How to draw animals with colored pencils

Introduction:
In this book with 15 drawing tutorials you can find a lot of tricks and tips that you can apply to
your drawings. The most important is to keep practicing. Some artists draw area by area, some
start from the darkest parts, some from the lightest ones. You have to find out what is the most
appropriate for you. I'll try to keep it simple and helpful.
Few advices that I want to give you that might be helpful:
- Don't compare yourself with those who draw worse than you. This way you can be satisfied,
although you still have a lot to improve.
- The more detailed, the better drawing.
- Patience. If you just throw your pencil saying "It's not for me!" of course you won't develop
and improve. If you want success you have to work on drawing with patience.
- Don't be jealous. This is the waste of time. Just try to make it better and be aware that artist
you are jealous of, has much more practice than you - that's all. But also it is important to be
able to see your mistakes. Be critical with yourself.
We are going to draw a tiger close-up:

To create a 3D effect with shading:

To make a life like animal's body, playing with darker and lighter nuances:

To draw on toned paper having fun starting with white pencil:

To draw a close-up eyes:

Table of Contents
Tools:
Using the grid method:
Tiger head
Horse head
Cheetah Cub
Snake
Horse portrait
Red Fox
Running Horse
Yawning Tiger
Flying parrot
Leopard
Puppy portrait
Tarantula spider
Cat and aquarium Fish
German shepherd
Cat's face
Epilogue:
Author's Bio:
Tools:

I would recommend a two types of colored pencils: for the thinner parts and edges use the
harder colored pencils such as Faber-Castell or Lyra and for creating a smooth texture (skin,
larger areas) use a soft colored pencil such as Prismacolors. You can also use a colorless
blender, but for blending the drawn areas you can use even a white colored pencil. You don't
have to get all the existing nuances of colored pencils; learn to mix them up and create a color
that you don't even have. Of course, it's easier if you can afford a bigger set of pencils. If you
are not much experienced in drawing, you should use a graphite pencil for sketching, because
unlike the colored pencils they can be easily erased. I suggest having a toned paper and
blending stump on hand.
This book is about drawing with colored pencils, but I would recommend a white ink gel pen,
which is very useful for drawing over already drawn dark areas. We can achieve it with white
colored pencil, but it's really difficult, so this pen is great. It costs about $2 and lasts long.
Using the grid method:
As a first you should draw a sketch and make it as proportional as possible. Take time and
patience for drawing a main lines, because it is a base of your drawing. If it's difficult for you
to get a proportional sketch, you can use a grid-method, which many artists use. Actually,
always try to draw a main lines freehand and use the grid only if the things don't look good and
proportional in your sketch. Some of the advanced artists use only two-three lines in their grid,
because this is enough for the orientation. If you're using the grid-method, your sketching can go
much faster, not to mention that there's much less erasing and the paper stays smooth and clear.
In the next image you can see how it works, I've made one sample of my drawing. Draw a grid,
with mechanical pencil using a ruler, over a reference photo and draw a grid on a blank paper.
Draw a main lines of the squares of reference photo to the squares of your paper. Once you're
finished with the sketch, erase the grid lines.

***
 Tiger head

Use the next image as a reference photo:

Try to draw the main lines as proportionally as possible. If you still cannot do that freehand, try
to use a grid-method, as we've already mentioned.
Let's start with the eyes. Using black colored pencil, draw the black fur around the eyes and the
pupils, but leave white color of paper for the reflections of light in the tiger's eyes. You can
also draw the full pupils with black pencil and draw over that with white ink pen, but maybe
you won't be sure about exact positions of the reflection. So it's the best if you don't draw those
parts, but around them.
Using grey colored pencil, draw the black areas affected by the light. Blend the edges between
black and grey areas. You can do this with colorless blender, but carefully do that, because
sometimes the color changes when we blend using this tool. You can use a simple blending
stump to soften the edges.
The next step is about creating the irises. With a green colored pencil draw outwards from
pupils. Also leave white for the light reflection on the eyes. Draw around them, using dark
green pencil. Using the same dark green pencil, draw the shadowed parts of the irises. Be sure
to keep your pencil sharp to get nice clean areas.

Finally, add a yellow color to the rest of the irises. Some tigers have an orange irises, so you
can use this color, if you want. Try to create a gradually transitioning from green to yellow.
Thoughtfully analyze my next image and you will notice that there's no clear edge visible
between green and yellow, because I've mixed up these two colors. Keep untouched the areas
for the reflection of light.
With black colored pencil draw the nostrils and around the nose. Using dark pink pencil, draw
the nose. Go over the highlighted parts with white colored pencil.

Using black pencil, draw all the stripes and press hard. They don't have to be the same as the
stripes in the reference photo. Draw the black hair outwards from stripes, as you can see in the
red circle in the next image:
With a grey colored pencil draw between black and white hair. You can even use a blending
stump or hard graphite pencils for this. The purpose is to make a soft looking fur. You can
soften these edges of the black hair using light grey pencil, drawing outwards from the black
hair. Release the pressure on your pencil, letting the grey color fade out as you work inwards
the white hair. Draw the hair using well sharpened pencil.
With dark brown colored pencil draw the fur that's not much affected by the light. When
drawing close to the black stripes, blend the edges between black and brown.
Now with light brown pencil draw the rest of the hair, leaving somewhere white color of paper
for the white hair. Draw the lines outwards from the tiger's nose. You have to draw in the
direction of hair growth and always look at the reference photo to make sure how it looks. For
drawing the brown fur use more nuance of brown, or press harder and lighter with the same
pencil. Also, you can draw some background with more nuance of green colored pencil.
As you can see in the reference photo, there is a grass in the front of a tiger, so draw them with
light green colored pencil and make blurry edges.
This kind of drawing is enough for the beginner, but if you want to be an advanced artist, you
have to go much more into details and to draw an every single hair. This can be a very good
base for your future drawing.

