Drawing is a skill that most people have, but few hone in practice. There are many ways to learn how to draw, but all them focus more or less on teaching you the basics of drawing shapes and figures.
They teach you to use basic tools such as pencils, pens, markers, and computers to create pictures.
But what about animals?
Many consider it to be beyond their ability to draw, which is kind of ridiculous because we spend so much time looking at animalistic creatures and there’s no reason why you can’t know how to draw one!
It seems almost natural for us to make drawings of things like dogs or cats, so why not take it up a level and see what you can do? You may even find yourself improving your skills as you explore different styles and approaches.
There are several ways to learn how to draw animals, and this article will talk about three of them – observational, digital, and traditional drawing.
By learning each of these techniques, you’ll be able to pick and choose which one fits your style best and then work from there.
Next, draw a series of lines that will make up the cat’s face
The next part of drawing your cats is defining their features. For example, what shape are they? Are they long and thin or round and fluffy? What kind of nose do they have?
There are many styles in how artists depict cats with different looks and touches.
To add more diversity to your style, you can look into other ways to describe feline characteristics. You can also use proportion as an element to include in their picture.
Make the cat’s nose
The first thing to do is create the shape of the face, which in this case is a cat. This includes creating the outline of the whiskers as well as picking your favorite color for the cat and his or her features.
To make the cat’s nose, you will need to pick an area that has some solid colors inside it.
You can use a circle tool to draw a small circle anywhere you want to add detail to the nose, but we are going to go one step further and take advantage of another tool: the brush!
The easiest way to start painting with the brush is by holding down the left mouse button and moving the cursor around. As you move the brush up, the tip gets longer and as you move it down, the hair gets thinner.
By experimenting with different shapes, you will find there are many ways to achieve a perfect-looking nose! If you like, you can also zoom out so you have a better look at your work.
Make the whiskers
The easiest way to draw a cat is to start with a head shape, then draw in some basic features such as nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. Then you can start adding more specific details like whiskers or fur.
The hardest part about drawing cats is their tails. Cats usually lose most of the hair around the anus area so they look like they have a very large butt.
To make it clear what parts are being covered up, you need to add detail to show that area is not hairs.
Another difficult area for artists to tackle is the legs. Most people draw fluffy kitty feet which looks wrong! You should be able to see the knees and the paws, but none of them match.
To fix this, artists either outline the foot and shade it, or they blend into each other.
Make the ears
The first thing to do is draw two circles, one slightly bigger than the other. Then connect the top circle to the bottom circle with a long line. Now add some whiskers by drawing several lines that intersect in a cutesy way.
Cat ear tips are usually very short and vertical, but you can make them much thinner if you want!
You could even go all wispy like a kitten :). Just be sure not to make them too thin though or they will look like furry eyebrows!
I recommend doing this as free-hand drawings, then tracing over it to get more precise shapes.
Make the tail
The first thing to do is pick your cat’s kind or shape. A tabby, for example, will have lots of stripes. An orange one might have an interesting patterned nose!
If you can’t find what kind of cat you want, then choose something simple that takes longer to draw so that you have time to study how it shapes its face.
The next step is picking the number of lines in the body. Should there be just four? Or six? You decide to depend on if you like more rounded cats or sharper ones. Some people even say eight looks best!
Once those are chosen, start drawing all the individual lines. Start with the back line and work forward. There are some basic rules about this such as keeping them smooth and steady.
Next comes the muzzle, which is the part between the mouth and the nose. This takes a little bit longer than other parts since you need to pay attention to where both the top and bottom ends meet.
After that, the whiskers! They grow very slowly so they don’t get drawn too quickly. Just make sure they match up correctly with the rest of the fur.
Now comes the front leg. These take slightly less time to complete because only two toes stick out. Two dots and you’re done!
Repeat these steps for the second foot and the cat has been drawn! Take your time and enjoy every stage to see how beautifully shaped animals are made.
Finish the cat
The last thing to do is add some features to make your drawing more detailed. Add whiskers, a tail, and even ear hairs or felines!
Add whiskers by going upside sides of the face twice. Make them shorter in the middle and then longer at the ends.
For the nose, choose either a closed-mouth expression with only wrinkles around the eyes or an open-mouthed expression with lips that stick out.
Also Read – How Far Cat Can Smell
For the tail, pick one length and have it go down as straight as possible before curving slightly upward. You can also add little lines coming off the end to give it depth.
Finally, add some ear hair by going along the top edge until you reach the ears, and repeat the process. If needed, create small circles for the fur to sit in so it looks natural.
Overall, this article discussed how to draw a very simple animal: A CAT! Hopefully you learned something new and could now take what you have learned and apply it to other animals.
Reference your drawing using images from the internet
A lot of people create their cats, but you do not need to be trained in art to draw them! All you need is references of real cats to help you draw yours. You can use pictures or videos of actual cats to get some basic shapes and features.
Cat ears are one of the most defining parts of what makes up what we call a ‘cat’ face. They are also one of the hardest to capture properly because they must have both an upright position as well as a drooped position.
There are many ways to draw cat ear shapes, but my favorite is probably the side-swept tail.
This is when the end of the fur drops towards the back of the animal before rising again. It becomes very clear if you watch movies with drawn feline ears, such as The Jungle Book!
Just remember that what works for one type of cat does not always work for others.
Learn some tips for drawing cats
There are many ways to learn how to draw a cat, but most start with learning the basics of drawing animals. Starting with that can be tricky at times as there are so many different styles of cats!
A basic outline of the body is needed next. The legs, tail, and face all must be included in this step.
Next comes the nose which can be short or long depending on what kind of look you want for your cat. Then ears, whiskers, and finally the mouth and eyes.
After those two steps, the fur can be painted and then finished. Take your time and do not rush this process!
There are several types of cats so it does not matter which one you choose, they all look great!
Some have more formal-looking patterns while others seem much wilder than the others. You will just need to know which style fits yours best.
