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We'll now focus on how to draw a cat; these cute, snuggly little creatures
that many of us love. What I have is a photo of a cat. What I'm going to
suggest is that you too, find a photo that you really enjoy looking at, so
that as you're drawing it, you can feel very inspired.
I'm going to start with the shape of the head. I'm going to be using
drawing pencils, and then I'm going to move into using a ballpoint, black
pen. The shape of a cat face is very heart-shaped, so it's almost a
combination of a circle and a heart. I'm actually going to draw almost a
lopsided circle to start. Then I'm going to draw just the bottom of a
heart. Instead of it being a pointed bottom, I'm going to make it a rounded
bottom. Right now, we're just focusing on the outline of the cat's head.
The ears of a cat, they may not be perfect triangles as some think they
are, but they're very triangular. What I'm going to suggest is drawing a
triangle to start, just to get that basic shape on there. Now we can really
round it out. What really happens is it comes up, and then it rounds over.
This is not a perfectly straight line, it's somewhat round. I'll do that to
the other ear, as well. In your drawing, you would be looking at a photo of
whatever cat really inspires you.
I'm going to play with the shape of the face a little more. I'm going to
look at little bits and pieces of the face, rather than the whole face at
once. If you try to capture everything at once, it can be very, very
overwhelming. What we really want to focus on is just one line at a time;
almost like little dashes that connect, rather than one solid line. I'm
going to continue my pencil down, finding that shape. If I want to make
changes to what I have, I can always erase. I'm going to bring in my gum
eraser, and I'm just going to erase some of the lines that I no longer want
or need.
As I'm drawing, I know that I might make changes as I go, and that's fine.
As you're drawing, it's a constant, constant process. I encourage you to
focus on the process, not the product. If you focus on the process, the
drawing experience can be very, very peaceful, very relaxing, and most
importantly, very self-expressive.
I'm going to look at the angle of the eyes. Before I even draw the eyes in,
the eyes will always be on an angle on a plane. The nose and the mouth will
also be on an angle. The eyes tend to be in the middle of the head. A lot
of people think they're right at the top, but they're not; they tend to be
in the middle. I'm going to look at where those eyes are. They're really in
the middle, they're on this plane, and they're not perfect circles, but
they're not as almond-shaped as human eyes. They're almost something in the
middle. What you really have with cat eyes is this curving form that comes
and tucks down. When in doubt, make a circle, and you can always change it.
I'm really making pieces of a circle, but not all of those pieces are
connecting.
With the nose, you're going to look for the connection from the eyes to the
nose. From the center of the eye, again, just a little curving form, it
comes in, and then comes right out. Cats have pretty wide noses. Then we're
going to find the bottom of the nose, which really makes a triangle from
the inside of the eyes to the nose. We're going to find, where do we put
that nose? The nose is very heart-shaped; the top is almost like a little
heart. If you want to, it all really takes place within a triangle. You can
draw the triangle, and eventually, erase those guidelines. If you think of
a combination of a heart and a triangle, that is pretty much the shape of a
cat nose.
Then you have their cute little lips. It's just a straight line. Depending
on the cat, it's almost an upside-down, very wide V. Here would be a wide V
right-side-up. Upside-down would be something like that, and you have this
little line here. I'm going to draw that upside-down V; it's a little
curved. As I'm drawing this, I'm realizing the chin is a little too high,
so all I'm going to do is make it lower. There's no such thing as a mistake
in drawing. You can always make changes, and you continue to make changes
until you feel good about what your drawing is looking like.
That is my basic shape of the cat's face. I'm going to just put in a few
guidelines for its body. If you really look at it, all it is, is almost a
straight line coming out. Instead, I'm just making a little bit curvy. I'm
making a very loose line, because also of course, the cat is very furry.
I'm going to come in with a ballpoint pen, which I personally love drawing
with. You get a lot of really nice dark lines and shades. My process of
using the ballpoint pen is literally drawing a lot of different lines, and
then you can cross over it; those are called hatch marks. I can press a
little . . . I can make the lines much closer together, and those will give
me a darker area of shading.
As I continue, I'm going to be using my ballpoint pen, but I'm also going
to allow myself to come back in with my pencil, redrawing when I want to. I
can start to erase any of the initial guidelines from the eyes to the nose,
that midline of the angle of the eyes, or the angle down the middle of the
face.
I'm going to use my ballpoint pen and really start to bring out some
definition and some highlights. I'm going to first start with the eyes.
Cats' eyes are always really beautiful. I'm basically just tracing on top
of the pencil lines that I already created. I'm really not doing anything
that's so new. Perhaps as I'm doing this, perhaps as I'm using the
ballpoint pen, there are certain details that I want to add, that perhaps
initially were not there. There is this little eyelid, and again, it's just
a curved line. If you really break it down, it's not all that complicated.
I'm continuing with my ballpoint pen. At this point, I'm really coloring in
with the tip of the pen. If I make a mistake with this eye, I would have
wished that this line were a little higher. It may not ultimately be
perfect-perfect, but as long as the drawing is expressing what I'm really
wanting it to say, then I feel that it's quite successful. I'm going to
continue through the drawing, finding my pencil sketch, and just bringing
in a little more definition with my ballpoint pen. Here's the heart-shaped
nose. I'm specifically looking for any areas that are very dark. Those dark
cat nostrils I'm going to bring right in. I'm just going to color it right
in, like a coloring book, but with the ballpoint pen.
What I'm going to really look for are some of the lights and darks within
the cat. First, I'm going to bring in those incredibly intense and
beautiful cat eyes. I'll first just focus on the pupil, and just by
bringing that in, it allows us to feel like the cat is looking at us. What
I'm going to start doing is just more shading. I'm going to find these
beautiful lines of fur, and I'm just coloring it in. I'm really moving my
pen very, very freely. I'm purposely moving it very freely because I want
it to feel like fur. With the ballpoint pen, I could spend hours giving
this more and more detail. Instead of working on it for hours, I'm just
wanting to get the basics down.
The insides of the eyes are definitely not white, but they're not as dark
as the pupil. I'm going to just do a little bit of shading inside of the
eye. There's a real sense of reflection, so I'll allow that to shine
through. Now that we have the nose area, the eyes, and the mouth, perhaps
I'll add some whiskers, and perhaps I'm going to continue bringing in some
of these really beautiful shapes and forms of the fur. Each stripe is very
much its own. The stripes are not the same. Although people think of this
as a stripe, a stripe on an animal is not that way; it's more of a shape.
The last thing I'm going to do is just sketch in a little bit of the chin
and some of these whiskers. Cats have these little polka dots that then
lead to their whiskers; one of their defining facial qualities. I'm going
to allow myself to draw these very wispy lines, extending out. There are a
couple more up top, near the eyebrows. The last thing I might do is just
draw in some of those dark stripes of the cat.
This is just a beginning, and I would definitely continue on bringing in
these dark shapes, bringing in these light shapes, bringing in more, and
more, and more definition, until I get to the point where I'm really
confident and happy with my drawing. All the while, even if this is not
completely finished, I'm really enjoying the process, allowing myself to
relax and allowing myself to really express myself.