***
 Horse head

Draw a main lines using H graphite pencil. Using light brown pencil, draw carefully all over
the horse's head leaving white the white hear in the middle of the head and the places of eyes.

With darker nuance of brown draw all the parts of the shadowed fur. With white colored pencil
go over the brown areas that are on the edges. They get more light and have to be much lighter.
This is a good thing to remember when you draw whatever. You can see in the next image
where are the shadows and the highlights and how I've shaded them. Just try the same, as a first
press light with darker brown pencil and then press harder until you get the appropriate nuance.

Draw the nostrils with black pencil and gradually introduce the grey
colored pencil as you draw outwards from nostrils. Also, you can
draw the highlighted areas with H graphite pencils and a blending
stump, because the grey colored pencil cannot be erased and if you
are not that confident in drawing, use the graphite pencils for such a
grey area. The lower parts, under the nostrils have to be darker,
because logically they get less light. With pink colored pencil draw
just a little bit over the top of the nose. Blend this with white
colored pencil and it will look smooth.
When drawing the eyes use a black colored pencil for the areas under the eyelashes and in the
inner corners of the eyes:

For the rest of the eyes use absolute dark brown pencil and with dark grey pencil draw the
areas around the eyes. The eyelashes can stay white no matter what they color is, because they
are affected by the light.
Draw the inner parts of the ears using black pencil. Draw the edges with grey and make small
circles as you blend the edges between black and grey. This way the ears will appear soft.

Using light brown colored pencil, draw the edges of the ears next to the previously drawn grey.
You can draw some background and leave the tiny edges of the ears absolute white.
Draw the rest of the background using the color you want and leave white mane You can draw
some lines over the main with light brown pencil.
***
 Cheetah Cub
Draw the main lines using the next image as a reference:

My sketch:
With black pencil draw all the black parts of the eyes and spots on the fur. Leave white for the
light reflections in the eyes.

Draw the irises around the pupil using brown colored pencil. Under the frontal bone always
draw with darker nuances, because this part is always in shadow. When drawing the eyes leave
untouched white color of paper for the reflection of light. You can see that in the next image.

Cheetah is pretty simple to draw, there's only brown color of fur and
a lot of parts should just stay white. This animal has a white
stomach, so we have to draw a fur using few nuances of brown
pencils just on the back and on two sides of the body and face. You
can use the same brown pencil, applying the heavy and light
pressure on pencil as you build the fur. This way the fur will look
way more natural. Always use more nuances of the color when
drawing the fur. Draw a shadowed white fur of the neck, using grey
pencil.
I added a lot of details and drew a fur in the direction of the hair growth. I drew a background
around the cheetah, using grey pencil.

***
 Snake

Let's draw one hairless animal. Snake shape is very easy to draw, so you don't even have to use
a grid method. With red (or any other color) draw the iris of the snake, the pupil draw using
black. Leave the white spot over the eye to make an eye shines. If you have a white ink gel pen,
you can draw using that tool over the iris, it's even easier. The white ink gel pen is very useful
for such a thing, allowing us to create white lines over the drawn areas. Draw the tongue using
dark red colored pencil and whether leave white or draw the reflection of light on the tongue
using white ink pen. With red color pencil start to carefully draw the head.
You don't have to strictly stick to any reference photo and colors of the snake, but draw using
the pencils you have or you want to use.

Using red, orange and yellow colored pencils, draw the whole head of the snake, mixing these
3 colors. Draw a tiny line close to the upper edge of the head using brown pencil. This way the
head will appear wet. Also, using white ink pen draw the highlights on the skin where needed.
With dark grey pencil draw the shadow under the head and tongue. This is pretty simple and
gives a 3D effect to your drawing.

Draw the shadow, everywhere else is needed. Also, draw the darkest parts along the snake's
body. With a brown pencil draw a lines along the body and in the areas where the skin is
supposed to be shiny, draw just a little bit. All the shiny areas are always lighter than the other
areas, so logically we have to add less color to these areas. If you add more color, later you
can lighten them using white colored pencils. Don't be afraid of using the color pencil. If you
are not happy with your result, you can always start a new drawing.

With light green and yellow colors draw the upper areas along the snake's body. Mix these two
colors, blending one with another more times. This technique is also useful for drawing many
other things, so this way you can practice. Try to draw more layers, no matter if you use a
single pencil or more colors. This way your drawing won't look pale. We don't always have an
appropriate pencil for some areas, but we can create them, mixing the colors to get what we
want. Even though the colored pencil cannot be erased, you can always lighten the overcolored
areas using white colored pencil.
With red and orange pencils draw the rest of the body spreading lightly these two colors one
over another. Apply light pressure when drawing the shiny areas, as we've already mentioned
in the previous steps. As you can see, this way snake will really appear realistic.

