Jayie’s Warrior Cats Designs

This is my side blog for posting my designs for characters from Warrior Cats. My main blog is @jayietheriverwarrior. Avatar is by @slugswarriorsdesigns . Feel free to request canon cats for me to draw - I might not answer all of them, but I’ll do what I can. Names on some ref sheets might differ from canon names because I draw ref sheets for my post-The Last Hope AU.

[jayietheriverwarrior]

Tigerstar glanced at her, then followed her gaze. “You’re not thinking of swimming over there.” His ears flicked uneasily.

The lake stretched wide and deep to ThunderClan territory. Frostpaw shifted her paws nervously. She’d never swum such a distance, but she was the only one who could try…

“I have to try, though, right?” Frostpaw blinked nervously at Tigerstar.

The ShadowClan leader’s eyes were narrowed. He was considering it. “Do you think you can swim that far?”

“I’ve been swimming since I was a kit.” Frostpaw tried to sound more confident than she felt. I’ve swum in rivers, with the riverbed only a few tail-lengths below me and the riverbank no more than a few breaths away. She kept her doubts to herself. “I can do it.”

…Her muscles felt as heavy as stone, and her effort couldn’t keep the chill of the lake from reaching through her pelt. Her paws felt numb from the cold, but she pushed on. I have to save RiverClan. She kept the thought in her mind, repeating it over and over as she focused on the distant shore, a pale strip of moonlit pebbles marking the line between the water and the dark heather beyond.

I’ve been wanting to draw this scene since I read it. Even with all of the battles and feats of strength in the series (and I definitely haven’t forgotten the particularly badass moment of Frostpaw’s not long after this where she cut Splashtail’s strings like a damn puppet), this really stood out to me as a particularly badass feat. Swimming all the way from the Gathering island to WindClan’s shore, in the freezing-cold winter water at night, swimming underwater for long stretches, and not faltering or resting until she finally reached the shore… nothing short of amazing. Frostdawn is my girl and I love her so much. <3

I actually started this about a month ago, but between all the MAP parts I was working on and other IRL stuff coming up, I really didn’t have time to work on it again until now. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty pleased with it anyway. :D

[jayfrost-designs]

Now for the last canon ref sheet I have done, and the last cat I needed to design to have drawn every currently-living cat as of Hidden Moon - Puffkit! :D

Puffkit has no physical description given other than her pattern, so I came up with my own for her. Of course with a name like Puffkit I had to make her a lil puffball. XD I like to think she gets it from her grandma Blossomfall.

For her pattern, Puffkit is described as a gray tabby she-cat. I loved the idea of Fernstripems daughter looking identical to her other than having the exact opposite build (short, poofy, and round rather than tall, short-furred, and skinny), so I gave her almost the exact same colors and pattern as her mom. XD

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how she turned out, though something about her face still looks a bit odd to me.

[jayfrost-designs]

Up next is the only boy in the FernShell litter! Of course I had to draw the kit named Leapkit leaping, or as close as a kitten that young can come to leaping. XD I think that’ll be the trend as I draw him older and older.

You can find the reverse side of his design here.

Leapkit has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. He has his father’s more average build, though still on the mother side, and his mother’s short pelt.

For his pattern, Leapkit is described as a black-and-white tom. I based his pattern loosely off his uncle Stemleaf, with his patches mostly sticking to his rump and lower back and his forehead. He, like Shykit, also has a patch of colored fur on his chin, as a nod to his dad’s design. He has no canon eye color, so I gave him his dad’s (and Stemleaf’s) shade of green.

Overall, I’m very happy with how he turned out. :D

[jayfrost-designs]

We’ve finally reached the last litter of kittens needed to have drawn every currently-living cat as of Hidden Moon! :D First up is Shykit, who is most likely going to grow up to be the fan-named Shyfrost! :D

Shykit has no physical description given other than her pattern, so I came up with my own for her. I made her a skinny oriental like her mom, but with some of her dad’s thicker medium length coat. Her lil skinny bab self was fun to draw. ^^

For her pattern, Shykit is described as a gray and white she-cat. She has a slightly darker shade of her mom’s gray, and since she has no canon eye color and we know she’s most likely going to be Shyfrost, I gave her some frosty ice-blue eyes. They’re a paler shade of her grandpa Thornclaw’s eyes. :D

Overall, I’m very happy with how she turned out :D

[jayfrost-designs]

Here's the last canon ref sheet I have done for the moment, though there's some fanfic sheets to come on my other account. :D Yeah I know, more repeated lineart, shush. XD Anyway here's Eelkit.

