How to Draw a Blue Dog Tutorial and Blue Dog Coloring Page

Below you'll find an easy step-by-step tutorial for how to draw a Blue Dog and a Blue Dog Coloring Page. It was a series of work that catapulted artist George Rodrigue into worldwide fame in the early 1990s.

Blue Dog Drawing

A drawing of Blue Dog, made with the help of an easy step by step tutorial.

George Rodrigue (1944 – 2013)  was a Cajun artist who grew up in Louisiana. He went to an all-boys high school and then later studied at two art colleges, one in Louisiana and one in California. He later trained in New York. George began by painting outdoor scenes at family gatherings, using an oak tree as his main subject in hundreds of paintings.

Rodrigue's art studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles spawned one of the greatest success stories in American art.  In the early 1990s hisBlue Dog Series, based on the French-Cajunloup-garou legend, catapulted him to worldwide fame, while his dark Renaissance-like landscapes developed into robust modern masterpieces.

As a passionate philanthropist, Rodrigue founded theGeorge Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, advocating the importance of the arts in education.  Programs include art supplies for schools, scholarships, and arts integration through Louisiana A+ Schools.  Visit www.rodriguefoundation.org.

You can learn more about George Rodrigue onWendy's blog and the bookThe Other Side of the Painting (2013, UL Press).

Coloring Tip: Try using a couple of different brands of crayons to get more color choices. I used a combination of Prang and Crayola, and pressed pretty hard to get the really vibrant colors shown in my sample.

Use the Button below to Download a PDF Tutorial

A step by step tutorial for how to draw an easy Blue Dog, also available as a free download.

Save me to your Pinterest Board

Blue Dog Coloring Page

Blue Dog Coloring page, available as a free download.

Materials for How to Draw a Blue Dog Drawing

  • Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tips.
  • Black Sharpie Marker. These fine point permanent marker pens make nice black outlines, have a good tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them with good ventilation and add extra paper underneath to protect your tables.
  • Prang Crayons. These are a bit softer than other crayons so they sometimes look like oil pastels. They also have a some nice brown shades that Crayola does not have unless you buy their larger boxes.
  • Crayola Crayons. The reliable brand that always works well. The 24 pack has some of my favorite golden orange and yellow colors that seem a bit richer and warmer than the ones Prang has.

Step by step directions for How to Draw a Blue Dog Drawing

Time needed:45 minutes.

Blue Dog Tutorial

  1. Start by drawing a circle.

  2. Add the center snout shape.

  3. Erase the inside of the snout and add two eyes.

  4. Add the nose, brows and the ears.

  5. Draw the left front leg shape.

  6. Add the right front leg shape.

  7. Draw the two back legs and the belly line.

  8. Erase the gray lines and add bits of extra fur.

  9. Trace with a marker and color.

More Dog Drawing Projects