How to draw a cat looking out a window

Step 1 of 50Guide lines

Head and body guides

Start light: an oval for Smudge's head, right of the middle near the top. Below it a taller, tilted oval for her chest, and a circle down to its left for her haunch.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 38.

Step 2 of 50Guide lines

Leg guides

Two lines down from the chest oval: the left front leg's inside edge, the right one's outside edge. End the left one a little lower; her front paws sit at their ends.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 38.

Step 3 of 50Guide lines

Tail guide

The tail: from the left side of the haunch circle, a curve out left and up, bending back to a tip far out on the left, about level with her chin.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 38.

Step 4 of 50

Her head

Now the real lines. Up from her cheek on the left, round the left ear and along the top of her head; then round the right ear, down her face and in under her chin.

Step 5 of 50

Inside the ears

Inside the left ear, from its right foot: a line up close to its edge, over the tip and down. Two short lines at its base, then two lines up inside the right ear.

Step 6 of 50

The eyes

Eyes, halfway down the head oval. Left: an almond, a point off its right corner, a tall oval pupil, a tiny glint circle at its top; the right eye the same way, narrower, no point.

Step 7 of 50

Nose and mouth

Below the right eye, a short line down and on round the nose's top and down to her mouth, in one go. The nose's right side, then her mouth curving out to the left.

Step 8 of 50

Tabby marks

Tabby marks: a long line from just above her head's outline to just above the left eye's inner corner, forked at its tip; a shorter one beside it. A mark under the right ear.

Step 9 of 50

The chest

Her chest: from under her chin, a wavy line down the right side of the chest oval to its bottom.

Step 10 of 50

The front leg on the left

The front leg on the left: down its left edge from the haunch circle's top right, round the paw and up a little. Its right edge down the guide; the paw's top, three toe lines.

Step 11 of 50

The front leg on the right

The front leg on the right: from the bottom of the chest line, down beside its guide, round the paw to the other paw. The paw's top and two toe lines.

Step 12 of 50

The back

Her back: from her cheek on the left, one long curve bulging out well left of the chest oval, down round the outside of the haunch circle to its bottom.

Step 13 of 50

The back paw

The back paw, left of the front paws: along the bottom of the haunch, then on round the long paw and back under it in one line. Two toe lines on it.

Step 14 of 50

The tail

Now the tail, along its guide: from her back, up its inner edge, round the tip and down the outer edge, round under the haunch.

Step 15 of 50

Fur in the ears

Now the fur: 12 short marks in the left ear, from near its tip down to its base. Then 8 in the right ear, from its base up.

Step 16 of 50

Fur on her face

Fur on her face, 35 short marks: 2 high on the left, 14 beside and under the left eye, 2 under her chin, 9 down the left cheek, 8 down her neck.

Step 17 of 50

Fur on her body

Body fur: 14 down from her neck, 6 more down to the paw, 4 over the haunch from the right. One halfway down her back, one on the haunch's left edge, one below that.

Step 18 of 50

Fur on her chest

Fur on her chest, 21 marks: 3 under her head, then 11 down the left half of the chest, then 6 down the right half and one on its edge.

Step 19 of 50

Fur on the legs

Fur where the chest meets the legs, 13 marks: 6 down the top of the leg on the left, then 7 across to the leg on the right.

Step 20 of 50

Whiskers on the left

Five whiskers on the left, each out from her mouth in one light sweep, the top one first. The top ones reach past her cheek; the last drops nearly straight down.

Step 21 of 50

Whiskers on the right

On the right, five whiskers out from the edge of her face below the nose, the top one first. Then three thin ones up from above the right eye.

Step 22 of 50

Stripes near the tip

Stripes on the tail: 3 across its top half, the one nearest the tip first. Each stripe is a row of short flicks side by side (22 in all), from the inner edge across.

Step 23 of 50

Stripes down the tail

Four more stripes the same way down the rest of the tail to her haunch, 32 flicks in all. Last, one lone flick on the outer edge between the last two.

