How To Draw A Cat Head

This step-by-step lesson will show you how to draw a cat head in a realistic, three-dimensional style with shadows and highlights.

To draw a cat well, you need to understand how to draw its head. Knowing how to draw animal features is essential for building full figures.

In this lesson, we will use classic techniques to show you how to draw a cat’s head step by step, and how to add simple but academically grounded, realistic shading so the face looks three-dimensional, natural, and believable.

How to draw a cat head step by step

Step 1: Sketch the overall head shape

Begin with the overall forms and volumes, sketching the outline of the cat’s head as a circle or an oval. There are many different species and breeds of cats in the world, and each has a slightly different head shape, so keep this in mind when working from reference.

Step 2: Add the facial symmetry guidelines

Draw a horizontal line across the exact center of the cat face, then add a vertical line that intersects it. These guidelines should cross roughly at the bridge of the nose and will help you place the cat’s facial features symmetrically and accurately.

Step 3: Draw the ears on the cat head

At the upper part of the head, sketch the cat’s ears on the right and left as two triangles with slightly rounded tips. The shape of a cat’s ears can vary significantly, and their angle and position often depend on the animal’s current emotional state. Below the head, lightly outline the neck with a pair of soft lines.

Step 4: Sketch the cat eyes and nose bridge

The overall forms and volumes are now established, so you can begin adding details, still using light lines. Using the horizontal guideline from the previous step, draw the cat eyes as two almond-shaped forms, placing them evenly on both sides of the vertical line. Then lightly indicate the bridge of the nose with a pair of soft lines.

Step 5: Draw the muzzle on the cat head

In the lower part of the face, use a wide oval shape to outline the muzzle. Inside it, along the vertical guideline, carefully sketch the cat’s triangular nose. Slightly below, indicate the mouth with a pair of short, slightly curved lines.

Step 6: Refine the cat’s eyes and nose

Now gradually begin refining and finalizing the cat’s facial features, giving them a more finished appearance. Carefully trace the eyes to make them clearer and more defined. Inside, draw the cat’s narrow pupils, placing them evenly. Then outline the nose, positioning its details symmetrically on both sides of the vertical center line.

Step 7: Refine the ears and mouth

Move on to the ears and define their inner structure, adding a bit of fur at the base. Then continue refining the mouth, giving it a more recognizable shape – first curving slightly downward to the sides, then gently lifting upward. Just below, sketch the rounded contour of the cat’s chin with soft lines.

Step 8: Clean up the face outlines

Erase all the construction lines from the cat’s face, carefully retracing and refining the shapes, correcting the symmetry if needed, and giving the features a finished look. You can also add small fur contours or other subtle details for a more complete result.

Step 9: Draw the outlines of the cat head in detail

Next, erase the remaining construction lines from the ears, the sides of the head, and the lower area as well, continuing to refine the shapes and adjust symmetry and proportions. Try to work back and forth between the left and right sides to keep the drawing symmetrical.

Step 10: Add shading and highlights

Carefully fill in the pupils with dark shading, leaving small highlights in the upper area. Then lightly outline the boundaries of the shadows and apply even hatching to fill them in. Keep the principles of light and shadow in mind, as well as the direction of the light source, to achieve a natural and convincing result.

How to draw a cat face

Now let’s briefly focus on drawing a cat’s face. In this lesson, we additionally demonstrate how to depict the contours and forms in greater detail, using a slightly different position and head turn.

Here, we demonstrated the full sequence of steps for drawing the eyes, nose, mouth, and the surrounding contours of the facial features in as much detail as possible.

At the end, we also showed how to add highlights and shadows to the eyes for greater realism, and how to apply hatching to other contours to create a more three-dimensional look.

Let’s go over several important points that can be helpful when drawing a cat’s head. The first thing to remember is the tremendous diversity within the feline family.

This includes not only domestic cats but also their larger relatives such as lions and tigers. The core principles used when drawing a cat’s head largely apply to drawing a lion’s head – the king of the savanna – as well as drawing a tiger’s head, the largest member of the feline family.

These same principles can also be applied to various breeds of domestic cats, from Maine Coons to mixed breeds whose lineage is harder to define.

Proportions are what most clearly distinguish different species and breeds of cats from one another. Compared to large wild cats, a domestic cat typically has a more juvenile facial appearance – relatively larger ears and eyes, a smaller nose, and a more compact lower part of the head overall.

In large cats, these same features differ noticeably: their ears and eyes are proportionally smaller, while the nose and muzzle are larger and more pronounced.

At the same time, there is significant variation even among domestic cats, as different breeds display distinct proportional relationships and head shapes.

It is also important to keep in mind that fur texture can either enhance a drawing of a cat’s face or weaken it if handled incorrectly.

When indicating fur, avoid over-detailing it. Instead of drawing every individual hair, focus on suggesting the main planes and forms with controlled strokes.

The eyes are another key aspect. If rendered correctly, they can significantly improve the overall realism of the drawing.

Cats have a characteristic almond shape to their eyes, with narrow vertical pupils and a relatively broad bridge of the nose, all of which should be considered when refining the final result.

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