Drawing cats can be a fun and rewarding activity for artists of all abilities. To help you create your next feline masterpiece, here are 20 easy cat drawing ideas and step-by-step tutorials.
Whether you’re looking for simple sketches to practice or detailed illustrations to show off your skills, you’ll find the perfect cat drawing reference here.
All artwork in this article is original. Feel free to use it as drawing inspiration.
Table of Contents
Cat Portrait

This wonderful cat drawing idea is more catered towards intermediate artists, but don’t be discouraged if you’re a beginner. Why not give it a try?
Leaping Kitten

I love how the cat in this drawing is leaping out, almost like it’s reaching for something.
Side Portrait Cat

I wonder what this cat is looking at. The side portrait in this cat drawing is great, just look at those whiskers!
Expressive Cat

The expression on this cat’s face is priceless! The shading in this drawing is really impressive as it captures the different tones of the cats fur.
Front Cat Portrait

The detail on the cat’s face in this sketch is wonderful. Use this drawing as inspiration to try and practice adding detail to your artwork.
Kitten’s Face

I really like this drawing of a kittens face, but I think if I had more time then I’d add a body for extra detail.
Beginners Full Body Drawing

This sketch is perfect for beginners, especially for those who are struggling with adding detail such as fur patterns and shading.
Side Portrait Perspective

It’s really important that you practice drawing different angles of objects, in this case cats, so you improve at perspective.
Full Body Detailed Cat Drawing

This drawing can help you practice the defining shadow around the cat’s legs and fur. To do this, you can use a darker shade pencil or thicker lines.
Side Portrait Cat

If you want to practice shading fur and creating texture, this sketch can be a great guideline for that. Give it a try yourself!
Fluffy Cat Portrait

Careful use of the darker tones will allow you to keep the drawing light and airy without losing the shape of the cat’s body.
Fluffy Walking Cat

Be careful to get the shape of each leg right in relation to the others. Study how the cat moves. Try to understand how the placement of one paw can change the shape of the body, as the muscles in the cat’s body tense and relax.
Sitting Full Body Cat

Look at how bolder lines have been used around the cat’s face to create facial expression. This drawing is a great example of how sometimes less can be more and the lighter shading would make a fantastic base for a watercolor painting.
Sitting Kitten Drawing

The loose sketchy style immediately evokes the image of a mischievous little kitten.
Cat with Butterfly on Nose

This drawing is a great example of how adding fine details to your artwork can bring it to life.
Quick Sitting Kitten Sketch

A quick sketch can help you capture the essence of the moment for a later more detailed drawing, but sometimes the sketch will stand out in its own right.

This simple but minimal sketch allows the facial expression of the cat to take center stage. Keeping the detail in the shadows fairly minimal will allow you to create shape and depth without darkening the drawing too much.

This sketch was done really quickly to try and catch the expression of the kitten. I had intended to do more, but I thought this very simple sketch captured the innocent nature of the situation.

Leaving the shoulders and neck of the cat drawn quite rough draws attention to the more detailed linework that forms the facial structure.

Learning how the cat’s limbs move when it is moving around will help you understand the position each section is in when the cat is walking, standing, or jumping.

This furry cat’s body was almost hidden completely by its beautiful coat, so I decided to focus more of my time on actually getting the coat to look right. The rest of the drawing followed.

Learning about the cat’s anatomy will help you achieve realistic drawings that capture the dynamic poise of the animal as it prepares to pounce.

You can create shape with lines and shadows. In this drawing, you can see there really is very little line work or shading, but what is there reveals the shape of the cat’s face and the contours around its features.

Sometimes when you’re drawing you will notice that you quickly become the subject. Capturing the expression of the cat as it studied me drawing it just made me smile.

This is another fairly minimal sketch where understanding the cat’s anatomy will help the sketch look much more realistic.