Black Labrador Artwork: Soft Pastel Drawing

In this post, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my creation: a soulful black Labrador artwork portrait, brought to life in soft pastel on dramatic black paper.

Have you ever been taken in by the soft gaze of a Labrador? Their expressive eyes and velvety fur just beg to be captured in art.

This piece presented a unique set of challenges and rewards, from capturing the subtle nuances of black fur against a dark background to achieving that signature Labrador gleam in their eyes.

The gentleman requesting the memorial dog portrait for his wife sent several photos of his labrador for me to look at and decide which one would be best. After deciding on the photo and confirming with the client, he did have a specific request.

He asked that a special feature that his wife loved be included in the drawing, even though it was not visible in the photo. He wanted me to make sure that the labrador had curly hair on the ears.

Join me as I share the process, the techniques, and the little triumphs (and occasional mishaps!) involved in creating this black labrador artwork in pastel portrait. I hope you’ll find inspiration and insight in this creative journey.

How To Draw A Black Labrador Portrait

The photo was quite zoomed in, and I liked the way the markings, highlights, and eyes stood out in the photo. This guided me to contemplate doing the drawing on black paper. I thought the dark background would give a high impact to the finished artwork.

This would also give me leeway to fade out the edges where the photo was closely cropped to the top of the dog’s head. Doing this will give the drawing space around the portrait.

Drawing a black dog on black paper also creates a few issues. I would need to use colours other than black for the fur, allowing the black paper to show through. I picked up on the blue accents in the photo that were under the eye and on the nose. The blue was to be the darker coat colour and then I would use a choice of two greys for the fur highlights.

Drawing The Eyes

If you have read any of my other blog posts, you will know that I always start each drawing with the eyes. For me, that is the focal point of a pet portrait, and it’s life and soul.

The labrador has a gentle expression, and as this dog was elderly, the eyes were more endearing as they were looking up at its owner. Capturing the expression would bring the whole black labrador artwork to life.

I would have to make sure that both eyes matched the upward glance by getting the shape of the eye right and the highlights in the right place. In the above image, the right eye is not quite correct yet.

Black Labrador Face

The colours in the eyes are reflected in the eyebrows and snout, which brings the drawing together and allows your eyes to travel naturally around the subject. This is very important to encourage the viewer to enjoy the labrador art as a whole.

To add impact, as in the photo, I made the highlights a strong white where required. The bright white emphasizes the darkness of the subject and background and pops off the paper, adding drama.

In the black labrador artwork work-in-progress pictures, you can see how I have used the greys for highlights and some dark blue for the transition from the grey to black. I have attempted to keep the effect soft in keeping with the medium and the personality of a labrador.

Black Labrador Ears, Paws And Top Of Head

In the picture below, you will see how I completed the top of the head and faded out the top of the drawing.

In the photo, the head is cropped very close, so I had to improvise a little. In order to make the portrait complete, I shaped the top of the head and made it lighter than in the reference photo.

I then very simply gave the idea of the neck fading backwards. This took away the impression of the dog floating in the air and grounded the portrait.

The labrador ears.

The next thing to tackle were the ears. And remember, he had to have curly ears. To get some inspiration to get the ear right, I had to lighten the image on my computer a lot to be able to see the ear a bit better, and I also looked at other labrador photos online.

Feeling a little more positive, I started drawing, trying to keep the lines loose and looking natural. Sometimes less is better than doing too much and makes it easier to achieve.

I decided not to go into too much detail and, of course, left the finger off that was in the reference photo!! If more is needed, I could always come back when the rest of the drawing is done.

The ear in the background was very simple to achieve. I kept the colours muted, and just a few lines indicated that the ear was there.

Now, the paw.

The back paw was just peeping out from under his head, and the light was catching the soft fur. I followed the reference photo very closely for this part to keep it as realistic as possible.

Once done, I thought it looked a little dull, so I used my artistic license to brighten the highlights up a bit. It looked much more interesting doing that.

The Cushion

The cushion was required under the paw to be able to blend the shadows and finish off the paw. The photo had a much duller colour than I used. As the black paper is a “dead” colour I picked up on the terracota colour I used in the drawing to warm up the portrait and pull the drawing together.

I started putting the colour in and added a few layers to get the richness of the colour I wanted.

Now, I always battle to decide where to let the shading disappear and end for something like a table, cushion, blanket, etc. You can see in this progress photo I had done quite a solid line at the base of the cushion, which I was undecided about.

So, as usual, when in doubt. I leave it and move on to something else.

The leg and paw in the foreground were the final part of the drawing. Because it is in the front of the drawing, it is important to get it right. Paws and feet are not my favourite parts of an animal to do, I must admit.

So the form and shading had to be scrutinised. Highlights first, the easy bit. The long fur falling over the cushion was going to be difficult to get looking natural.

Just a quick change of topic here: before adding the cushion colour I had finished the dog’s nose and muzzle. I enjoy drawing or painting animals noses generally; they have a good structure, and the highlights and shadows make it easy to get right, I think. Adding the rich colour under the nose and mouth made them stand out very nicely too.

I thought the best plan of action was to fade the cushion colour very slightly under the paw to make the creation of the long fur easier and stand out better.

Here you can see the finished leg and paw. I then drew whiskers over the paw to complete the face.

You will also note that I did adjust the eyes, particularly the far right eye in shadow. It is looking in the right direction now, and I added an extra highlight. I am happy with how the eyes turned out.

With regards to the blending off of the cushion into the background. You will see I got rid of the solid line and shaded it out softly instead.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Memorial Portrait: Staffy Drawing

Black Labrador Artwork Conclusion

I am very pleased with my Labrador retriever artwork, and the portrait was very well received when opened on Christmas Day.

Knowing that the person receiving the dog portrait gift loves the drawing is most important. That means I have done my job and transformed the photograph of their pet onto paper or canvas accurately.

I enjoyed drawing this black labrador portrait in my favourite medium, soft pastels, even though there were some aspects of the drawing I was unsure of how to interpret onto the paper. However, it all came together with a good result.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my black labrador drawing step-by-step. If you would like to order your own version of a black labrador artwork, or a golden labrador version, please feel free to order your pet portrait very soon.

You can also follow the link if you would like to know how to frame chalk pastel artwork.