Learning how to draw textures on paper can be a bit of a challenge, and animal fur is a common texture that artists struggle with drawing properly. Cat fur can be very short or very long, depending on the type of cat that you are trying to draw. The direction of the fur begins at the head of the cat and grows away from the head. You can make the texture of the fur look much more realistic in your drawing by adding detailed shading lines and shadows for extra depth.

Tool’s You Will Need To Draw Fur On Cats:

• Blank sheet of paper
• Kneaded eraser
• HB pencil
• B pencil
• 2B pencil
• 3B pencil
• 5B pencil

Drawing The Outline

Step 1

Sketch the main shape of a cat on the blank paper with the HB pencil. It helps to use a photo of a cat as a reference.

Step 2

Gently erase away the messy lines of your sketch. Draw a more detailed and precise outline of the cat over the sketched area that was lightly erased away.

Step 3

Draw the cat’s face before moving on to the fur. Draw out the eyes, nose, mouth and any additional details.

Shading

Step 1

Apply darker, thicker pencil strokes over the hatching line values that you see with the HB pencil to represent the shaded texture of the cat fur. This layer of shading should be around the same level of lightness as the lightest tones in the overall drawing.

Step 2

Draw the first detail layer of cat fur using the 3B pencil. Apply more pressure by using deliberate strokes. Fill in the median shading strokes.

Step 3

Draw the second detail layer of fur using the 5B pencil by adding a small amount of shading where sections of the cat fur look flat, but do not need to be darkened.

Step 4

Use the B pencil to define the pencil strokes needed for white base shading. Use the color of the paper as a reference for the base shade. For areas that do not need white brightness, lightly rub the pencil strokes using your fingertip to create a gentle, gray base tone.

Step 5

Use the 2B pencil to add shading where you would like shadows to appear on the cat. Use very short and contrasting dark strokes to create the impression that the cat fur is short and pointing away from the head of the cat.

Step 6

Add darker, detailed pencil strokes to the cat paws and define any shadows that lie underneath the paws using the 2B pencil to finalize the drawing.

Tips:

• Keep each pencil as sharp as possible.
• Make sure that your pencil stroke lengths are equal to what is visible in any photo reference you are using.

Recommended Resource:

Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery Home Study Course – Learn to draw pencil portrait like a master.