Hi I just stumbled on your blog and I gotta say, Iām lovin your designs n art style in general. Do you mayhaps have any tips/particular methods for drawing cats ? Other than just looking at references acourse
first of all TYSM!!! I have so much fun with this stuff and it means so much to me that you guys enjoy it. but im going to hit you with my personal and possibly controversial hot take onĀ āart stylesā: it doesnt actually exist lol
what people callĀ āstyleā is just your personal shorthand for translating what you see into artwork. itās kind of like handwriting imo. so taking Style Inspo from another artist might give you some particular look you like but youāre not actually learning to draw the thing youāre trying to draw, youāre learning to draw/imitate other peopleās shorthand for the subject, which can work in the short term but is also the root of same-face syndrome, stagnation in your anatomy, etc.Ā and theres really no reason to limit yourself to a specific style anyway because versatility is awesome
THAT BEING SAID THOUGH!!! that isnt quite what you asked and although i wont give a step by step cat drawing tutorial id be happy to show you all how i break down/stylize cats!!! bc learning how to analyze subjects from photos or from life is absolutely a skill you can hone. this wonāt be a comprehensive guide by any means bc i am Not An Expert just some stuff ive learned
one thing thats really important to remember about cats is how fluid and graceful their bodies are. keeping your art from beingĀ āstiffā is a hard habit to break, iāve found that exaggerating curved lines in cats bodies and contrasting them with straight lines can work wonders for making your art flowĀ
(this is a good tip in general but is especially important with cats! this is an amazing tutorial by andrew shek on straights vs curves in animal art, i found this tut like 5 years ago and i still refer to it lol)
photo -> trace of straights vs curves -> my freehand sketch
you can right click & open these in a new tab to see them bigger! obviously i dont draw like this every time, but this is how i usually break things down in my head. you develop aĀ āshorthandā by paying attention to little consistencies in how you can draw lines.
for example: catās backs are usually very round and pronounced when sitting and very flat when standing. the front of the legs (both front and back) make a goodĀ āstraightā plane to contrast the curved back of the leg. making the top of the tail flat and the bottom more rounded or scruffy can add to the illusion of gravity (this can apply to anywhere with fluff)
OF COURSE ON THE OTHER HAND rules are made to be broken! my blackstar and barley designs are great examples of this:
theyre both big, bulky black and white cats, but blackstar is made up mostly of straight lines while barley is mostly curves. this makes blackstar look sturdy and tough, but barley looks soft and gentle despite his size.
another thing you can do to help your cat drawings flow is make sure your linesĀ āfollow thoughā. for example:
paying attention to lines that continue through different parts of the body can make your poses more fluid, more readable, and easier to exaggerate! letās compare the drawing above with the one on the left here, where i focused on drawing each bit of the cat correctly instead of drawing them as parts of a whole:
even though the blue drawing is technically correct I hope its apparent that the movement isnt as strong and doesnt have that fluidity that just screamsĀ ācatā the way that the red one does! this is also a good tip for animation lol
ONE MORE THING ILL GO OVER BC ITS IMPORTANT AND FUN IS FACES! cats are great because they have a huge range of appearances but can all still be broken down into the same simple parts.
my usual process for faces is head shape -> snout and ears -> features, like so:
and you can change the cats face by changing any of these. hereās some traces of cat faces for your consideration
and if you prefer a toonier look you can just push your shapes a bit more and simplify your lines however you like
that applies to everything ive said!! you can take whatever you like from these tips and push them as little or as far as you enjoy depending on how stylized you want to go. my work tends to be on the more realistically proportioned side of toony so best advice i can give is about that technique
hopefully you guys found this helpful!! if this post is useful to anyone at all it was worth making for me. happy drawing and remember to be confident in yourself, art is a skill that takes practice and as long as youre trying youre doing a great job
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