How to Draw a Cat (Tabby)

Please PAUSE the video after each step to draw at your own pace (scroll down to see the final cat drawing).

For the first few steps, don’t press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.

Step 1: Draw two circles as guides for the tabby cat’s body. They don’t have to be perfect. They’re just guides.

Step 2: Draw a smaller circle above the right one as a guide for the cat’s head.

Step 3: Draw two curved, intersecting lines inside the head. These will help you place the cat’s facial features later.

Step 4: Draw two angled lines similar to triangles on either side of the head for the cat’s ears.
Step 5: Draw a series of lines that connect the major shapes to form the cat’s body.

Step 6: Draw a line next to the left circle as a guide for the tail.

Step 7: Draw four lines below the body as guides for the cat’s feet.

That’s it for the initial sketch! From this point on, press harder with your pencil to get a more defined sketch.

Step 8: Draw the tabby cat’s eyes. Place them inside the head using the lines as guides. The eye shape looks like a slanted football with a circle inside. Draw a thin slit inside and shade it in for the pupil. If you want a dilated look, draw a circle and shade it in.

Step 9: Draw the nose below the cat’s eyes. It’s similar to an upside-down triangle.
Step 10: Draw the mouth as a line that splits into two below the nose. Then lightly draw it curving up to form the cat’s muzzle.

Step 11: Using quick, short strokes, draw the cat’s whiskers inside the muzzle.

Step 12: Using the guides, draw the cat’s ears. Give them a furry look inside drawing quick, short strokes.

Step 13: Draw the rest of the head by following the outline. Again use quick, short strokes to represent the fur.

Step 14: Draw the tabby cat’s tail by thickening the initial guide line.

Step 15: Draw the hind legs using the initial lines. Using quick, short strokes, surround the guide line and give it shape. Draw three small lines at the bottom for the cat’s toes. Draw the other leg but only a portion of it because it’s on the other side.

Step 16: Draw the tabby cat’s front legs using the same technique you used for the hind legs.

Step 17: Draw the body by going over the guide lines using quick, short strokes.

Step 18 (optional): You can also stop here for a sketchy look or you can erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don’t worry about erasing all the guide lines. It’s okay to leave some behind. Re-draw any final lines that you accidentally erase.

Step 19 (optional): Give your tabby cat drawing more dimension and volume by shading it. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it. Also add a cast shadow underneath. This helps ground the cat so it doesn’t appear to be floating.

Step 20 (optional): You can leave your cat white or add as much extra detail as you want. This cat will be a tabby. For that, draw a lot of stripes and value throughout. Always use quick, short strokes to represent the cat’s fur.
Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.

It’s a good idea to use reference to be as accurate as possible with the stripe pattern. Or you can just draw the stripes however you like. Draw spots, patches or anything else you want.