Read an Excerpt
Chapter Two: KITTENS
There are few things cuter than a kitten. Oversized heads, wide eyes, and an insatiable curiosity combine into an appealing creature for admirers and artists alike. When drawing kittens, strive for that sense of innocence playfulness.
Kitten Features
Kittens look like round blobs of fur sometimes, but they still have bone and muscle underneath all that softness. They have the same basic structure as any adult cat, though the proportions reflect the larger skull and sometimes long, gangly legs. They have a teeter-tottering, uncertain gait when young, because they’re not quite as sure on their feet yet as an adult cat.
[ILLUSTRATION] Kittens have comparatively larger eyes and smaller noses and muzzles than adult cats.
[ILLUSTRATION] Here are the underlying shapes I used to block in the head of a Siamese kitten, along with the finished drawing seen here. Note how rounded much of it is and how parts connect to one another. For instance, the shape of the nose extends up to meet the inside corners of the eyes. The muzzle comes up and then extends out under the cheeks. The invisible line that connects the spot above the kitten’s eyes where whiskers are found extends up to meet the inside corners of the ears. The outside corners of the eyes stretch back to meet the outside corners of the ears.
[ILLUSTRATION] Like many young animals, kittens have a comparatively large head and gangly-looking legs.
Comparison of Kitten and Cat Proportions
Note how much larger the kitten’s head looks in comparison to its body. In addition, its ears appear a little larger in comparison to its head. Note that the adult cat’s muzzle is more developed and wider. The adult cat has longer legs, a longer body, and a longer tail. Its hindquarters are longer, thicker, and more developed than those of a kitten.
[ILLUSTRATION] Kitten
[ILLUSTRATION] Cat
[ILLUSTRATION] Kitten bodies consist of many rounded shapes. In this three-stage step-by-step sequence of a sitting six-week-old kitten, you see a comparatively large head set on other round shapes in the chest, paws, and hind legs. The second drawing also shows some of the basic skeletal structure.
[ILLUSTRATION] Like adult cats, kittens are flexible and agile. Note how the newly developing muscles in the legs support a flexible spine in this inquisitive kitten climbing over furniture.
[ILLUSTRATION] More rounded shapes are evident in this resting kitten, both in the sketch of blocked-in basic shapes and in the finished sketch.
The Personality of Kittens
Kittens are curious and playful. When awake, they tend to be full of energy, always exploring their environment. It can be fun to draw them investigating every nearby moving object—including each other. Kittens are likely to try crouching and pouncing, but they don’t quite have the coordination of an adult cat yet.
[ILLUSTRATION] Some of the basic geometric, stylized shapes in a kitten’s body.
[ILLUSTRATION] These kittens are about four weeks old.
[ILLUSTRATION] Seven-week-old kittens.
[ILLUSTRATION] Eight-week-old kittens playing.
[ILLUSTRATION] In this sketch of two kittens playing, I indicate some of the basic bone structure.
[ILLUSTRATION] This basic underlying bone structure is shown at a three-quarter angle.
[ILLUSTRATION] Two kittens wrestle and play with each other.
Kittens from Birth to Six Months
Kittens change rapidly from birth to six months of age. Here is a look at some of the features of kittens as they grow and become more coordinated.
Newborn to Three Weeks
A mother cat has an average of two to five kittens per litter. The kittens’ eyes don’t open until they are about seven to ten days old, and their vision isn’t fully developed until they’re several weeks old. Young kittens’ eyes may appear a little unfocused because of this. Their bodies are round and features like legs are comparatively small and underdeveloped. The ears are folded down at birth.
[ILLUSTRATION] Note the closed eyes and folded ears of the newborn kitten.
[ILLUSTRATION] This kitten is one week old. Its eyes have opened but are still a little unfocused.
[ILLUSTRATION] Two-week-old kitten. Its vision is still blurry but it has started to crawl around.