For the next step I used a wax colorless blender, which is very useful, assisting us in achieving
a smooth texture of the skin. Be careful when using this tool, because the colorless blender
darkens the drawn areas. Press lightly and make horizontal and vertical circular motions as you
blend.

I drew a scales using graphite pencil and brown colored pencil. If you are advanced artist, you
should go much more into details. Use white ink pen (or well sharpened white pencil) to create
the highlights on the scales.
Watch the snake drawing process in time lapse video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbRjOVGsqA

***
Horse portrait
The reference photo:
As a first draw a main lines with H graphite pencil. If you cannot
make a proportional lines, you can use the grid-method. Draw the
main lines until you've achieved the proportional sketch.

Let's start this drawing from highlights. You can try to start every
drawing differently and find out how it's easier for you. Using light
brown pencil, draw all the hair that gets the most light. Draw the
edges of the ears and the tops of the bones. Draw the hair in the
ears and the ends of the mane.
Using the darker nuance of brown, draw around the previously
drawn areas. Go little bit over those areas and try to fill every part
of the paper.
You don't have to get all the existing nuances of colored pencils,
but mix them and draw one over another.
Using dark brown colored pencil, draw the rest of the horse leaving white the white fur on its
head. Also the darkest parts and the highlights leave for the next steps. Using a wax colorless
blender, blend the edges among the nuances.
Using colorless blender or white colored pencil, draw the highlighted areas and soften the
edges between them and already drawn brown areas, blend them with a white pencil and go
over areas until the edges are hardly visible.
Using the darkest nuance of brown colored pencil, draw the areas that are in the shadow, under
the hair and bones. Also draw the inner parts of the ears using dark brown pencil. Gently draw
over areas that are not too dark and go over the drawn areas.
Also draw among the lighter hair of its mane using dark brown pencil, so the light hair can pop
up because of the shadow that you create using this dark pencil.
With black colored pencil, draw the eyes and leave white the parts of the eyelashes. Also draw
the nostrils. As mentioned, always press lightly when drawing the areas for the very first time.
Once you're satisfied with the positions and shapes of your drawn areas, you can make the
colors stronger pressing hard your pencils.
Using dark grey pencil, draw the top of the nose and press harder on the lower parts, because
those get less light. Also draw the areas above the eyes and soften the edges among the colors.
The eyelashes can even stay white, but you can add some light grey color to them, even yellow
color can be good for the horse's eyelashes.
Using light grey pencil, draw the rest of the muzzle. Add highlights using white colored pencil
over the drawn grey parts and add shadows using dark grey. This kind of shading is about how
hard you press your pencil and this is what cannot be fully explained by words. You have to
practice, to acquire a feeling when you have to allow your hand and draw gently (barely
touching the paper) and when you have to press your pencil tightly.
***
 Red Fox
Use the next image as a reference photo:

Draw the main lines using graphite pencil.

Ears: As a first, let's draw all the darkest areas using black colored pencil. Press hard and
draw over at least twice to get an absolute black color. The holes inside of the ears must be
absolute black. The black fur, which is found outside of the ears can be a little bit lighter,
depending on the lights.
As a second step, soften the edges between black and white, using colorless blender or grey
colored pencil.

By blending the edges between black and white we can achieve a soft looking fur. I drew over
the white fur using light grey colored pencil barely touching the paper, drawing in the direction
of the hair growth.
Finally, we can draw an orange hair on the edges of the ears using more nuances of orange.

Eyes and nose: Let's draw the darkest parts of the eyes and nose (see in the next image). With
black pencil draw black pupils and the black fur around the eyes. Draw the nose with black
pencil, leaving a white area for the reflection of light on the nose. Also, this edge between
black and white we have to blend a little bit using colorless blender or grey colored pencil.
Now, using darker red or orange, almost brown, draw the areas around the pupils. After that,
draw with dark orange the rest of the irises (analyze the next image and note the way I drew it).
Leave untouched white color of paper for the reflection of light in the eyes to make them shine.

I've drawn the fur using 3 nuances of dark orange, but it's not bad if you use even more nuances.
As a first try the nuances of the pencils on some paper. Once you make sure which nuance is
appropriate, start to apply it to your drawing.
If you don't have much colored pencil, you can get a lot of nuances using a single pencil by
controling how hard you press it. I've shown you an example in the next image. You can see on
the left side the drawn area where I applied a hard pressure on my red pencil, in the middle of
the sample I pressed less and on the right side I barely touched the paper:
Using light brown, red and orange colored pencils, I drew a short lines pressing lightly,
because the hair on this part is very short and rare.