Eelkit has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with his own for him. Like his sister, I imagine him very sleek and skinny as a grown cat because of his name. We'll see what I end up going with when he gets there, though.

For his pattern, Eelkit is described as a black tom. He has no canon eye color, so I gave him his dad's dark orangey-amber eyes. Which made him end up looking a lot like Nightheart by accident, I imagine Frostdawn doesn't mind having a nephew who looks so much like her dear friend though. ^^

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how he turned out.

[jayfrost-designs]

Time for more CS kits! :D Floatshimmer's litter is next, with Heronkit up first. I love the names for her litter, I'm always happy to see a new Eel- in RiverClan because of my boy Eeltooth, and Heron- just sounds pretty :D Very appropriately RiverClan-y names.

Heronkit has no physical description given other than her pattern, so I came up with my own for her. Once again being lazy, I just used her mom's lineart for her, with the addition of ear tufts inherited from her dad. XD Shush, don't judge. I feel like I'm gonna make her lithe and sleek like her mom, 'cause herons are skinny birds, but we'll see.

For her pattern, Heronkit is described as a silver she-cat. She's got similar colors to her dad, minus the stripes of course. She has no canon eye color, so I gave her a paler shade of her uncle Splashtail's gray-green eyes. I think she looks really unique with that pale gray coat and pale gray eyes, it's a cool combo :D

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how she turned out. :D

[jayfrost-designs]

Yay, more lineart ripped from another cat so I didn't have to draw it from scratch! XD This is the lineart from her aunt Grassfur's kit sheet, and I'll be using the oft-used lineart from her father and other members of the family for her adult sheet, because it looks very long and lanky and very fitting for a cat called Stretch-, so get used to it. XD Ah well. Anyway, here's Stretchkit.

Stretchkit has no physical description other than her pattern, so I came up with my own for her. I described why I reused Grasskit's lineart above, so she has the same skinny, oriental build as her, with that same thicker slightly longer medium coat inherited from her RiverClan ancestor Beechfur.

For her pattern, Stretchkit is described as a brown tabby she-cat with white face markings. To differentiate from her brother getting their father's shade of brown, I decided to make Stretchkit here a darker shade of her grandma Heathertail's shade of brown, with a similar tabby pattern, though her face stripes are more like her mother Appleshine's. For her white face markings, she gets a white nose snip and forehead stripe, and since she has no canon eye color, she gets her dad's shade of amber eyes.

Overall, I'm really happy with how she turned out :D

[jayfrost-designs]

Time for new ref sheets! Man I've really been flying through these lately! Anyway, with all the adults and apprentices from Changing Skies done, it's time to start with the kits, and up first is Rustlekit :D

You can find the reverse side of his design here.

Rustlekit has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. He's just an average kind of build, more similar to his mother, to contrast with his pattern and colors being more similar to his father.

For his pattern, Rustlekit is described as a white tom with a brown tail. I decided to make him a van cat, with very minimal brown on his forehead, and a brown patched tail. He's a very similar shade of brown to his father. He has no canon eye color, so I gave him his mother's paler heather-blue eyes.

Overall, I'm very happy with how he turned out. :D

[jayfrost-designs]

Time for the last of the adults I needed to design for the currently-living cats, only kits left to design now! :D

You can find the reverse side of her design here.

Rapidsplash has no physical description given other than her pattern so I came up with my own for her. She's smaller and stouter like her dad, with that long fur, but it's a bit more flowy like her mom and sisters'.

For her pattern, Rapidsplash is described as a gray-and-white she-cat. I made her decently similar to her father in appearance, but tried to make the white fur between the gray patches look a bit like the white lines of water on rapids, while still looking realistic. She has no canon eye color, so to differentiate her from her father a bit, I gave her her mother's (and brother's) gray-green eyes.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how she turned out

[jayfrost-designs]

Up next is another one of the Kin, it's Flame :D

You can find the reverse side of her design here.

