Tips for Drawing Cats

All art by me X3
vv Tips & Tricks in more detail vv

#1: I drew a cat’s full body side view, a front view of it’s face, an the paws in the same perspectives. Then there’s also a few different kinds of fur patterns (tabby, dappled, speckled, and blocked colors) there are more patterns, but I just drew the first ones that came to mind :D

#1 extras: this is just showing you how I use circles when drawing cats—that way I know where everything’s going to be, like what position the cat’s going to be in.

#2: the next few are about fur patterns. This one is tabby stripes. On the top, you can see the way I draw them now, and on the bottom is how I used to draw them. Either looks cool, but one does look slightly more realistic/stylized X3

#3: yeah, so I meant to do the same thing I did for #2, but uh…. I kinda made it dappled on top and speckled on bottom. So thats what this is now lol
As you can see the top one has a lot more stripy lines and the bottom one only has spots. Both are really cool when you draw your cats X3

#4: black cats!! <3 this is one I struggled with for a while. Then I figured it out. When you draw black cats, you don’t shade as much as you would on another colored cat. You have to use more highlights, so instead of focusing on the shading, focus on where the highlights are. (it’s the opposite for white cats)
You can also use a VERY dark grey, blue, brown, or other color. X3

#5: the chart sort of explains itself. Just comparing the different parts of a human leg vs. a cat leg. :D

#6: same thing as 5 just with arms/front paws

#7: Faces are super important when drawing, well, anything with a face lol
These are a few expressions and how I draw them.
Also an eye tutorial, and a BUNCH of different eyes lol

#8: my OC Dawnheart! <3 and how I do character design. I like to make a template like this, with all the key info about their basic self. I didn’t add her personality here… (cuz i forgot) but normally you would X3

Random tidbits: (you can ignore most of this is you don’t do digital lol)

1. I use black one the layer setting ‘Overlay’ when I draw patterns that are darker than the base fur color.
2. I use LOTS of layers
3. I alway’s shade
4. Don’t forget the legs in the background (most cats have 4 legs ;3)
5. When I draw eyes I make a bunch of different shapes and patterns—all on different layers— and set them to a mix of ‘Overlay’, ‘Soft Light’, and ‘Add’ I also shade with black and add highlights.
6. Stare at photos of cats. For a long time. And cat art too.
7. I shade with black then turn down the opacity of the layer (or use overlay, depending on the drawing)
8. I use white as highlights, then set the layer to ‘Add’ and turn down the opacity until I like it (that makes it look like its glowing X3)

Okay, I think that’s it for now… X3

Tysm for checking out my project! You rock! <3

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