[ILLUSTRATION] In both the sketch and finished version of this trio, you can see that by about three weeks of age a kittens’ ears have grown fully erect. Kittens also will begin to walk around unsteadily at this age.
Four to Five Weeks
Kittens begin to develop more as they grow more active. Their legs become a little stronger, and they begin to leap and pounce.
[ILLUSTRATION] Four-week-old kitten. Note how it stands straight on all four feet. It will still be a little wobbly as it walks, however.
Six to Eight Weeks
By six weeks old, kittens are full of energy. They actively explore their world. Their bodies are growing stronger, and they’re beginning to look more like adults, except that their heads are comparatively large and their legs are still a little short and not completely developed.
[ILLUSTRATION] Six-week-old kitten. Some of the poise of an adult cat starts to show through at this stage.
[ILLUSTRATION] Eight-week-old kitten. At eight weeks, kittens are weaned from their mother. This can be a good time to find them their forever home.
Nine Weeks to Four Months
Kittens’ legs are growing longer, and their feet seem comparatively big in relation to their bodies. They begin to fill out more but still have that big-headed, large-eyed look.
[ILLUSTRATION] A kitten at three and a half months old. Its legs start to look gangly and comparatively longer to its body than before.
[ILLUSTRATION] This three-month-old kitten finds a perch on an adult cat, who seems quite tolerant to this all.
[ILLUSTRATION] Four-month-old kitten.
[ILLUSTRATION] This sketch breaks down a four-month-old kitten’s head into its basic shapes.
[ILLUSTRATION] Note the comparatively large head and paws of this four-month-old kitten rolling on its back.
Five to Six Months
By around six months, kittens are becoming adolescent cats, basically teenagers. They look like small, gangly adults that have slightly larger heads and eyes in comparison to mature adult proportions. The cat will continue to develop until it physically matures at around one year of age.
[ILLUSTRATION] A six-month-old kitten showing signs of the adult cat it will be but has not quite yet filled out to become.
DEMONSTRATION: Drawing a Siamese Kitten
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 1: Draw a circle for the head. Draw horizontal and vertical guidelines that divide the circle into four equal quarters. Measure the length of the head circle, and mark the same measurement just below it so that you now have two head lengths to work with. Add a smaller circle overlapping, and below and slightly to the left of, the head circle to show where the chest will be. The bottom of the chest circle should extend about halfway down the second head-length measurement. Also go ahead and add triangular ears that start above the center of the head and don’t quite meet at the top.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 2: To create the front legs, draw a somewhat horseshoe-like shape in the middle of the chest to depict the inside of the legs, and then add the outside of the legs. The right leg and front shoulder, on the viewer’s left, are angled slightly more toward the viewer and thus you can see more of them, including the hint of the elbow (indicated by the arrow). Draw ovals for the front paws, which should line up about at the bottom line of the second head-length measurement you made earlier. Then draw a somewhat vertical oval for the hindquarters behind the chest, and add the tail.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 3: Add the eyes, aligning the tops of the eyes with the horizontal guideline on the head. Draw the slanting nose between the eyes with something of a U shape that narrows at the bottom. Leave a little space for the mouth underneath. Draw the hind paw (a circle) under the hindquarter, and indicate the toes on the front paws. Draw the pupils and the rims of the ears, leaving a little double arch for the ear pocket in the inner edges of the outer sides of the ears. Draw the inside corners of the ears overlapping the outline of the head circle, coming down to meet the forehead a little below the very top of the head.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 4: Add highlights in the eyes, and draw the muzzle, making sure the outside of the muzzle almost connects to the middle part of each eyeball before sweeping back inward toward the nose. Draw the chin along the bottom of the head circle. Define the nose pad, and add nostrils. Start indicating both the ear pockets and the inner tufts of hair inside the ears. Draw the toes on the hind paw, and make sure the paw itself is defined. Finally, add small circular shapes to indicate the farthest hind paw and leg under the chest.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 5: Finish the details of the Siamese kitten. Define the tear ducts of the eyes, and draw more hair inside the ears. Block in where the whiskers above the eyes will be. (I drew spots above the eyes and little toward the center of the face, and then drew whiskers coming from those points.) Add the whisker rows around the muzzle and the whiskers on the cheeks as well. Indicate where some of the darker markings will be on the cheeks below the eyes and the mask around the face. Block in the shading on the paws.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 6: Now finish it by inking in the final drawing and then erasing (or deleting) the pencil marks. If you want, you can give the kitten other markings, too.
