«I can't draw» almost always means «I tried to start with the hard part». A dog drawing does not start with the fur or the puppy eyes: it starts with two shapes every child can already make. The rest is assembly.
The 6 steps
- 1. The circle: one big circle for the head. It does not need to be perfect: a dog's head is not perfect either.
- 2. The oval: a lying oval glued under the circle, for the body.
- 3. The ears: two standing triangles on top (husky ears) or two floppy ones on the sides (cute mutt ears). This is where the child picks the personality.
- 4. The legs: four little rectangles under the oval. Thick ones = chubby puppy.
- 5. The face: two dot eyes, a triangle nose and a wide open «w» for the mouth. The «w» is the secret of the dog smile.
- 6. The tail: an upward curve ending in a plume. Tail up = happy dog, and kids' drawings call for happy dogs.
The 3 blockers
- Too much eraser: agree that the first three drawings are drafts and cannot be erased. The pressure disappears instantly.
- Comparing with the adult's: draw along too, but WITH the same steps, at the same level.
- Stopping at the first: the third dog always comes out better than the first. Always.
After the drawing
For a real model to study: Pigúiça the husky has 239 ready-to-color pages, great for studying her shapes before drawing your own. On the phone, the painting game lets kids test colors before spending pencils. And a drawn dog deserves a name, a story and maybe a whole book adventure. 🐾