Flame has no physical description given besides her pattern, so I came up with my own for her. I made her kinda a scruffy medium-hair to make her look kinda flame-like. She's got plenty of scars from a lifetime of being a rogue and then all the battles the Kin fought in.

For her pattern, Flame is described as an orange she-cat with white belly fur and green eyes. I had fun playing around with her colors and such. :D

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with how she turned out.

[jayfrost-designs]

Time for some new ref sheets! Anyway here's Stripeheart.

Stripeheart has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. His mom is an oriental cat, so I made him and his brother oriental as well, with Stripeheart having short fur unlike his scruffy mom and brother. For his pattern, Stripeheart is described as a gray tabby tom. He has similar colors to his aunt Featherpelt, but with a mackeral tabby pattern, with particularly dark and noticeable stripes as a nod to his name. He has no canon eye color, so I gave him his mom's sort of faded green eyes.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with how he turned out.

[jayietheriverwarrior]

In the darkness and the rain—growing heavier with every heartbeat—it was becoming harder to distinguish the Clan cats from the rogues… Another rogue hurtled toward them, closest to Darktail; Hawkwing held off, expecting that the white tom would throw himself into the attack. Instead, Darktail whipped around, letting the rogue race past unscathed.

"Darktail... what—?" Hawkwing began. Darktail ignored him. With a snarl of mingled fury and triumph, he sank his claws into Bouncefire's neck.

Sheer shock kept Hawkwing frozen for a moment. Bouncefire too was so astonished that for a couple of heartbeats he was unable to defend himself. In that moment Darktail threw himself on top of the ginger tom, pinning him to the ground and tearing at his throat. Blood gushed out; Bouncefire's legs jerked spasmodically and then he went limp.

"Darktail!" Hawkwing choked out. "What are you doing?" Darktail didn't reply. For a moment he stood motionless over Bouncefire's body, his jaws still red with the ginger tom's blood.

He looks like a killer, Hawkwing thought in a whirl of confusion and grief. Who is this cat?

In honor of today's reveal of the cover for Darktail's Judgment, which was particular exciting for me (you may be able to guess whyyyyyy), I felt compelled to draw the man himself, so here's Darktail in all of his bloody glory, in the moment where he shattered Hawkwing's trust by killing Bouncefire, and Hawkwing sees him as he truly is for the first time. I just love that image of him, motionless and emotionless standing over the body of the cat he'd just murdered, jaws and chest still wet with his blood, having ended the life of someone who had trusted him and breaking the heart of a cat who had considered him a friend, and feeling absolutely nothing.

This was a lot of fun to draw, I wasn't totally sure how it would turn out when I started, but I really love the end result, this new paint-y method really lent itself well to this piece :D Especially with those dark dusk-y colors :D

[jayfrost-designs]

And last of all, as promised, here's a new ref sheet for Harrybrook using his son's lineart. :D I really outta give all of Leafstar's kits updated ref sheets, maybe Billystorm and Echosong too while I'm at it. But let's save that for later.

You can find the reverse side of his design here.

Harrybrook has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. As before, I made him a tall, regal, fluffy guy, with his father's fluff and size and his mother's regal bearing. He's got the same scars as I gave him before (minus the broken tooth).

For his pattern, Harrybrook is described as a gray tom with a pale underside and amber eyes. I made his belly colors slightly lighter, but otherwise he looks the same as before.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. :D Now, with all of the currently-completed ref sheets done, time to upload the illustration!

[jayfrost-designs]

Back to the Kin for a moment! :D It'll be nice to have all of the known Kin cats done before Darktail's Judgment comes out, then I can just focus on any new ones.

But seriously, why are there so many solid gray cats with green eyes in the Kin? XD Rain, Roach, Needletail, even Slatefur... at least Rain has his missing eye and Needletail her white chest to make them stand out a bit, but still. Maybe Darktail has a type? XD Good thing in the end that Needletail and Rain never had kits, they would've just been a mass of all gray kits with green eyes XD

For his physical description, Roach is described as a muscular, ragged tom. I definitely made him as ragged as I could, with a tall but strong build, and a bit of a broader face. He's plenty scarred up, as first a rogue then one of the Kin.

