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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Drawing a Cat

Quick, which is easier to draw, a dog or a cat?

Now, this would be a pretty split question. Some people say because dogs can be trained to stay still, they would be easier to draw. Some say that because cats sleep more they are easier to draw. Then fur length becomes a factor, with most cats having longer fur. But the same could be said about most dogs, examples include Golden Retrievers, Pomeranians, and other long haired breeds. Personally I think they are both semi-difficult, with the cat being slightly easier. Because as Barrington Barber said in the 6 Week Drawing Course book "Domestic cats are very useful models as they are very somnolent - most sleep for about 16 hours a day"(101). The section of drawing cats says to draw the main shape of the pose very simply and add heads and legs to that (Barber 101).

So first, I found myself a cat to draw.

 

I kept her in the same spot by playing her favorite show and drew the basic shape.




Luckily for me, she stayed put and in mostly the same position as I added details so I was also able to add shading along with her markings.




So what should I have done to improve? Add some color? What could I have done to make it more detailed?

Barber, Barrington. 6-Week Drawing Course: a professional programme for artists.
     Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2014.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Stephanie, I really love your drawing of your cat! The way you shaded her really makes her stand out, and I've wanted to ask, what did you use to shade it in? I noticed that your foundation for drawing the cat included the use of many shapes, did you follow a step from your book or do it based on your cat? I think what you could have done to make it more detailed is to make her a bit more egg shaped? Or roundish, it seems to me in the photo she's a bit rounder than your drawing. Other than doing that, I don't see how you could make it any more detailed! I enjoy the little fur markings and whiskers.

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    1. Thank you Jadenne! To answer your questions, I used the pencil I used to draw the rest of her and smudged it for shading, the shapes were a step recommended by the book to use in case she moved as I was drawing her. Also, thank you for the recommendation, she could have been a bit rounder in order to be more realistic.

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  2. Hi Stephanie! I really liked the texture of the fur you added in your final product. If you wanted to experiment with this project some more you could try some different styles of shading, such as cross hatching. Good Job!

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    1. Hello Ansleigh, thank you for the recommendation. I'll likely try it in one of my future drawings.

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  3. Hi Stephanie! Lovely drawing, what I would have added would likely be more detail to the fur, just to make it as realistic as possible.

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    1. Hello Sarah, I agree that more detail to the fur could have added a lot more realism to the drawing.

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