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- Five Steps to Drawing a Cat 🐱
Five Steps to Drawing a Cat 🐱
From rough guide to finished piece, here's my full process.
brooks kim
August 11, 2026
Hello, Artists!
Today I'm walking you through my full process for drawing a cat, start to finish.
1. Rough Guide Lines
rough guide line stage
Don't just chase the lines on your reference. Instead, complete the form or silhouette in your head first, then project that onto the canvas.
2. Cross-Contour Lines
balancing the form with cross-contour lines
Use cross-contour lines to fix any awkward or unbalanced areas and bring out the volume.
(I'll go deeper into cross-contour lines in a future newsletter — for now, just take this image as a reference.)
On the face, the nose sits at the center. Circles above and below the nose naturally place the eyes and the muzzle/mouth.
3. Line Work
guide set semi-transparent, line work on a new layer
Set your guide layer semi-transparent and draw your lines on a new layer. Line weight matters here — vary it based on shadow strength, direction, density, and the tension in the mass.
(I covered the basic formula for line weight in a past newsletter, "Does a Line Have a Heartbeat?" Today I'm taking it one step further — factoring in shadow, direction, density, and tension all at once.)
4. Layer in the Shadows
building up shadows one layer at a time
Don't add shadows all at once. Build them up gradually, one tone, one layer at a time.
5. Finished
final rendering
If you have any questions, just hit reply — I'm always happy to answer!
P.S. This piece was drawn with my Sketch Brush Set, which a lot of you have already picked up. If you want the same texture and feel, check it out below.