If you enjoy drawing cats and looking for some inspiration to step up your game, you’ve come to the right place!
In this guide, you’ll find 29 special cat drawing ideas to consider for your next sketch, whether you’re looking for a realistic drawing or a more cartoonish approach.
1. Simple Lines
This simple, clean drawing of a cat is extremely easy to replicate despite being fairly accurate if you’re going for a cartoonish look.
2. Welcome Home
This watercolor drawing, titled “Welcome Home” depicts a lovely scene of a calico cat gazing and showing its beautiful pattern while sitting up. Watercolors are ideal for creating a realistic fur pattern.
3. Caturday
This surreal cat drawing looks like a commercial poster from the 19th century, and the black and white tones match this energy perfectly.
Caturday is an excellent inspiration if you’re trying to draw a catch with a touch of elegance and bizarreness!
4. Dream with a Cat
This unique painting by Raphael Vavasseur shows a cat and a woman cuddling and sleeping together as if they’re sharing the same dream.
The drawing style is quite realistic but still simple to master if you have the right set of skills.
5. UFO Catch
This cartoon-style drawing is both funny and incredibly adorable. It shows some kittens getting lured by an alien spaceship using a slice of pizza.
This abstract drawing style is perfect for printing on products and can also be used as wall posters if you add some vibrant colors.
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6. Looking to the Stars
Watercoloring with different shades of black can be a bit tricky but the results are extremely rewarding, and that’s what this idea is all about.
The “Looking at the Stars” drawing shows an affordable black cat wandering in the night sky.
7. Geometric Lined Cat
This unique drawing style is both easy to follow and incredibly artistic. To recreate this style, you’ll need to draw the outline of a cat, including its ears, eyes, and nose.
After that, you’ll use a ruler to draw several guiding lines inside the drawing, then follow up with parallel lines to create the final look.
8. Watercolor Kitties
As previously established, watercolors are the key to creating a unique translucent effect while painting your drawings.
This drawing shows you how you can make an incredibly cute painting of kitties with the right choice of colors and art style.
9. Simple Cats Illustration
If you’re all about adorable cats but you want a simple way to draw this, this style would be ideal for you. The photo shows a tiny kitten sitting on its paws while its parent is watching it.
10. Move the brain
This one is another excellent drawing idea that shows the impact of using watercolors and how they perfectly blend with their surroundings.
If you look closely you’ll notice that the painting embraces paper color to display the white parts of the cat, which gives a mesmerizing appeal to final results.
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11. Kitten Sketch
If you enjoy simple sketch art, you’re going to adore this one. This sketch shows the guiding lines you’ll need to follow to create a unique cartoon-style kitten with curious eyes and a happy smile.
12. Bonk on Tater Tot
As the name suggests, this wholesome painting shows a brave tiny kitten with a cast on both its front legs.
The art style perfectly compliments the messy look of the kitten’s fur coat and shows the effect of vibrant colors in bringing an image to life and making it more impactful.
13. Floral cat
This one is among the simplest ways to draw a cat with watercolor, especially if you’re going for a uniquely textured cat.
14. Overlapping Lined Mom and Baby Cat
If you liked the previous geometry-inspired entry, you’re going to love this one. In this image, the mother cat is lined horizontally while the baby cat is lined vertically.
The overall design speaks a thousand words about the eternal bond between kittens and their mothers.
15. Face up
This one is similar to the “Welcome Home” painting above, which was made by the same artists.
What’s amazing about this painting is that it uses a colored background and highlights the white fur of the cat depicted, which is a smart way to deal with white hues while water-coloring.
16. Watching a Flower
This image gives us another perspective while drawing cats using simple lines. In this drawing, the cat is looking downwards and curiously watching a small flower.
As you can see, the secret here is to draw the cat’s head and then work on its body using as few strokes as possible.
17. Pencil Drawing
Drawing with pencils requires a lot of outlining before polishing and coloring, and that photo shows you the best way to achieve that if you’re going for realism.
18. Welcome Back
This one is one of the most adorable kitty smiles I’ve seen in a long time! It’s also an excellent display of the qualities of watercolors and how they’re ideal while drawing calico cats and breeds with textured fur.
19. Slept Well
Last but not least, this one shows you how to draw one of the most adorable moments in any cat parent’s day: watching their beloved kitty wake up and stretch after snoozing for a few hours!
20. Cat Making Biscuits on a Pizza
Kneading is a cute behavior that reminds cats of their moms. Experts say it’s to stimulate milk.
This drawing inspiration shows a cat making biscuits on a pizza to make more pepperonis, perhaps?
Start by sketching a cat in a stretchy pose, tail skyward. You don’t need a lot of facial details, just a set of big, alien-y eyes. Beneath its paws, draw a pizza covered in toppings that look good enough to eat.