DEMONSTRATION: Drawing a Walking Kitten
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 1: Draw a circle for the kitten’s head, dividing it into four not-quite equal quarters by crossing a slightly downward-curved horizontal line and a left-curving vertical line. This positioning will help create a three-dimensional appearance as the kitten looks slightly toward the viewer’s left. Measure two head lengths down and two to the left. Then draw two humps under the head for the shoulders and two small ovals for the front paws, which should be placed just a little below the lower head-length measurement.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 2: Add eyes to the head, keeping the majority of the eye ovals below the horizontal dividing line to keep the forehead looking large. Draw the far eye (the one to your left, the kitten’s right eye) a little bit closer to the vertical dividing line. Since it’s receding into the distance a bit, that side of the face appears a little smaller and more foreshortened compared to the other side. Add small ears. You can add dotted lines from the inside corners of the eyes to the inner ear bases if that helps, spreading the lines out slightly as you go up. Add the body, drawing a curved line for the back from just under the far ear base and looping down to make an oval for the hind leg. The distance should be about one head length (it should line up with the farthest left measurement line you measured out earlier). Draw a slightly rounded belly to connect to the shoulders. Connect the paws to the shoulders with slightly rounded tubes.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 3: Add the nose, extending a line down from the inside corner of one eye to the pointed tip and back to the inside corner of the other eye. Complete the triangle of the nose pad. The nose should jut out just a little to the left, since the kitten’s face is pointing slightly to the left. It will overlap the vertical dividing line, and in this case, the closer edge of the nose pad, on the right, is about even with the vertical dividing line. Leave a little space below for the mouth. Draw the pupils in the eyes, and add rims to the ears. Draw a line from the inside bottom ear rim to the middle of the ear. Add the hind feet. The near hind leg is lifted up, toes pointing to the ground. Also draw the far hind leg, both the hindquarters and paw, which is placed on the ground. Add a dividing line for the middle of the toes on the front paws. Since the kitten is moving at an angle toward your right, the toes are slightly pointed to the right and thus curve subtly in that direction. Draw the tail.
Anatomy Tip: Here I’ve taken the drawing and placed some of the basic structure underneath to give you an idea of how the limbs are working at this angle.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 4: Draw some highlights in the eyes and nostrils in the nose. Add a mouth and the tear ducts in the inner corners of the eyes. The corners of the lips can follow an imaginary dotted line from the lips around to the outside corners of the eyes (shown by the dotted line). Draw the top of the muzzle by creating a curved line sloping from the inside corner of the eyes down toward the chin. Draw the chin. Also add more tufts of hair inside the ears where they meet the head. Finish adding lines for the toes. Three slightly curved lines will indicate the four toes. Place the small dewclaw, which is visible just above the left front paw (the right paw in your view).
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 5: At this point, prepare the drawing for final inking by adding the fur. You can make it as short or long as you want. In this case, I made it medium length. The cheek ruffs and rump have prominent fur. Add whisker rows as well, and add whiskers if you wish to. Note that the clumps of whiskers above the eyes fall along the dotted line already in place.
[ILLUSTRATION] Step 6: Finish the drawing, inking in the final lines and then erasing the pencil lines underneath. I used a thinner line to draw the whiskers, making them seem more delicate. I also left little spaces between patches of fur or clumps of hair in a few places, which is a technique one can use to break up the line a little and create a more interesting drawing. Use it if you wish. Of course, if it is a computer drawing or will be scanned in and colored on the computer later, keep all your lines solid for greater ease of filling in color.