Last, I drew the background using green pencils. Under the body of the fox I drew using darker
nuances of green, because the part under the fox is shadowed. Around and above the fox I drew
with light green pencils. When drawing a white object on white paper we have to draw around
it.
Final drawing:
***
 Running Horse
Our reference photo:
Using black colored pencil, draw all the black areas. As a first press lightly and only when you
make sure that everything is proportional and good, draw these areas pressing really hard until
you achieve the absolute black color. For the tail and mane draw a lines outwards from the
horse's body and press light at the end. Also the areas that are actually brown become black in
absolute shadow, so draw them also using black colored pencil.
Using dark brown pencil, draw the darkest brown areas of the horse that you can see in the
reference photo. As an always, it's recommended to draw using such a dark color pressing
lightly as a first, and if everything looks good, press hard and go over these areas again and
again until you achieve the smooth texture on your paper.
Using white colored pencil, draw over the highlighted parts of the horse to make the fur shiny.
Make little circular moves using white pencil and draw over the edges of the darker drawn
brown areas.
Using the same white pencil, draw again over the highlighted areas, pressing really hard when
drawing in the middle of these parts.
Using a gray pencil, draw the muzzle and the hoofs leaving the white in the middle of them.
***
 Yawning Tiger
Reference photo:

Let's draw this tiger on toned paper, so you can see the benefits of it and try something new, if
you haven't tried it before. You can see my main lines in the next image.
Using black colored pencil, draw all the black areas pressing hard to get an absolute black
color.
If you draw on grey paper, like me, draw all the white parts using white colored pencil. When
drawing these white areas close to the black draw little bit over the edges between these two
colors to soften them. If you draw on white paper, leave these areas untouched.
Using brown colored pencil, draw all brown fur:
Using darker nuance of brown (darker than the previously used pencil), draw the fur that is in
the shadow and among the wrinkled skin of the nose.

Draw the top of the nose and the tongue using rose and violet colored pencils.
Using grey colored pencil, draw the parts of the canines that are in shadow:
Using the same pencil, draw the shadowed white fur under the tiger's chin.

If you have a white ink gel pen, you can draw a mustache over the black areas.
 You can watch me drawing this tiger here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iWgqN2HdgQ
***
 Flying parrot

For the next drawing you can use any photo of the flying parrot as a
reference. Draw the main lines. A lot of you have been telling me
that you don't have a problem with sketching, but with shading and
others, so I won't talk much about main lines. In the next image you
can see my reference photo, but it's a little bit blurry. If that's not a
problem for you and you can draw a proportional sketch from this,
use this image:

You can see my sketch in the next image.

Let's start with blue feathers. Draw all the blue parts, using simple
blue colored pencil.
Using a light blue draw over the highlighted parts of the feather and
a little bit over the previously drawn areas to soften the edges
between two nuances.
Now, using dark blue pencil draw the edges of the feather and all
the areas that get less light. Just take a look at the reference photo
and you will see where you have to use a darker blue nuance.

For the next step I've used a Prismacolor Crimson Red colored pencil, because this pencil is
really soft and creamy assisting us in creating the smooth looking texture of the red feather.
Using this pencil, draw the all red areas pressing lightly. Once you're happy with the placement
of the red feather, press the pencil really hard layering as you go to achieve the smoothness of
the drawn areas and to build an intense red color.
Using dark red colored pencil, draw the feather in the inner part of the wing. This area is in the
absolute shadow and has to be dark red, even brown. For this part I've used red, brown and
black pencils and I drew them one over another many times. Also the edges of the long feather
draw using the brown colored pencil. Draw under smaller feather and the edges of the longest
feather on its tail, using dark brown.
Using black colored pencil, draw the eye of the parrot. This is just a simple little black spot.
Also draw the other black parts on its head, as you can see in the reference photo. I've drawn
over the red feather on its head and the part between red and blue on its left wing using the
yellow colored pencil. Always use more colors when drawing the animals, because this way
you can make it more realistic. Using the white colored pencil draw over the red top of the
parrot's back, this way it will pop up and get separated from its left wing. Also, using white
pencil go over the tops of the red feather and create a tiny line in the middle of them.
Using grey colored pencil, draw the legs of the parrot. You can draw only few thicker curvy
lines as I did (see in the next image).
Watch me drawing this parrot here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClNchyuX6bk
***
 Leopard
For the next drawing I've used this reference photo of leopard.

I've created a grid for you, so you can follow me step by step, because I'm drawing this without
sketching:

I draw this leopard on light grey paper. I've started using white colored pencil, drawing the
edges of the ears and this way I got a main lines for this part of the drawing. Using black
colored pencil, draw the hole in the ear pressing hard. Also draw a few spots on the top of the
head. This spots get more light so they are not absolute black, but dark grey. Using light brown,
draw among the black spots. Take a look at the grid-method explanation in the introduction.
You should draw the same from the squares of the reference photo into the squares of your
gridded paper. Using black colored pencil, draw the area around the eye and draw the pupil.
For the iris I've used a green pencil close to the pupil and as I draw further from the pupil I
start to use yellow and blend these two colors in order to achieve the flawless color gradation.
The rest of the iris I've finished using the same yellow colored pencil.

