads and their muzzles, Amberlyn says on page 12 "different breeds have different head-to-muzzle proportions. Some have a very long muzzle; some have a very short one"(12). When I was reading this I was thinking to myself, this makes sense because greyhounds have very long muzzles, and pugs have shorter muzzles (almost non-existent).

How to draw the dogs eyes and the nose

This next section was all about the general shape of dog eyes and noses. Amberlyn says on page 14 "Eye shapes vary, depending on the breed, but are generally round or almond-shaped"(14). The only thing different about some noses is the color. The colors can vary between a light brown to a black. The author compares the front of the nose to looking like a mushroom slice.

How mine came out

Are you going to try doing Animal anatomy some time? What are some things you could improve on for the next time you draw animals?

Source: Amberlyn, J. C. The Artist's Guide to Drawing Animals: How to Draw Cats, Dogs, and Other Favorite Pets. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2012.