Add curved lines around the cat’s body to mimic the kneading motion. Lastly, trace the outlines and shade using a fine-tipped black marker.
21. One Dozen Void Kitties
Behold, twelve pairs of black holes staring into your soul!
This cat art might seem like a lot to tackle, but trust me—it’ll get easier if you think of it as a bunch of ink blobs of varying sizes.
First, pencil a huge oval as a placeholder for your gang of cats. Then, sketch each kitty in different poses—lounging, stretching, sitting, and one melted like butter—until you fill the outline.
Again, use a black marker to finish the drawing, leaving two white rings for each cat’s eyes.
22. Cat Delivery
The cat distribution system is busy!
This black-and-white illustration shows a large cat rocking a windbreaker and an oversized backpack, all set for delivery. Make sure to add those creases to the fabric to show movement.
Next, draw kitten heads peeking above his shoulders and head. The more wide-eyed you make them, the more curious they look.
That’s the hard part done. Now, surround it with several kittens that are more like plump tadpoles. Keep it simple with round eyes, triangle ears, and skinny tails sticking out in every direction.
23. Two Kitties in a Kettle
Two lazy black cats have found their home in a kettle.
This next exercise is perfect for keeping your hands steady and improving your line work. Make a kettle silhouette with a gracefully curved spout, quirky lid, and three water droplets.
The easiest parts are the cat looking out of the window and the one belly-plopped on top. Give them yellow irises, and enjoy your masterpiece.
24. Cat in a Hat With Some Good-Luck Shamrock
Move over, Dr. Seuss! This cute pencil drawing of a cute cat has found the best spot to wish you good luck.
Realistic drawings can be a tad tricky, but the secret here is delicate strokes and plenty of shading. Use a white colored pencil to add fine details like the whiskers and fur of this ginger cat.
Notice where the light hits the cat in the hat and how it’s darker in the areas farther away from the light source.
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25. Cat Got Trashed
Here’s a cheeky cat stuck in a trash bin with the lid perched on its head. You can almost see the confusion in its eyes!
It’s the kind of hilarious situation cats somehow manage to get into in real life.
Now, let’s get back to the drawing board. Leave spots here and there to depict scattered bits of dirt. Use thick lines for shading, but remember, there’s no need for a heavy hand here.
26. Happy Valentine’s Cat
This blushing cat holding a couple of heart-shaped balloons is perfect for a Valentine’s card. It’s innocent, colorful, and exactly what you need to capture young love.
Using crayons, begin by lightly layering the colors to add depth. Blend different shades for smooth transitions, especially on the cat’s cheeks for a natural blush.
The orange eyes are a nice contrast to the black-striped shirt. Use a white crayon for highlights on the balloons and the cat’s eyes for extra sparkle.
27. Catcake!
Who doesn’t love frosted cat-themed cupcakes? They’re not just easy to decorate; they’re so adorable you almost feel guilty eating them!
But have you seen a literal cat cupcake? This twinkly-eyed cat with a cherry on its head fits snugly in a scalloped muffin cup.
Add a cute big letter “T” for the cat’s nose and follow the curves of the cup to fill in details.
28. Fluffy Spiral Cat
Agnes Gru once said, “It’s so fluffy, I’m gonna die!” Yes, that’s the little girl from Despicable Me.
This floof ball will give you the same vibes. The outline is simple—sketch a poofy “9”, connecting the tail end to the head. Then, draw an even poofier tail.
To create a grainy effect, try cross-hatching. Use short, overlapping lines in different directions. The closer the lines are together, the denser the texture will appear.
Or, consider stippling if you have the patience. Instead of lines, you’ll create graininess using tiny dots.
29. Cat in a Box
Does this scaredy cat look like it’s hiding, or is it completely oblivious to the cat in a UFO hovering above? Meanwhile, the small kittens scampering about appear to sense the looming danger.
The UFO has flashy lights, antennas, and legs, but its pilot doesn’t seem hostile at all.
Now, focus on the box on its side, with the flaps open to shelter the black cat. To complete the space theme, sprinkle stars and meteors in the background.
Wrap Up
This marks the end of today’s guide that walks you through some of the best cat and most affordable cat drawing ideas out there.
As you can see, when it comes to drawing cats, the sky is your limit, as you can draw them in a wide variety of styles, depending on your desired outcome and skill level.
I’ve been living with cats since 2008 and I can confidently say I have more feline friends than humans lol. I currently live with 5 cats in different life stages; two of them are less than one year old, one is 2-ish years old and the oldest two are 9-ish years old. I’ve developed a strong bond with cats over the years and I’m eager to share my experience through this blog. You can learn more about my cats here.