Step 24 of 50

Swish lines

Two swish lines each side of the tail's tip, to show it flicking: the left pair from the outside in, then the right pair.

Step 25 of 50

The pot

Between tail and back, a flowerpot, rim just above the haunch. The rim in one loop round its left end, its far right bit, its lower edge from the right, the left side and bottom.

Step 26 of 50

The plant

A plant out of the pot: the left stem and its big leaf, the middle stem with its two top leaves, then the right stem running on round its leaf. Two small leaves low down.

Step 27 of 50

The sill

The sill: from the tail to the corner and down to the page's bottom. The corner's edge, the wall below, a line from under the tail; last, a bit of back edge by the pot.

Step 28 of 50

The sill on the right

Right of her front paws, lines slanting down right: the top one to a little step, down the step and on to the right. Then the four lines under it, top to bottom.

Step 29 of 50

The window on the left

The window behind her: first the thick frame at the left, two long uprights from the sill's corner and the tail's tip to the top of the page, a short bit below the tip.

Step 30 of 50

By the plant

Behind the pot, the edges of the next window bar: four uprights from the pot and leaves to the top; the second goes on below a leaf, a short bit between two leaves.

Step 31 of 50

The cross bar

A cross bar of the window: an upright from her back to the top, two lines out left from it for the bar, then the bar's left upright, above it and below.

Step 32 of 50

Behind her head

One more window bar behind her back and head: three uprights from her up to the top of the page, left to right.

Step 33 of 50

The top of the window

The window's top: a long line slanting up right from beside her left ear, a short upright on up from its start. A bit by the ear, an upright down from it, another slanting line.

Step 34 of 50

The far window

Right of her face, the frame of the far window: three tall uprights from the sill; the right two turn right at the top.

Step 35 of 50

The branch

Outside, a branch level with her eyes: its top edge from the left, a short twig, then its lower edge in one line, out to a little twig and back. A knot, a falling leaf.

Step 36 of 50

The birds

Two birds on the branch. The left one: its body, beak, eye, a wing mark and its feet; the right one: its body, beak, eye and a long wing line.

Step 37 of 50

Glare on the glass

Glare on the glass, in slanting pairs: two high up left of her head, two high on the right, two just right of her chest, then two low on the far right.

Step 38 of 50

Erase the guides

Rub out the guides. Smudge, the sill and the window stay.

Step 39 of 50

Go over her head

Now press harder round Smudge's head in one line: up from her left cheek, round the left ear, across and round the right ear, then down her face and under her chin.

Step 40 of 50

Go over her back

Then down her back from the cheek, along the bottom and round the back paw. Then the front leg on the left: down, round its paw and up its other side.

Step 41 of 50

Go over the chest

From her chin, down the chest and the front leg on the right, round its paw.

Step 42 of 50

Go over the tail

And the tail: up its inner edge from her back, round the tip and down the outer edge. The stripes, the fur and the window stay light.

Step 43 of 50

Shading her face

Shading now, with the light coming through the window on the right. A soft tone down the left side of her face and neck, darker just under her chin.

Step 44 of 50

Her back

A light tone down her back on the left from her neck, along the top of the haunch, and a strip up the line of fur behind her chest.

Step 45 of 50

The haunch

A tone round the haunch: down its left edge and round its bottom to the back paw, darker at the edge, and a strip where it meets the leg on the left.

Step 46 of 50

Between her legs

A soft tone just right of the line between her front legs, darker at the top where they meet the chest.

Step 47 of 50

Shading the tail

A soft tone down the outer edge of the tail, from near the tip round its underside to her haunch, darker over the stripes at the bottom.

Step 48 of 50

The pot

A tone on the left end of the rim and down the left of the pot, a darker strip near its right edge, and a short shadow on the sill at its foot.

Step 49 of 50

Her shadow

And her shadow on the sill: a dark tone under the haunch and the back paw, and under each front paw.

Step 50 of 50

The darks

Last of all, fill in her pupils, leaving the glints white. Now she's watching the birds.