How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils

In Teresa Joy’s seven-part tutorial series, she skillfully teaches “How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils,” focusing on a detailed and realistic approach. Using Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran D’Ache Luminance, and Derwent Lightfast pencils on Fabriano Artistico hot press watercolor paper, each part of the series dives into different aspects of the cat portrait. From the intricate detailing of eyes and ears to the texture of fur and whiskers, Teresa’s guidance is clear and precise. Her layering, texturing, and color blending techniques are particularly insightful, making the series an invaluable resource for novice and experienced artists interested in refining their skills in colored pencil art.

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Part 1 – The Eye

In the first part of Teresa Joy’s series on How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils, she focuses on the eye, Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran D’Ache Luminance, and Derwent Lightfast pencils. She starts by outlining the eye with a dark sepia pencil. Teresa then layers warm grey and dark indigo in the iris, followed by earth-green for color, using circular strokes to mimic the eyeball’s shape. Gradually, she enhances the iris with brown ochre, raw umber, and olive brown, adding depth and contrast. She also blends yellow tones in the eye with a gold pencil from Derwent Lightfast.

Continuing the eye’s detailing, Teresa adds purple tones and depth around the eye, using violet-grey and light ultramarine pencils. She carefully highlights the eye with a translucent white Polychromos pencil, refining it to achieve a realistic look. The tutorial ends with Teresa using a Slice Manual Pen Cutter tool for final touches, emphasizing the eye’s lifelike qualities.

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Part 2 – Forehead and Second Eye 

In part 2 of her tutorial series, Teresa Joy demonstrates drawing a fluffy tabby cat head, focusing on fur textures between the eyes, forehead, and ears. Using Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran D’Ache Luminance, and Derwent Lightfast pencils on hot press watercolor paper, she starts with warm gray base layers, adds depth with dark sepia, and blends with warm gray for accuracy. Teresa uses violet gray for lilac and purple tones and raw umber for yellow hues, maintaining light pencil pressure for a natural fur appearance.

Teresa’s technique involves varied pencil control, using looser grips for broad strokes and tighter grips for detail. She blends fur strokes with French gray for softness, emphasizing curved lines and varying stroke lengths for realism. Layering is essential, with Teresa suggesting mid-tones and darker colors like dark sepia, nougat, and bista to create depth and dimension.

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Part 3 – The Nose

In part 3 of her tutorial series on How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils, Teresa Joy zeroes in on drawing the cat’s nose using Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran D’Ache Luminance, and Derwent Lightfast pencils. Working on hot press watercolor paper, she layers the nose, using sharp pencils for soft lines and delicate fur textures. Teresa applies a broken line technique for the pink part of the nose, simulating the transition from fur to skin. She focuses on light pressure and small strokes to accurately depict the fur’s direction.

The tutorial emphasizes the importance of eyes and nose in cat portraits, which is crucial for realism. Teresa places highlights and shadows using accurate pencil strokes. She uses a Cinnamon pencil for the nose’s color and a precision cutter for fine details. Blending pink tones with the Granite Rose pencil, Teresa works on harmonizing the face.

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Part 4 – The Cheek

In part 4 of her tutorial series on How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils, Teresa Joy teaches how to draw a cat’s cheek . She begins with a warm grey base layer, crucial for adding stray hairs later with the Slice tool or craft knife. Teresa outlines the cheek with dark sepia, using loose pencil strokes for a soft effect. She blends greys, browns, and creams to create a neutralized fur color, emphasizing gradual layering for softness.

Teresa’s method involves varied stroke lengths, using small strokes near the nose and longer ones over the cheek. She repeats layering, blending, and refining, adding stray hairs for detail. Towards the end, she works on the cheek’s outer edge with light, wispy strokes.

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Part 5 – The Whiskers

In part 5 of her series on drawing a furry cat head, Teresa Joy adds whiskers and fixes mistakes. Working on the nose’s side, she applies warm gray and nougat pencils for base layers and details, aiming for a velvety texture with small, light strokes. Teresa refers to her reference photo to ensure accurate fur direction.

The tutorial reveals a unique challenge when Teresa realizes she forgot to indent the whiskers. She uses a Slice tool to scratch off pigment, creating rough whiskers but roughening the paper’s texture. To remedy this, she uses a Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze pen to flatten the indents, continuing to layer color over the whiskers. This approach demonstrates Teresa’s adaptability in correcting her artwork. She shares tips on pencil handling and layering, using browns, grays, and purples for a realistic fur texture.

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Part 6 – Neck Fur

In part 6 of her series on How to Draw a Cat with Colored Pencils, Teresa Joy teaches drawing wavy neck fur on a cat. She starts with a warm grey pencil. She maps out clumps of wavy hair, focusing on fur flow and direction. Gradually, Teresa darkens these areas with grey and brown, building texture and depth.

Throughout the tutorial, Teresa blends greys and browns, adding light pinks and purples for subtle color variations. She uses a kneadable eraser to lift pigment for highlights, enhancing the fur’s fluffiness. She uses her Slice Manual Pen Cutter tool to add realism to stray hairs and fine details, creating thin, wispy hairs. She concludes by refining the texture and depth with a dark sepia pencil, showcasing her detailed approach to creating lifelike animal portraits.

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Part 7 – The Ears

In Part 7, Teresa draws the cat’s ears. She starts with the ear’s base. Teresa blends the ear into the surrounding fur using warm gray and dark sepia pencils for short, hair-like strokes. Burnt ochre and brown ochre pencils smooth the ear, while burnt sienna adds muted pink inside the ear. She builds layers with circular motions and alternating strokes for fur details.

Teresa uses various techniques to create texture in the ear. She uses brown ochre 40 for the ear’s pink part, blending it with bistre and raw umber. A white Polychromos pencil defines stray hairs, with dark sepia adding depth. She consistently refers to the reference photo for accurate fur direction.

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