As you can see, the eyes in the reference photo don't have as vivid colors as I've created. You
can also do the same, try with different colors and be creative. We don't have to stick strictly to
the reference photo when we draw an animal. Also, this is particularly important to those who
don't have much colored pencil. You can always get a new color mixing two or more colors
together, drawing one over another.
I've continued adding more small black spots close to the eyes of the leopard:
Let's draw a spots on the other areas of the body. Just use the grid as a guidance and your spots
will be in the right places. These spots are actually the base of our drawing and if they look
good and proportionally, the rest of the drawing has a bigger chance to succeed. Using white
pencil, draw the lower outline of the body:
I've continued to draw more spots and I start to draw the areas around the left eye and the
muzzle,using white pencil.
I proceed to draw more spots and I start to draw the areas around the left eye and the muzzle,
using white colored pencil.
I've drawn the rest of the black spots and all the black parts. So, using black pencil, draw under
the nose, leaving a place for the rose color and also draw the parts of the snout. Draw the
canine using light grey colored pencil, pressing little bit lighter in the middle of it, so it can get
a rounded shape. Using white colored pencil, draw under the black, following the main lines of
the squares of reference photo and this way give the final shape to your leopard. The white
areas that are found in the shadow become darker, so we have to draw them using light grey
colored pencil. Using the same pencil, soften the edges between black and white drawn areas.
Now, using brown colored pencil, draw the fur around the black spots. Draw the tiny lines in
the direction of the hair growth ( you can always check in the reference photo if unsure about
the position of the hair). At the top of the leopard's back you can whether press lighter than on
the rest of the body or use the lighter nuance of the brown pencil. It's good to remember that the
top of the back and head always gets more light and that's why you should use lighter nuances in
these areas.
When drawing the fur you should use more nuance of the same color (we have mentioned this
already in the tutorial about German shepherd) or – if you don't have much pencil – getting
different colors by controlling how hard you press your pencil. So, play with this and you will
see that the fur will look more realistic this way. When drawing next to the black spots go over
their edges with brown pencil. Even better if you use the dark brown pencil for these, because
on these places black and brown hair stick together and they become dark brown.
Draw the rest of the brown fur. Using white and light grey colored pencils, draw the white fur.
When drawing the edge of the nose use lighter brown or go over with white colored pencil. I
draw the nose and tongue with dark violet and I draw over the highlighted parts using rose and
white colored pencils. If you want, you can watch this action and the whole drawing process in
my time lapse video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYKhKvN2yvs
and even learn more watching the steps from this tutorial in action.

As I've already mentioned in the introduction about the tools that I use, for the mustache I use
the white ink gel pen. You can use white pastel pencil if you have that on hand. Also draw a
few white hairs above the eyes. Using this tool, you can draw the white hair in the ears and the
reflection of the light in the eyes.e.
***
 Puppy portrait
Use the next image as a reference photo and draw the main lines.

You can see in the next image my sketch, which contains only the most important lines. You can
draw more fur in your sketch if you want.
Let's start with the darkest parts. Using black colored pencil, draw the darkest areas such as
pupils, nostrils and the circles around the irises. Leave white color of paper for reflection of
light in the puppy's eyes. When you look at the reference photo you can see that those
reflections of light appear as two white squares and using black colored pencil, draw around
them. Also,you can draw the full pupils and irises and then draw the reflections of light over
them, using white ink gel pen.
Using grey colored pencil, draw the dog's nose. Highlight the parts of the nose where the light
falls, using the light grey pencil. Draw a skin around the eyes using grey pencil.
Now, using the same grey colored pencil, draw the shadowed parts of the white hair, under its
nose, chin and mouth. Draw the lines following the direction of the hair growth. Always look at
the reference photo to check the position of the hair. If you have a pet, you've already known
about the direction of their hair growth. Using dark brown colored pencil, draw the irises and
use the lighter nuance of brown for drawing the irises next to the pupils. I use white colored
pencil to whiten the dark brown areas to achieve this.
In the next image you can see these steps together, so maybe you can better notice how we were
drawing the eyes in the previous steps.
Using light brown colored pencil,draw the lightest parts of the fur. Always try to start your
drawing different way. Once start with darkest parts, once with lightest ones. Also, you can try
to draw an area by area and I'm going to lead you into many methods in this book, so you can
find out which one way is the most appropriate for you. The point is to try as much things as
possible and to experiment with methods. This way you'll find your own style. In this
tutorial,we're starting with the lightest areas. Draw around the white fur, leaving it untouched.
Now, using the middle nuance of brown colored pencil, color the rest of the fur drawing the
lines following the direction of hair growth. You don't have to strictly stick to the color of the
dog from the reference photo, particularly if you don't have much colored pencil. This color can
be any kind of brown or orange. The point is to use the lighter nuance of the chosen brown for
the highlighted parts. You can even draw them using the same brown pencil, but press lightly
when drawing the lightest areas and press really hard when drawing the darkest ones. It's all
about how hard you press your pencil and this is also valid for any kind of shading.
With the same brown colored pencil, draw the lines starting with the darker drawn parts and
ending on the lighter drawn parts creating the hair this way. You can use a wax Prismacolor
colorless blender for blending the hair and it will appear softer. .
Last, using the dark brown draw the well shadowed parts of the fur and this way you'll give a
depth to your drawing. Look at the reference photo to check where the well shadowed fur is
found. It's usually between the head and ear and under the protruding bones. The depth of your
drawing can also be increased by drawing a background. This way the white fur on the puppy's
forehead will pop up and your drawing will appear even more realistic. That's why many
artists are drawing on toned paper and we will do the same later in this book, so you can see
the advantages of drawing on toned paper and try more things.
You can even learn more if you watch me drawing this puppy in my time lapse drawing video
here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fvsTJ2onsQ
***
 Tarantula spider
Reference photo:

