Tracing

• Place tracing paper over a photograph of a real dog and trace over the outline. This is a simple approach and does not take long. Tracing will give you a good reference point to which you can add further detail. Purchase tracing paper at any art supply store and use a pencil in case you must erase.
  
  

Grid

• Make a grid over the photograph and drawing paper and transpose it.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Drawing a grid over a photograph makes it easy to transpose to a piece of drawing paper. You must make sure the grid on the photograph and the grid on the paper are proportionate, otherwise the final product will be skewed and not look like a real dog. Decide how large you want each box in the grid to be. A good start would be one square inch boxes. Make a grid over the photo and copy that same grid on to drawing paper. Then start in a simple spot and move your way through the drawing.
  
  

Sketch

• You can use the grid system or your initial trace and add on to it with sketching or, if you're especially confident, can start right off sketching the dog. If you start off sketching the dog from scratch, draw the general shapes of his face, body and tail. Start off with general shapes and build off that. Do not start with fine details first; add those later.
  
  

Details

• While the final details come last, they are the most important step in making the dog look real instead of cartoon-like. Consider the dogs hair, his color and expression. Graphite from an art pencil is effective for adding detail and so are colored pencils. Once you have a solid base from either tracing, using a grid or using a careful eye, make sure the details come together well and you use the right art supplies to make the dog look as real as possible.