Drawing the Body Shape of a Cat

In this blog post, I have decided to draw the shape and facial features of a cat as a comparison for two things; my drawing post on the body of dogs, and my first blog post.

My first blog post included a drawing of a cat from Japan named, Hana. Here is a my drawing of the cat from the post as well as a comparison of the drawing to the original photo:

 

As you can see in this drawing, it's a lot more sloppier and more hesitant. The blending isn't all that great as well as the shading. In this next photo of another cat from Japan named Ura, you can see a major difference.

 The photo on the left is the base I started off with to draw Ura. 

I find that Japanese cats, especially ones with large pupils and eyes are the easiest to draw for me because photos capturing them mainly focus on their facial expressions rather than their fur markings.

Going onto the topic of the base used for Ura, you can see a major difference in the base I drew for my Siberian Husky. According to Hammond, "A cat has a very round contour" she continues, "Some of the most common shapes in an animal are the sphere, the egg, the cylinder, and the cube" (53). As you can see in the picture of the rough base, I made Ura's head an oval like shape, and the rest of her body roundish.

Hammond has talked about the differences cats and dogs have before, saying that their shapes differ in the way that cats are more eggish and dogs are more boxy (67). Only after drawing a dog then a cat did I truly realize how different their shapes truly were. This made me realize that learning to draw more than one animal would help me in the future.

Do you agree with me? That learning to draw more than one animal body shape will benefit drawing other animals in the future?

The purpose of my inclusion of my first blog post was to reflect back on how I drew only a couple months ago, versus now. I'd like to say I see a major difference, do you?

Hammond, Lee. Drawing realistic pets from photographs. North Light Books, 2005.

Make Your Very Own Cat Towel Animal Right Meow!

This is my cat Dude.

He is very lazy unlike most cats and tends to photo-bomb my post. So why not dedicate an animal towel folding just for him! Also recommended by Jenny Sizemore, I will be creating a cat towel animal based off my IRP book Holland America Line Towel Creations!

For materials, you will need a medium-sized 17 x 28 in. towel for the head, a 12 x 12 in. washcloth to create the tail of the cat, and a large 30 x 50 in. towel for the main body structure. Optional, you may add additional decorations or props to enhance your cat.

Lets start with creating the main body. Grab your large towel and roll the edges widthwise towards the center of the towel (Holland 42). With this step completed, the towel should look like 2 burritos.

Secondly, "Fold the towel in half joining the four rolled edges together" (Holland 42), now your towel looks like 4 burritos!

Finishing up the body, grab the tips from the center of each roll and pull them outwards (Holland 42) to form what looks like a chicken rotisserie. Finished with the first half!

Now grab your washcloth to make the tail. Lay the towel flat-out and roll from the top corner to the end (Holland 42). Insert the rolled-up towel between the body and curl to form the tail.

Were down to the final steps! Get the medium sized towel from before and "Latch the towel onto a support and roll both sides tightly to [the] center. Cross the tail ends of the rolled towel for the ears" (Holland 42). Using a hook is optional, but using it results in finer, sharper results.

Finally, "Tightly roll it [the tips] upwards and tuck the pointed [tips] in, adjust the ears and place on body." (Holland 42). Then add any additional accessories or googly eyes to your liking. All finished!

Many can say that a dog (or any pet really) is a man's best friend. They are with you in your ups and downs in life, but in the end, it is the moments and memories between your pet that counts. I hope that by creating this towel animal or any creations that I have demonstrated that you can cherish life's moments and bring joy to others. Or that's what I have learned from making these.

My question for you is if you have any pets and what special memories you have had with them.

Have a Fantastic Day Everyone!

Janice Herrador.

Holland, comp. Towel Creations: Holland America Line 40 Designs. Seattle, WA: Holland America Line, 2007. Print.

Mastering Manga 2: Cat Character

      Draw the face again with a round circle.  But the jaw is slightly tilted to the side as a base.  Following that sketch three horizontal lines as the guidelines for the eyes, mouth, and nose but emphasize the lines at the top (Crilley, 28).  Given that we are working with proportion; these are specific instructions on how to give dimension to the head.  This picture is supposed to have the character looking at another direction so unlike the last one, we need to tilt it slightly to give it that action effect to make the person look more realistic.

       “The interior section of the far ear is largely obscured.  I’ve indicated little tufts of hair near the tips of the cat ears” (Crilley, 29).  This step really emphasizes the ears.   It explains how to make the manga look realistic, matching the character since that’s the point of the picture. The points to lightly sketch out the cropped hair and add cat ears on the side of the hair which gives life to the picture.  The main point of this picture are the cat ears, which is creating a fictional character so focusing on just that part is super important.

Would there be any more tips on adding dimension or direction to a character?

Crilley, Mark.  Mastering Manga 2: Level up with Mark Crilley. Cincinnati, OH: Impact, 2013. Print.