Draw the main lines with H graphite pencil and use the grid-method if necessary:
Let's draw the black area first. With black colored pencil draw the darkest parts of the spider:
Now using brown pencil, draw the brown parts. This is a pretty simple step and you should
draw these areas in the right places. That's why we should always take a look at the reference
photo to make sure where are these parts found.
For the next step I used Prismacolor Light Peach colored pencil and drew the areas between
black and brown. You can make it using any light brown pencil. You can even use the same
brown colored pencil from the previous step, but press it lightly and go over using white
colored pencil. This is particularly good and tricky for those who don't have much nuance of
brown pencil. As mentioned in the introduction, we have to mix the colors to find the best
match for our drawings.
Now using light grey colored pencil draw the edges of the spider's body and legs. The black
objects affected by the light are not black anymore, but grey. We have to keep it in mind when
we draw a black objects. I've mixed light and dark grey colored pencils for the next step, so
you can do the same if you want to achieve much more realistic looking of the spider. You can
see in the reference photo that our spider has some kind of hair on its body, so when you draw
using grey colored pencils, draw the tiny lines starting on the spider's body drawing them
outwards from the body. You can see this in the scan of my drawing in the image:
Finally, we can draw the shadow under the spider and make it looking three dimensional. I've
drawn the shadow with Prismacolor 20% Cool Grey, and I've drawn the deeper shadow under
the spider, using darker grey pencil.
 Watch time lapse drawing here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoQlDi19mE

***
 Cat and aquarium Fish

Use the next image as a reference photo. I've drawn this image on light grey paper, but you can
draw on white paper as well. I would like to convince you to try to draw on toned paper, if you
haven't tried it before. I find it really interesting. If you have toned paper (can be any color), try
this image on it. Also, you can draw it again on white paper and find out which one is better for
you.

I've made the exact same digital grid over the reference photo (see
next image) as I'm using, so you can follow me step by step and do
the same. I'll tell you exactly which colored pencils I'm using.
Draw the main lines using H graphite pencil and don't press hard, because these lines have to
be erased later. To get a proportional bottle, glasses, ball and other symmetric objects (in our
case: aquarium) I would recommend you to take a look at them in the mirror. This is just a little
trick that can help a lot and I'm using to do this. Sometimes you may think that your drawn
object looks symmetric (even if you use the grid) but if you see it in the mirror, you can notice
mistakes. Only if it looks good in the mirror as well, you can add a color.

I suggest you to start with white colored pencil, because this is really interesting and if you
draw on toned paper for the very first time you can see how different this process is.
I press hard on the highlighted parts such as light reflections and well lighted white fur of the
cat. I press lightly on the shadowed parts of the white fur and the glass that is not directly
affected by the light. Draw all the edges of the aquarium following your initial sketch lines. For
these white parts I'm using Prismacolor White colored pencil. This pencil is really soft and
creamy, producing a smooth look. Be sure to keep your pencil sharp to get nice clean edges.
For the cat's fur I've used Faber-Castell white pencil, because it is much harder than
Prismacolor. You may experience these things yourself after few drawings and use what works
best for you.

Many things about drawing simply cannot be explained with words, but you have to see them.
That's why I've put a lot of steps and illustrations in my book. So, analyze this image to see
where exactly I draw using white and you can notice where I've pressed harder.
In the next step we can draw all the black parts. Using black colored pencil, draw the pupil of
the cat and the fish. Also draw the bottom of the aquarium and the shadow that falls on the
table. Look for the position of these black areas in the squares of the grid in the reference photo
and draw them in the squares of your grid. If you are beginner at drawing, you should draw
these areas with graphite pencil first, because the black pencil cannot be erased. Also, when
drawing with black pencil press lightly and when you make sure that everything is in the right
places, go over with black colored pencil pressing really hard.

The next step is about creating the shape of the aquarium using grey color and this is really
difficult and sensitive, because we have to achieve the gradient-looking area. For this I've used
the dark and light grey colored pencils, wax Prismacolor colorless blender, graphite pencil and
blending stump. I've drawn with all of these one over another. Also with grey pencil (or rather
graphite pencil) draw all the edges of the aquarium and with a blending stump draw little bit
the surface of the water.
Let's draw the cat. I've started with lightest nuance. Using Prismacolor Light Peach colored
pencil, draw the highlighted parts of the cat's fur. Draw the short lines in the direction of the
hair growth and you can press it hard. You can go over the edges of the ears and cat's back
using white colored pencil and give it a shape this way. You don't have to strictly stick to the
reference photo, but change something and sometimes you can make it even more life like this
way.
Using Prismacolor Goldenrod pencil, draw the rest of the fur and the iris pressing hard. Don't
draw over the white and the previously drawn peach areas.
Now using Prismacolor Dark Brown draw the darkest parts of the fur. Also draw the tiny line
between the pupil and the fur around it. You can use the colorless blender to soften the edges
between the colors of fur.
It's time for fish. I've started with the highlights and draw them using Prismacolor Canary
Yellow. You can use any other yellow colored pencil, just make sure that is really vivid.
Using Prismacolor Spanish Orange, draw around the previously drawn areas. You can also use
any other orange, vivid colored pencil. Use a white colored pencil to go over the highlighted
yellow areas.
As a final step, draw the darkest parts of the fish. I've used Prismacolor Yellowed Orange for
this and I've drawn with Dark Brown over it, pressing lightly. Also, using dark brown, draw a
tiny circle around the eye of the fish. The lower part of the fish's body should be also drawn
with dark brown: just draw a thick line under the yellow area. You can see this in the next
image. Also, you can learn even more if you watch my time lapse video with this drawing here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZSm5YjXpw4
***
 German shepherd

