How to Draw a Cat

Grab a pencil (NOT a pen!) and some paper, and let’s learn how to draw a realistic cat! You’ll start with simple shapes to outline the cat’s head and body. Then you’ll enhance your cat drawing by adding intricate details like the face, ears, whiskers, and tail.

Once you’ve finished, learn how to draw a bear, cartoon dogs, or an elephant.

STEP 1: To start drawing a cat, make a small circle for the cat’s head. Then add a larger circle below it and a larger one still below that for the cat’s body.

STEP 2: Join the circles together with a smooth, curving line to draw the cat’s neck and back on the right-hand side and another on the left for the cat’s neck.

STEP 3: Erase the overlapping lines inside the cat’s body. To draw the cat’s first front leg, add an oval overlapping its body and another smaller oval below that. Draw a smooth line around the ovals for the outline of the cat’s leg.

Step 4: Erase the overlapping lines in the cat’s leg and the line on its chest. Add the cat’s other front leg by drawing a line from the cat’s chest around the first leg. Now draw an oval overlapping the cat’s front leg and bottom for the back paw.

Step 5: Draw the cat’s face and ears, copying the shapes shown here as closely as possible. Erase any unnecessary lines so you are left with a complete cat shape.

Step 6: Draw long smooth lines coming from the nose for the cat’s whiskers. Add a curving tail and erase a small section of the outline where it joins the body. Add some wiggly fur lines on the chest and ears.

Get this cat drawing project and many more in “How to Draw Animals” by Michael Garton. (Michael O’Mara Books, $14.99 softcover. Ages 6 and up.)