When I first set out to create dog-breed skeletons, I did what any artist would do: I went hunting for references. Surely, I thought, the internet would be overflowing with skeletons of every dog breed imaginable, right?
Wrong.
You’ll find some skeletal references online, but most are other artists’ renditions. Accurate, scientific skeletons of specific dog breeds are harder to come by. And, it wasn’t as if I intentionally set out to build my own digital dog skeleton army.
One skeleton simply led to the creation of another.
At this point, I have over 100 dog breed skeletons in my closet (pun)…but it all began with a photo of a Greyhound.
This one.
(courtesy of Dana Dikaitis - @just.gus.thegriff).
All the skeletons you see on this site started with Greyhounds (my own) and working with photographs (of my dogs) so I could get comfortable with anatomy and a handle with where to position all those bones. Turns out that lean, short-haired breeds are a dream for an anatomy-focused artist - the perfect starting point to get a handle on dog anatomy and the art of positioning all those bones.
It led to more challenging breeds—those covered in fluff or bulk, where finding anatomical landmarks like knees and elbows requires a little coffee.
When I’m creating a new skeleton, those “landmarks” are pretty important. Knees and elbows give me the proportions and structure I need to build the skeleton accurately. If I can’t find them, it’s a long, frustrating process of trial and error.
In most cases, longer haired breeds also come together relatively seamlessly so long as I can still find what I need. Even Border Collies and Borzois have landmarks that can easily be found.
Things get more interesting with fluff. When landmarks are buried in the stuff it makes the process a wee more challenging.
Which brings me to the hardest breed I’ve worked on.
The Pomeranian.
Not a damn elbow or kneecap in sight.
Another breed that comes to mind is the Scottish Terrier - a dwarf breed with kneecaps draped in long hair. A breed with such a disproportionately large skull that the entire thing looks like a cartoon character. The Scottie wasn’t as challenging as the Pom, but the whole proportion thing definitely threw me off.
But luckily, most dogs don’t come anywhere near Pom on the scale of difficulty.
Two things about dogs.
1 - I have always believed that dogs hold the prize for the most genetically manipulated species (by man) on the planet.
Not that there was a competition or anything.
But, between the size variation, coat variation, and a laundry list of other physical differences, you’d think that creating each breed required a clean slate.
It doesn’t.
Because of one other simple fact.
2 - Regardless of size or shape, all dogs have approximately the same number of bones. The total varies depending on tail length, but the blueprint is damn consistent.
This consistency allows me to reuse parts—rib cages, skulls, and even pieces of fur—across breeds. Most of the bones you see were created in separate layers in Adobe Illustrator, making them fully moveable and endlessly adaptable. I not only use bones across breeds, but I can also reposition a dog into a more interesting pose.
Most of the bones are free to move around and create new poses and, ultimately, new art. I make standing dogs trot, trotting dogs sit and, in this case, I make standing Poms fly.
Just from rearranging a few bones and some pieces of fur.
ChatGPT once called me a Digital Scavenger.
And I'm ok with that.
Like a vulture picking through skeletons, I piece together breeds by reusing what I’ve already built. It’s efficient and allows for a level of consistency across all my art that my perfectionist mind appreciates.
All I need is a starting point - existing art of a breed of similar size, proportion or skull shape.
The Belgian Malinois was built off an existing German Shepherd skeleton. The remaining Belgian breeds were built off the Mal. The Dutch Shepherd and White Swiss Shepherd followed.
You get the idea.
All that scavenging has resulted in over 100 breed-specific skeletons, each with its own quirks, challenges, and possibilities.
And over 50 are currently available on the site.
Take a look at our breed page, find your favorites, note all the similarities and stock up on your favorites!