Use the next image as a reference photo. Try to draw a main lines
without using the grid-method.
Also, you can draw only the most important lines such as: the eyes,
the pupils, the shape of the dog, the position of the snout, tongue
and tooth. If you have drawn only these main lines, you will be able
to easily find the position of fur, because you have the basic sketch
for the orientation. If you still have a problem with proportionality,
use the grid-method.
You can see my main lines in the next image.
Using well sharpened black pencil, start to contour the most important black parts such as eyes,
pupils, muzzle, nostrils and the fur under the flews, following your initial sketch lines. If you
are not confident about the proportionality, build these areas using H graphite pencil first,
because it can be easily erased if you make some mistake. Once you're happy with the
placement of these areas, draw them using black colored pencil.
Having created these basic, orientational parts, we can continue to build the darkest fur, using
the same method from the previous step. Start to contour the black fur, using H graphite pencil.
Keep in mind that the black colored pencil cannot be totally erased and would leave a grey
trace behind. That's not even the problem around the muzzle, because we will draw it with grey
pencils as well in the next steps, but around a tooth and tongue draw really carefully as they
have to be drawn with bright colors later. When drawing the edges of the black parts of the
muzzle, press lightly using black pencil, because our black areas have to be gradually
transitioned to grey and this is what we will do in the next steps.
Concentrate on the hairs of the dog's ears against the background, using a sharp black pencil to
create more definition around them. Also, draw the little, visible dark part of his back. Always
analyze the reference photo and my steps as well and you can figure out the things that I haven't
mentioned. The drawing is a visual art and hardly can be explained by words, that's why you
have to be able to notice as much detail as possible. I've made a time lapse video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexliI-vABs
and if you watch it you can learn faster and much more by only watching. I suggest you to watch
e.g. how I draw the tongue, repeating this part of video many times. This way you will
memorize the process and you will be able to faster acquire the technique of drawing.
As we've mentioned in the previous step, we are going to draw the grey areas now. Start using
dark grey pencil closest to the drawn black parts and light grey as you move further from them.
Draw over the edges of the black parts using dark grey pressing lightly to create a gradation
between grey and black. Also, using sharp grey pencil to draw around the tooth, creating their
shape this way. Using a light grey draw the inner parts of the ears pressing lightly.

The previously drawn areas have to be blended, because they appear pretty rough like this. For
blending I'm using wax Prismacolor colorless blender, but if you don't have such, you can use
light grey or white colored pencil blending carefully over the draw areas, because we don't
want them to become much lighter.
Using brown pencil, draw the irises keeping untouched the reflection of the light in his eyes. I'm
using Dark Brown and Tuscan Red for drawing the gym over the previously drawn grey, also
avoiding the tooth. Don't press hard, because the gym doesn't have a vivid colors.
Let's draw the fur next. As a first, draw the dark brown fur, using Dark Brown colored pencil
and draw in the direction of hair growth. Take a look at the reference photo to check where the
dark brown fur is found.
Keep analyzing my steps to see what I've drawn.
Continue to build the fur using Prismacolor Golden Rod pencil, or any other similar color and
draw between the eyes and a little bit over the previously drawn grey and brown areas. When
drawing the fur always use more nuances in order to achieve the best result. This way the fur
will appear much more natural and lifelike. Drawing the fur takes much time and you have to do
this with patience, to draw every single hair if you want to make it as realistic as possible.
Compare my previous step to my next step to make sure where I've drawn with Goldenrod and
how this color makes the difference between these two steps. Also, I've made some improving
above his eyes, because it didn't seem proportional.
Draw the rest of the fur using Prismacolor Light Peach to form the foundation of the lighter fur.
Draw carefully around the tongue keeping its shape unchanged.
Continue to build the same areas using Dark Brown, Goldenrod and grey pencils. Check the
reference photo for the colors and the direction of the hair growth. Never draw the hair
crosswise, but always draw in the direction of their growth. Use dark grey close to the black
fur under the flews, drawing the hair outwards from the black hair.
Now, using Dark Brown and Tuscan red, draw the skin under the tongue, so called frenulum of
the tongue. Be sure to keep your pencil sharp to get nice clean edges and draw carefully
pressing lightly first. If the drawn area looks good, draw over using the same two pencils
pressing hard. Make small circles as you blend these two colors.
In the next image you can see three steps that I've put together to make it easier to understand
how to draw a tongue. This way you can block out the other areas and concentrate on his tongue
only. Draw the whole tongue (see the “1. step” in the next image), using Prismacolor Pink
Rose. This pencil is perfect for tongue, because it is not a vivid color and this is exactly what
we need now. The line in the middle of his tongue, that you've drawn using H graphite pencil
should be still visible through this pink rose drawn area, so you can have a guideline in the
middle of the tongue. As a second step (2. step) use a white pencil to go over the highlighted
pink rose areas: the edges and the parts affected by the light. Also draw the thick long line in
the middle of the tongue. Last, using dark brown draw the shadowed area (3. step).