For his pattern, Roach is described as a silver-gray tom with green eyes. To help him stand out from all the other aforementioned gray with green eyes cats in the Kin, I decided to do what I did with Flowerstem and make him a silver shaded cat. I'm really happy with how his colors turned out. :D

Overall, I'm really happy with how he turned out.

[jayfrost-designs]

Up next we have the second and last of the BlossomHarry kits, Duskshine. :D

Duskshine has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. His dad's been needing a new ref sheet for a bit, and I liked the idea of Duskshine looking like his dad, so I decided to make a new lineart for Duskshine to then use for Harrybrook. He's tall, fluffy, and regal. ^^

For his pattern, Duskshine is described as a white tom with brown ears and paws. I decided to interpret this as chocolate pointed cat with a lightly-colored tall and white markings on his face covering up the brown there so the brown on his paws and ears are the most prominent. Like his sister, he gets the colorpoint pattern from his mother. He has no canon eye color, so I gave him his uncle Duskpaw’s amber eyes.

Overall, I'm very happy with how he turned out

[jayfrost-designs]

Time for more ref sheets! :D Starting with this fluffball. I also have a new illustration to share at the end :D I know people are getting tired of the -shine suffix being overused, but I like that we got at least one fish prefix with it, fish are probably one of the shiniest things a cat in the wild is going to see, it makes sense to me ^^

You can find the reverse side of his design here.

Troutshinie has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. I used a slightly tweaked and more updated version of his dad's lineart for him, he's a moderately-sized but stocky poofball.

For his pattern, Troutshine is described as a brown-and-white spotted tom. Since his family tree icon is white with brown spot patches rather than brown-and-white with a spotted tabby pattern, I changed his pattern to be white with brown patches.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out ^^

[jayietheriverwarrior]

Clouds still covered the sky, so Fireheart had no way to judge the passing of time, but as each heartbeat followed the last he began to worry that something had gone wrong. Why was it taking so long? Had the dogs caught one of his warriors?

…Then, above the noise of the river, he heard a distant barking. Rapidly it grew closer. The dark force had gained a voice at last, giving tongue as the pack bore down on the cats who had become their prey. The sound grew louder still, until it seemed to fill all the forest, and Graystripe appeared, streaking along with his belly almost flat against the ground.

Barely three fox-lengths behind him was the pack leader. Fireheart had never seen a dog like it. It was enormous, easily twice the size of any Twoleg pet. As it ran, its muscles bunched powerfully under a short black-and-brown pelt. Its jaws gaped to show a vicious set of teeth, and its tongue lolled. It barked hoarsely as it snapped at the fleeing Graystripe.

“StarClan help me!” Fireheart whispered, and sprang out of his hiding place.

He just had time to see Graystripe hurtling toward the nearest tree; then all he could do was run. The barking seemed to redouble, and he could feel the hot breath of the pack leader against his hind paws…

“Pack, pack! Kill, kill!” The words slashed at Fireheart like teeth.

Ah, nothing like drawing a terrified cat fleeing from a vicious, damn near demonic dog to get you in the Christmas spirit XD I was only going to have one illustrated image to post today, but I had the urge to draw another illustration, and I managed to get this done just a few hours ago, so you’re getting it now. XD

Soooooo, I held a poll asking which of the scenes I sketched as a kid people wanted me to redraw now as an adult, and this scene of Fireheart running from the dogs was the winner. I didn’t exactly draw the scene the same way pose-wise, and I waited two, almost three years to actually draw it after holding the vote, but shush XD

I had a sudden idea of how I wanted this to look, with Fireheart running from this massive dog looming up over him, while the rest of the pack comes up from over the rise. I was partly thinking of the scene in Wolfwalkers  (amazing movie by the way, go watch it if you haven’t) during “Running with the Wolves” where Robyn and Mebh are running together and we see the rest of the pack coming up from behind them.

I’ve drawn the Pack as several different breeds of mutts over the years, but after seeing them as Dobermans in the recent graphic novel, and how well it fits their description in the books, that’s what I went with. No hate to Dobermans, they’re often as maligned as pitties but they’re just dogs like any other and can be total sweeties <3 I don’t draw dogs as often so I leaned pretty hard on this as a reference.

Overall, I’m really, really proud of how this turned out