How to draw
How to Draw a Cat
- Growing (level 3 of 5)
- 15 min
- 14 steps
- Ages 6–10 (a guide, not a rule)
Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil. Optional: Eraser, Orange, brown and pink crayons, colored pencils or markers.
Draw it on the screen
In the Cat Face lesson you drew just the face. Now you draw the whole cat sitting down. Three light guide shapes come first: a circle for the head, an oval for the body and a circle for the back leg. You draw the cat around them, then erase them. The face looks at you while the body faces the side.
Want to try just the face? How to draw: Cat Face.
Rather color it? Print the cat coloring page.
Step by step
- New lines: purple, thick and glowing
- Lines you already drew: gray
- Guides: dashed blue, draw them lightly
- Erase: dotted pink with an eraser
Step 1 of 14
-
Step 1 of 14 Draw a circle for the head near the top of your paper. Press lightly: it is a guide you will erase later. -
Step 2 of 14 Draw a tall, tilted oval for the body. Its top tucks under the head. Press lightly again. -
Step 3 of 14 Draw a circle at the bottom right of the oval for the big back leg. It is called the haunch. -
Step 4 of 14 Draw two pointy ears on top of the head circle, joined by a gentle curve. -
Step 5 of 14 Draw round cheeks and a chin around the bottom of the head circle, from one ear to the other. -
Step 6 of 14 Draw the face like in the Cat Face lesson: two oval eyes, a small triangle nose, and a short line down from the nose with a curve on each side. -
Step 7 of 14 Draw the chest from under the chin down to the floor. Round off a paw, then go straight back up. That is the front leg. -
Step 8 of 14 Draw the other front leg peeking out just behind. You can only see its back edge and the end of its paw. -
Step 9 of 14 Draw the back: a long curve from behind the head down to the top of the haunch circle. -
Step 10 of 14 Keep going around the outside of the haunch circle, all the way down to the floor. -
Step 11 of 14 Draw the front of the haunch as one big curve, then the long back foot along the floor. The haunch is in front of the tummy, so you see its whole curve. -
Step 12 of 14 Draw a thick tail that starts at the haunch and curls up beside the cat. Give it a round tip. -
Step 13 of 14 Erase the three guide shapes. -
Step 14 of 14 Finish with details: whiskers, the insides of the ears, stripes on the head, back and tail, and lines for the toes.
You did it!
Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.
Tips for this drawing
Helpful hints
- Keep the three guide shapes light so they erase cleanly.
- The head circle sits on top of the body oval, a little to the left. The haunch circle sits at the bottom right.
- If you already drew the Cat Face lesson, the face here is the same: you only add the body.
Common mistakes
- The cat looks like it is standing on two thin sticks. Make the front legs as wide as an eye-to-eye space, and give each one a round paw.
- The back leg is hard to see. Draw the front of the haunch as one big curve over the tummy. That curve makes the back leg pop out.
- The tail is a thin line. Draw both sides of the tail, about as wide as a front leg, and join them with a round tip.
Make it simpler
Skip the haunch circle and the far leg: draw the head, a tall oval body, one front leg, a tail and the face.
Guide shapes
A circle for the head, an oval for the body and a circle for the back leg show where the big parts go. You draw around them, then erase them.
Overlap
Parts in front hide parts behind. The back leg is in front of the tummy, and one front leg is behind the other, so you draw only the parts you can see.
