There is only one place where we should look for information on how to draw a cat from internet instructions and that is on YouTube because it has to be a video tutorial. But since writing this article (2009) TikTok has surged in popularity and therefore immediately below this introduction you will see a TikTok video on how to draw a cat (added May 16, 2022). And I think this is a particularly good one because they’ve kept it very simple. You can draw a cat in many different ways. It can be super-realistic or it can be a cartoon character or the image can be representational of a cat. If you are not particularly talented then it is probably sensible to find a nice simple formula and this video meets that requirement.
Below are some YouTube videos showing various methods of drawing a cat. They have been on the Internet for around 12 years, which is a testament to their longevity. They can’t be that bad! They might even be quite good 😎.
In the spirit of making drawing a cat simple, the first YouTube video is short and to the point. It’s a video for people who don’t have any prior skills and yet still want to draw a cat to a reasonable standard for a range of reasons. This is not about creating a photo-realistic image! This is about a representational drawing of a cat and you can achieve a result very quickly if you follow the instructions in this video.
The second YouTube video is a way, I think of copying, by drawing, a photograph of a cat in small stages. It is very precise and almost certain to produce a decent drawing as it breaks down the image into sections, so scaling is accurate and the detail accurate too. It is drawing by numbers in a way but I would have thought a great place to start to get a feel for the process:
The next video is so relaxing to watch I am not sure that I was watching how to draw a cat but it is a great video. The artist draws on paper first and then uses that as a template for a digital drawing. Well that is how I saw it, anyway. It is a good one, a very good one:
The next video is also very relaxing again. It must be me! This guy draws in Chinese brush (I think). It is a kind of water color drawing. Actually, I think it is Sumi-e Chinese Brush Painting. Although, I am not completely sure what you call it, but it certainly gives an idea and a feel of how to draw a cat in this way:
Here is a nice one for kids. Also, you know, we don’t have to make art the complicated way. Sometimes the simplest of drawings are better than the most complex, provided and this is a big provided, they are good, elegant and well designed:
The following video is by the same talented person or people who drew the cat in pencil and then using a computer, only this time it is a lion and it is a WOW again. Great stuff and talent and this is how to draw a cat:
The next video is probably the best. It is by a self-taught Canadian lady who has been drawing all her life. I can’t embed the video here as she has forbidden it. I would, though, have a look around her YouTube home page (channel) as there is a lot of stuff there from which to learn from:
Video link: Drawing a Cougar
Sycra’s Art Videos – Channel link
Finally, a video, not from YouTube but a good one nonetheless:
That then is how to draw a cat from YouTube and TikTok videos. How about books etc.? Well, here is a link to a website where you can get some instruction in how to draw a cat:
- BillyBear4Kids.com – how to draw a cat
- The About.com author on how to draw a cat makes these useful points:
- She recommends drawing from a photograph, probably because it is easier, particularly for the less experienced. The photo should show the cat well lit and in a straightforward pose. The equipment she uses is:
- A range of pencils — F, B, 2B, 4B, 6B, lightweight hot pressed watercolor paper, blu-tack (removable poster adhesive) or kneadable eraser, paper stump, eraser.
- Scan and print or just print the photograph and trace the key points on the image from that.
- Place areas of light and dark tone on the traced image. This is where you look at the photograph and look for shadow and highlights and draw those in. This is not about drawing lines for detail, however.
- The mid-tones are then shaded in using a B pencil and the edges smudged using the blending stump.
- Shading is added to the cat’s body and background. The whiskers are defined and the eyes shaded with a highlight drawn in.
- Next comes adding detail carefully including the fur and the muzzle at the base of the whiskers, for example.
- The drawing can be finished with the addition of more fur texture (short strokes against the direction of fur growth) and adding more detail where required plus some tone to the background.
I REALLY LIKE THE WAY YOU DO STEP BY STEP
i like the way you try to show the kids how to draw it