The world is full of dog lovers, so much so that they often become important companions and activity partners for their handlers. From time to time, various sectors of society have expressed special interests in these sensitive animals, the artistic fraternity being one of them. In fact, among the animals that became the inspiration for artists, certain breeds of dogs lead the pack. One such species is the Scottish West Highland White Terriers, or Westies. Their thick white fur coats can easily identify them. This remarkable feature of the Westies makes it quite difficult to create their artistic adaptation. Bearing this in mind, the following systematic drawing guide is designed:
• Image of the model. A reference image is necessary, if you are attempting such detail oriented work. The choice of your model will depend on whether you are thinking of doing a portrait or a cartoon. Understand that a cartoon version will be much easier to do. You can search the Internet, books and magazines, photographs, or any other source.
• Basic sketch. As you can see, there isn’t much going on in terms of the basic structure. These factors apply to both portraits and animations. The head part will be placed with the help of a circle. The outline of the body will be as an irregular circle if the dog is shown sitting and as an oval otherwise. Draw two horizontal parallel lines on the circle to mark the eye area. Now, extend a diameter of the circle. Its angle will depend on the inclination of the head. For example, if the Westie is looking straight ahead, the line will be vertical, and so on.
• Details. There is a standard way of drawing facial features. Start with the eyes between the two horizontal lines. Next, draw the nose on the vertical line, just below the eyes. The line of the mouth is just below the nose. In the case of a cartoon, drawing the skins is quite simple. They are defined only along the edges of a circle, giving shape to the head. The raised ears are drawn in the way. Now refine the shape of the rest of the body, highlighting the limbs and creating fur in places. The real trick is when you’re doing a portrait. The coat is meticulously defined, while adding shape to the face and body. It’s not very difficult, but it is painstaking work.
• Shading. For a sketch, use pencils of different hardnesses, mainly HB, B, 2B and 3B to add differential shading effects. Use a tortillon or thin tissue paper to smudge pencil strokes, where necessary. Be discreet in the use of blending tools. For colors, use white and shades of light gray.