Tips on drawing cats?

by Ecnahcylnoeno, June 28th 2019 © 2019 Ecnahcylnoeno

Done as part of a 30 minute class.

Any tips for complete beginners on drawing cats? I know my lion looks like its on a bender, but this is my first time drawing one. Please be honest, but gentle.

Sanne - Modérateur du site

This is a good first time drawing cats! :) I appreciate the effort you put into finding the underlying skeletal and joint points. I think what makes this drawing look a bit weird is that there's a lot of focus on the details (whiskers, eyes, the tear marks, claws) but the rest of the body isn't really complete yet. Focusing on the details like that makes it harder to get the general shapes right and will end up making your drawings look a bit wonky. It's okay though, we've all been there. :) Totally normal part of the process.

What will probably help you is to avoid adding the details and spend some time focusing on what shapes the cats are made up of. Break up the main body (chest, shoulders, legs, hips and head) and don't spend too long thinking about whether or not it looks right, just try to train your brain to recognize the shapes. It might end up looking like a total mess but that's alright! If you get the bigger shapes down well, then it becomes easier to also draw the joints and refine the sketches more.

So in short: an issue I see is that you focus on details too much. Try to spend 30-60 seconds on a cat drawing and break it down into basic shapes, then move on to the next cat. Rinse and repeat!

There's a lot more info to give but I think it might be overwhelming to try and do everything at once. You're welcome to send me a PM and let me know when you've drawn your next session(s) and I'll take a look at those as well. :)

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