If you are a young artist with a cat in the house your in luck. Cats make great models! They have lovely curves and, unlike many other animals, they nap frequently. The naps give you time to draw without the animal changing position.
In fact, cats make such great models that they have served as artists' Muses for as long as their have been domestic cats and artists.
A great way to learn how to draw a cat is to study and copy drawings made by other artists. French graphic artist Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) is particularly noted for his cat drawings. Pictured here are two Steinlen sketches of napping cats on toned paper, one done in charcoal and the second in pencil. Notice the lovely line quality of the drawings. Also notice how he suggests features with simple marks of the pencil, such as the eyes and noses, and uses squiggly marks to render volume and shade. With the charcoal drawing, pay attention to how he uses values (areas of dark to light) to draw the cats as well as the texture and direction of his lines. To see more Steinlen cats, visit the Steinlen website .
Also recommended is "Steinlen Cats", a publication of the Dover Art Library, available for $5.95 through Amazon.com or BarnesNobel.com. If you really study these cat drawings and try to duplicate them (make sure to get a good quality charcoal paper if you work in that medium, and try it on toned paper such as the warm tan color Steinlen uses here) you can't help but improve.
And again, if you have access to a live cat, so much the better. Study Steinlen, and then work from the live model. In time and with practice, something will click. Suddenly your hand will seem to know what to do almost before you have even thought about it, and when that moment comes it will feel like magic.
I love the way you describe this. Keep practicing and something will click. The eye, the hand, how you see the subject, all of it begins to fall into place along with your personal style. That's what makes art so much fun.
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