How to Draw a German Shepherd Dog

Home » How to Draw Dogs » German Shepherd Dog

You learn how to draw a German shepherd dog in this drawing lesson.

First, we are going to create a couple of rectangles to map out the dog's proportions. Have a ruler at hand to do that.
Then we'll draw the dog into this proportional outline.



Got that ruler? Great, let's start.

How to Draw a German Shepherd Dog - 1:
Proportional Outline

Draw the squares and rectangles very faint because we'll erase all of them again later on.

Draw a big rectangle on your paper which's height is three fourths of its width. Then divide this rectangle in half with a horizontal line.
On the top left of the big rectangle you draw a small square that has the side length of one fourth of the big rectangle's width.
Add another square of the same size left to it.

The proportional outline is now complete and will help us to draw the body parts of the German shepherd dog in the right size.
So let's start to draw in the dog.

How to Draw a German Shepherd Dog - 2:
Body Outline

Take note of all the points where the lines are touching the edges of the squares.

At the very right the neck begins at the corner of the square.
The line goes up all the way to the square's top, and touches it close to the middle line. On the other side it goes down the dog's forehead. Make a clearly visible step between forehead and snout.
Let the nose touch the left side of the square just slightly below the middle. Then draw in the mouth opening, the thin lower jaw, and finally let the line go down the throat and blend with the side of the rectangle.


The back of the German shepherd dog continues where the neck ended, at the corner of the square.
Let it slope down evenly at the beginning, but stronger at the hind end.
The dog's chest begins to curve away from the left side in the middle of the upper rectangle. Draw the belly reaching slightly below the horizontal middle line, and let it end about a fourth before the rectangle's right edge.


Now you can draw in the legs.
I recommend that you first draw the leg in the foreground, and then draw the second leg behind it as a copy of the first one. You just place it a bit higher and more to the left.

The front legs are rather thin. Let them go straight done at the beginning.
In the lower half there is a change in direction and they point slightly forward. Draw in the paw at the end with just two visible toes.

The hind leg is pretty thick at the top and rounded.
It curves smoothly to the ankle, from where it goes straight down.
The ankle lies pretty much in the middle of the lower rectangle's height.
Draw the second hind leg in a rather large distance from the first one.
Don't let it stand straight, but make it slightly diagonal towards the end.

Then draw in the tail hanging down between the hind legs.


This is what your dog should roughly look like right now.
Make corrections if necessary, and then we move on to the next section where we start drawing in details.

How to Draw a German Shepherd Dog - 3:
Head Details

Add the eye as a triangle with a slightly curved left side into the head.
Place it on the level of the step between snout and forehead.
Then separate the nose from the snout with a curved line.
Draw the shepherd dog's tongue hanging out of the mouth, and then attach the ears to the head's top. Their basic shape is triangular, but take your time to draw in little irregularities to make them look more natural.

Draw in a black nostril into the nose, a pupil with the surrounding iris into the eye, and a couple of teeth into the mouth.
Then draw a line into each ear that separates the backside from the inside.

And now you can erase all the rectangles and squares, because we're done with them.

Shade the nose, so that it becomes largely black, but leave a thin white stripe along the top empty. Then sprinkle in a couple of dots below the nose.

And now it's time that we start to bring out the fur patterns. Use short fuzzy pencil strokes to achieve a furry effect.

Draw a frame around the mouth that starts at the snout's top.
Then draw a jagged connection from this frame's upper side to the ear.
From behind the ear the row of thin strokes goes downwards to the throat.

Outline a small spot of the fur above and below the eye.
Also draw a small line along the snout's top, and make the back of the ears fuzzy with short pencil strokes.

How to Draw a German Shepherd Dog - 4:
Fur Details

To give the dog's body a furry appearance we have to draw over some of the smooth lines with short pencil strokes.
Do this for the entire throat and chest, and for the neck as well.
Then continue to draw in a loose and sketchy manner, and separate three large sections of fur on the back.
Bring out the dog's shoulder by drawing a rounded row of strokes above the front leg.
Use a zigzag movement of your pencil to create long, hanging fur strands along the dog's belly. Note that they're all pointing slightly towards the middle.



Make the edges of the legs fuzzy again with short pencil strokes, but do this only above the ankles.
Also draw a bit of additional fur along the sides of the legs.
Below the ankles you draw in a straight line along the edge of the front leg, and two lines on the hind leg to bring out the bone structure there.
Draw a couple of fuzzy lines into the tail and also make its edge furry.
Finally, add a small claw to each toe. Now your dog is complete.

That was my way how to draw a german shepherd dog.
I hope you liked it.