More Pups: Proportion is Key

12/24/23 Maggie
(reference photo by Steve McCleary)

12/22/23 Kenny
(reference photo by Bobbi Letsinger)

These pups belong to a couple of Facebook friends who occasionally share pet photos. Being able to draw from fun animal photos and then surprise their delighted owners is one of the best uses of social media I’ve discovered!

As is often the case, the drawing lessons I learn are not always expected until I start drawing. One important principle I am learning from my pet portraits is the same one that holds true for human portraiture: In terms of resemblance, capturing individual features and other details accurately is not nearly as important as overall proportions.

Obviously, the pressure for resemblance is way, way lower for animals than it is for humans (especially humans I know and love). For one thing, one tabby cat looks fairly similar to another tabby cat, and it’s hard to tell one golden retriever from another (though I’m sure their owners would beg to differ). The weird thing about animals, though, is that if I get proportions just slightly off, especially in the eyes, they look like entirely different species. Like the raccoon I started to draw and then abandoned: The eyes were too close together, giving it a ratty look.

I thought about that when I finished sketching Maggie. Her eyes got just a bit too close together, and my drawing makes her look slightly bearish (though I’m pleased that I captured her wide smile well).

By contrast, Kenny might look like I exaggerated the size of his ears, but I actually measured twice because I could hardly believe they could be that large! They are proportionally accurate, as are his eyes. I think I captured a good resemblance, even though the technique I used is more cartoony and less realistic, which I thought suited his whimsical expression.

Proportion is key.

Polychromos colored pencils and Uni Pin technical pens (various sizes in black, gray and brown)

Polychromos and Prismacolor colored pencils