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Some artists know what cats look like. Some don’t! This blog is here to tell you the difference.

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Julius Adam II can draw cats!

[cantheydrawcats]

i must ask you: can wayne mcloughlin, who spent a good chunk of his career drawing cats, accurately draw cats?

I am pleased to report that Wayne Mcloughlin can, beyond a shadow of a doubt, draw cats! It may be the nostalgia speaking but I think even without that, these illustrations show an excellent understanding of the feline.

[cantheydrawcats]

great blog great blog great blog !!! lovelovelovelovelove

Thank you thank you thank you! :)

[historieofbeafts]

While we’re on the subject of animals the artist absolutely would have been familiar with, please enjoy this cat.

[Image Source: British Library, Harley MS 1585, fol. 74r]

[cantheydrawcats]

No! Whichever medieval artist this was cannot draw cats!

[cryptidmistoffelees]

Ⓨ𝕠υ 𝒷𝓲丅ᵉ Ⓨ𝕠υŘ 丅𝕠𝔫Ğυᵉ

丅卄𝓲Ş 𝓲Ş ⓐ ρᵉŘᖴᵉČ丅 ＤŘⓐω𝓲𝔫Ğ 𝕠ᖴ 𝕄ᵉ

😾

[cantheydrawcats]

Well, now that you mention it, the resemblance IS striking...

[cantheydrawcats]

All children know instinctively how to draw cats but as we grow up we start to lose the knack unless we remember to actively hone it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a child’s cat drawing that wasn’t an impeccable depiction of what a cat really looks like.

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Sandra Boynton can draw cats! They’re pretty abstracted but you’ve clearly got the general shape and we see here represented again the various styles of cat- angry, bemused, and chaotic

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Victor Chizhikov can draw cats!

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Tony DiTerlizzi can draw cats! And a wide array of them at that, ranging from realistic to simplified and all of them exemplary felines.

[cantheydrawcats]

No! Paul Gauguin cannot draw cats! Although these are all very good overall he has forgotten to put the eyes in on every single one. I know you know how to draw eyes, Gauguin. I’ve seen it.

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Carl Reichert can draw cats. Here is another artist who has clearly been inconvenienced by them on a regular basis. That sort of life experience definitely lends itself to drawing cats well.

[cantheydrawcats]

Arguable! John White Alexander’s cats are clearly skillfully done but again guys, you need to be more confident! Don’t rely on your humans to take up most of the artwork! You can just draw cats!

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Mary Cassatt can draw cats! The kitten in the finished work on the bottom remains a little more abstract than the child but kittens are inherently a little abstract anyway and Cassatt has really captured the way it feels to be small and holding a cat.

[historieofbeafts]

While we’re on the subject of animals the artist absolutely would have been familiar with, please enjoy this cat.

[Image Source: British Library, Harley MS 1585, fol. 74r]

[cantheydrawcats]

No! Whichever medieval artist this was cannot draw cats!

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Henriette Ronner Knip can draw cats! In particular, I really appreciate the round and fuzzy quality of her kittens, she’s done some excellent work conveying that sort of unsteady newness particular to tiny baby cats.

[cantheydrawcats]

Arguable! Pierre Carrier Belleuse is clearly skilled but seems to be another of those artists who think they can only draw cats if there’s a person involved. It’s okay, Pierre. You don’t have to add a person to justify it. You can just draw cats.

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Théophile Alexandre Steinem can draw cats! He’s really able to capture the various modes of cat: contentedly scrunching their face up, glaring at you, trying to drink your tea, declaring a revolution.

[cantheydrawcats]

Yes! Alfred-Arthur Brunel de Neuville can draw cats! Look at that first picture. This is someone who was regularly inconvenienced by his cats. He’s definitely familiar enough to draw them well.