How to Draw a Cat

Are you a furry feline lover who wants to quickly learn how to draw a cat? Follow the steps in our tutorial and you will be able to draw cats of all shapes and sizes. Whether a Siamese or British Tabby cat, we have a fun and easy tutorial just for you.

Before beginning your cat drawing, get all of your supplies together. You can use any medium you have on hand like pencils, paint, Procreate, Photoshop, etc. If you are using Procreate like we are, you can use this versatile Procreate brush set to sketch and add color to your cat.

Step 1 - Sketch the Cat’s Head

The first step in how to draw a cat is by making a rough sketch of the head. You can use a medium that is easy to remove like a pencil. You can also use something light in color that you can trace over.

The cat head is roughly the shape of a lemon with tapering ends that meet at a point. As our cat is sitting at an angle, draw the shape with a slight tilt.

Step 2 - Sketch the Cat’s Body

Next, sketch the cat’s body directly below the head. Keeping in mind the angle, draw a rectangular shape with curves on either side for the body. The left side will curve outwards while the right side will curve in closer to the head.

Step 3 - Sketch in the Ears and Tail

With the cat head and body sketched we can add in the ears and tail. Draw the ears on top of the head with a gap between them. Now, draw the tail on the bottom right side of the body.

Step 4 - Sketch the Cat’s Legs

For this cat drawing, only the front legs will be visible. They will be placed on the opposite side of the tail. Start at the bottom of the cat’s body, about halfway down. Next, sketch two legs with the paws going past the base of the body.

Step 5 - Sketch the Face Details

In this step, we are going to plan out where the cat’s eyes, nose, mouth, and whiskers will go on the head. Start by finding the vertical and horizontal center points on the cat’s head. Then, draw guidelines going through the center. Refer to the image below for a visual guide.

You can add more of a curve to the guidelines to change the position of the face.

In the center where the two guidelines cross, sketch a triangle for the nose. Then follow the vertical line down to add in the mouth. We added a little tongue sticking out for character. Using the horizontal line as a guide, draw the eyes just above the guideline.

Add your cat’s whiskers a little further down, just below the eyes. As a final touch, sketch the inner ear detail for your cat.

Step 6 - Outline your Cat Sketch

Switch over to a more permanent or defined medium like these Procreate lettering brushes. Start outlining your cat sketch and pay attention to where you want to have overlapping outlines. Remember to skip the sketch overlapping by the legs.

Then outline the face details of your cat. We used the same color and medium that we used for the body outline. Feel free to mix it up however you want.

Once you have outlined your cat you can go ahead and remove the sketches.

Step 7 - Add Color to your Cat

For the final step on how to draw a cat, let’s add some color. Use two or more shades of the same color for the body. Add pink for the cheeks, inner ears, and tongue.

Get creative and draw a pattern that works for your cat’s fur. Add in details like stripes, spots, patches, etc. You can also use our cat drawing below as a guide.

You have just created a purrrrfect cat to add to your drawing collection. We hope you have enjoyed learning how to draw a cat. Why not have a look at our other drawing tutorials like how to draw a sunflower or how to draw a pineapple?