What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial we're going to break the most popular shiba inu down to create a realistic rendering of doge. Whether you like this meme or not, try this tutorial for some educational fun!

1. Define the Head Proportions

Step 1

Start with a circle. And when I say "a circle", I don't mean a perfect shape drawn with calipers (having problems with drawing a circle?). Draw it very lightly—it's just a guide line and we're not going to need it after it's used.

Step 2

Draw a cross inside the circle. Again, do it softly and don't worry about using a ruler.

Step 3

"Rotate" the cross as shown below.

Step 4

Draw another circle, using the cross lines as your guide.

Step 5

Inside the circle you've just drawn, add two identical, overlapping circles.

Step 6

Add a third circle, as shown in the image below. The third circle should be the same size as the two smaller circles, and intersect them both evenly.

Step 7

The base for the snout is done! You can now press your pencil harder and draw the outlines.

Step 8

Add the nose.

Step 9

The nose and mouth are sketched out, so let's start the forehead now. We need to return to sketching very lightly, so that you can remove these lines later. Draw a big circle on the mouth, as if doge tried to balance a ball.

Step 10

Divide the circle into four parts, as shown in the image below.

Step 11

Divide the lower half into two halves.

Step 12

We need to connect the forehead with the snout now.

Step 13

Add some more structured lines.

Step 14

Now we have enough guide lines to place the eyes.

Step 15

Sketch the eyes, but don't darken them yet. We'll add details to them later.

Step 16

Draw panda patches around the eyes.

Step 17

Let's outline the head now.

Step 18

Add pointed ears to doge's head.

Step 19

Add some finishing touches to the shape of doge's face.

Step 20

The sketch is done! If you want, you can stop here and use a thick marker to stress the defined outlines, for a finished sketch. But if you go further, I can show you how to draw a realistic doge!

2. Add the Details

Step 1: Eyes

Eyes of doge should be dark and shiny at the same time, with eyelids that have dark e. Leave a bit of white space for a staring look.

Step 2: Nose

If you want to learn some more about drawing a dog's nose, why not try my "How to Draw Dogs and Wolves" tutorial.

Step 3: Mouth

Doge has black lips, cute thin whiskers and a dark and slightly open mouth.

Step 4: Ears

Add a lot of fluffy fur inside the ear!

Step 5: Shading

Simple, short lines are good to simulate fur. Draw them thickly where you want to add shade.

3. Draw the Body

Step 1

We can now add the rest of the body. Doge looks quite stocky in this perspective, so it's going to be easy to build his body out of simple shapes.

First, attach a big circle to the head. This will be the neck.

Step 2

We need to find out where the paws are going to lay. Draw a simple triangle starting in the center of the circle you drew in the previous step.

Step 3

Let's build the legs out of a few circles.

Step 4

You can now outline the basic shape of the body.

Step 5

Add the paws. Want to know why they look like this?

Step 6

Outline the paws.

Step 7

Doge paws are quite a complicated structure. We need to define "claw covers", for example.

Step 8

Here come the claws!

Step 9

Draw the rest of the body. Don't stress it too much, it's the least important part of the picture.

Step 10

The body is fully sketched now. Just a few more steps for a finished doge!

4. Final Touches

Step 1

Use short, fast lines to draw tiny hairs at the fingers of the paws. Also, draw dark pads under the claws.

Step 2

Define the outlines of the legs with short, messy lines.

Step 3

Shade the legs with simple lines.

Step 4

Time for some final shading!

Step 5

You can stress some of the outlines to make them stand out more.

Step 6

Use an eraser to carefully clean up the picture. Even if you were drawing digitally, it's good to keep some of the guide lines for a natural, sketchy effect.

Wow! Such Drawing, Very Done

I hope you had a good time following this tutorial. You can now draw doge for your friends or during boring lessons!