As a last step, add a tiny, short white lines with white ink gel pen, or even white pastel pencil
creating his mustache this way. This is what I'm talking about at the beginning in the “Tools”
chapter. If you are going to draw a lot of animals, I suggest you to get this white ink gel pen,
because this is really useful and you can easily create the white hair over the drawn dark areas.
Final drawing with the pencils I've used for this dog:

***
 Cat's face
Reference photo:

Draw the main lines (using the grid-method).

Let's start this cat from the darkest parts. Using well sharpened black colored pencil, draw
carefully over the main lines. Having strengthened the main lines, you can focus on building the
black fur. Start to draw the short hair between the eyes and continue creating the long hairs,
drawing them outwards from this black area in the middle of the cat's face. Always check the
reference photo to learn about the direction of the hair growth, so you can draw in the same
direction. Draw the edges of the ears. I won't draw the whole ears, but only as much as we can
see in the reference photo, because I want to focus on the cat's face. However, you can (you
should, for the sake of practice) draw the whole ears, checking the shape of the cat's ears in
some other cat's reference photo, if unsure. As you move toward the edges of the paper, apply
less pressure as the hair found further from the nose is not that black anymore and we are going
to apply other colors over it in the next steps.

Let's continue drawing the eyes, so that our drawing can start to come to life. Just use the same
pencils as I've used and draw carefully and with patience. Don't rush and move to the next step
only if you are completely satisfied with your result.
Using Prismacolor Light Cerulean Blue (you can use any other light blue pencil), draw the
whole pupils except for the areas next to the lower eyelids and for the reflections of the light.
Thoughtfully analyze my next step and you'll notice that I've drawn around the reflection of the
light leaving it white. Do the same and if you make sure that everything looks fine, press hard,
layering as you go in order to achieve the smooth texture. Be sure to keep your pencil sharp to
get fine edges. The eyes require much more effort than the hair, so take your time for these areas
and draw them slowly.

In the next step I've used Lyra 2820044 (dark blue) pencil, because this pencil is harder than
Prismacolor, yet creamy and has a high pigment concentration. Using this pencil, I draw (over
the previously drawn blue) the stellate pattern in the iris and the shadowed parts of the irises
next under the upper eyelids.
Using grey, draw the lower and upper eyelids filling up the remained blank areas between the
eyes and black fur.
Using the same pencil, draw the nose. You can whether use the same grey pencil for the whole
area of the nose, applying different pressure as you draw the shadows and highlights or use the
light and dark grey pencils for creating these parts of the nose.
Carefully blend the top of the nose, using white pencil. You can use wax colorless blender or
blending stump for this. Continue to build the fur, using grey pencil, drawing the lines over the
ends of the drawn black hair.
Using light grey pencil, draw the short shiny black hair between the eyes. This part is actually
hardly visible, that's why I've put it in a red circle in the next image.
In the next step I'm finishing the fur, using dark brown pencil and wax colorless blender. So,
using well sharpened dark brown colored pencil, draw the rest of the hair that surround the
black hair. Start to draw over the ends of the black hair (this way softening it) and draw the
long brown hair outwards from the center of the cat's face. Once again, check for the direction
of the hair growth in the reference photo. Draw the ears, using the same brown pencil and go
over the drawn black areas as well. This way you'll soften the ears and they will appear
lifelike. Also draw the hairs that grow on the edges of the ears, using this brown pencil. Since
we want the fur to look really soft, we have to blend it. For this I'm using wax Prismacolor
colorless blender following the previously drawn brown hair, drawing over the hairs and
beyond their tops. If you don't have this blender, you can use white colored pencil, but only
over the tops of the brown hairs.
Last, add a mustache, using white ink gel pen.
 Watch me drawing this cat here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MngHaEg1wsc

***
Epilogue:
I want to mention that's not enough if you just browse through some
of my tutorials. This is not a guarantee that you will start to draw
better immediately. You have to practice. Also, I don't consider
myself an expert and don't think that I know the best way to draw -
there are many ways and styles out there - I just want to share my
uninfluenced experience with you, since I'm a self-taught illustrator.
These drawings from my tutorials are not always perfect; they are
just representative. From these tutorials you can learn some tricks
and tips, so you can apply them to your drawings. That's all. It's all
depending on you and don't give up if your drawing doesn't look
good. In my books you can read about my own experience and my style is sometimes weird
and different, but you can try it out and through new experience build your own style. Also,
you might have noticed that my English is not always perfect and I
had edited my books with some editors, but they changed the point
of my sentences and wrote a misleading explanation. That's why I've
decided to keep my original text, because I think that's better for
you if you read my own explanations. Thank you for your
understanding and keep on drawing......
***
Author's Bio:

My name is Jasmina Susak. I was born on March. 06. 1976 in Serbia. I moved to Hungary in
2001 where I currently live. I am a traditional self-taught artist with more than 10 years
experience in drawing.
I had been drawing using only graphite pencils for about 10 years and in 2011 I tried a colored
pencil for the very first time, because everyone told me that I should've tried with colors. It was
a really good feeling to start to draw with colored pencils after so many years of black and
white illustrations and I could fast fit to drawing in colors, because I’d already had a lot of
experience in drawing at that time so I was able to apply it in colored pencils. Since then I've
been drawing using colored pencils only.
I work as a freelance visual artist.
Watch my time lapse drawings:
https://www.youtube.com/user/JASMINA518/
Check out my other How To Draw books:
http://www.amazon.com/Jasmina-Susak/e/B00R9Y1ZW2/