Have you ever looked at a gorgeous coloured pencil pet portrait and thought…

I’d love to be able to do that.

Maybe you’d love to draw your own pet, create something special for somebody you love, or even take on pet portrait commissions one day.

Drawing pets is where so many artists start, and I completely understand why. We know their faces, their funny little expressions and all those quirks that make them them.

And animals are one of my absolute favourite things to draw!

For me, creating a realistic pet portrait isn’t just about getting the fur or eyes right. It’s about capturing a little bit of their character too. 

But when you’re staring at a reference photograph, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

How on earth do I turn that photograph into a drawing?

The answer is to break it down into individual skills rather than trying to tackle the whole portrait at once.

5 Skills for Drawing Realistic Pet Portraits

When learning how to draw a pet portrait in coloured pencil, there are a few fundamental skills that can make a huge difference.

1. Look at your values

Before getting caught up in every individual hair, look for your lights, midtones and darkest darks.

Getting your values right helps give an animal its shape and form – and stops the portrait from looking flat.

2. Build your colours in layers

Realistic coloured pencil drawings are created gradually.

Building gentle layers gives you more control over your colours and values and allows you to create the depth you need for realistic fur.

3. Think about pencil pressure

You don’t need to use the same pencil pressure everywhere.

Learning when to use gentle pressure and when to increase it is an important part of creating different colours, textures and depths.

4. Follow the direction of the fur

Rather than thinking about drawing thousands of individual hairs, look at how the fur grows and changes direction across the animal.

Those changes can help you understand the structure and shape underneath.

5. Really look at your reference

This might be the most important one!

Try to draw what you can actually see, rather than what your brain tells you should be there.

A black dog isn’t necessarily just black. A white cat isn’t simply white. Once you really start looking, you’ll discover all sorts of colours hiding in animal fur.

Why Trixy Is Such a Brilliant Dog to Learn From

This is exactly what we’ll be exploring with gorgeous Trixy in my upcoming coloured pencil workshop.

At first glance, you might think:

Black dog = black pencil.

But look more closely and you’ll find different colours, highlights, midtones and deep shadows throughout Trixy’s coat.

We’ll explore how those create depth and shape, how fur direction helps us understand her structure, and how to tackle different textures –  from her soft top knot and longer ear fur to her gorgeous dark eyes and the texture of her nose.

But the really important bit?

These techniques aren’t just for drawing Trixy.

They’re skills you can take into completely different animal drawings, gradually building the confidence to look at a photograph of your own pet and think:

Right. I know how I could approach this.

Want to Learn to Draw Trixy With Me? 🐾

If you’re already joining me for the Trixy Charity Workshop, I can’t wait to get started with you and I can’t wait to see the pet portraits these skills might inspire afterwards!

And if you haven’t got your ticket yet, I’d absolutely love you to come and join me.

Tickets are £8, with £4 from every £8 ticket going to Moorview Rescue Ltd, registered charity 1155095 (working name The Yorkshire Rescue), helping them continue their wonderful work supporting animals in need.

LEARN TO DRAW TRIXY FOR £8 – https://bonnysnowdonacademy.com/charity-draw-along-organic/