I’ve always been asked how i draw cat eyes. These are the steps that i take to draw them and they are one of my favorite things to draw. Cat eyes are so beautiful, not only in color but the designs and depth that they have. They are beautiful animals, but we can all agree that their eyes makes them so much special. They look amazing when drawn in pencil. I love the size of their eyes, they are much bigger than the eyes of other animals which allows you to put in so much more detail and makes the animal come to life.
Before we start we should first see the difference between a cat and a person’s eye. One thing we can agree on is that they are used to see 
and basically thats where the similarities end. When talking about size, in relative to the head, a cat’s eyes are much bigger than a persons. This reason is because cats its bigger size is helpful for them to see at night. Their pupils are usually elliptical in shape and open up much wider than a pupil in a person. Another big difference is that you can barely see the sclera in a cat’s eye, their iris are much bigger. The size in their iris is what makes drawing their eyes so interesting. There is so much area to add detail and it gives the drawing so much life when you add the right effects. Here is a picture that shows the main differences between a cat and person’s eye.
Ok lets start. The first thing that you need to do is to have the outline drawn. You probably drew it and don’t know to go about adding the detail to it. Well the main focus will be on the highlights and shadows on the iris.
Tools used:
- 2b 0.5 Mechanical Pencil
- 2h Wood Cased Pencil
- Stylus
- 4b Progresso Pencil
- Kneaded Eraser
- Color Blender
- Smooth Bristol Paper
(43 votes, average: 4.58 out of 5)
Loading ...
Trackback URL || 
PermalinkOne Ping to “Drawing Realistic Cat Eyes”
51 Responses to “Drawing Realistic Cat Eyes”
-
1. Anton Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 4:01 pmwow, its amazing :O
really great job.
Thanks a lot. -
2. onlypencil Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 7:26 pmthank you
-
3. AmyW Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 11:23 pmI love it! I’m a huge fan of animal art but have the hardest time making them look “real”. This will help me tremendously. I’ll post a pic (and give you credit!) when I finish one. Thank you so much!
-
4. Rodrigo Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 11:51 pmAmazing, hope to see soon your tutorial about drawing hair and fur, congratulations.
-
5. Rodrigo Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 11:51 pmAmazing, hope to see soon your tutorial about drawing hair and fur, congratulations.
-
6. M_KATHLEEN Says:
December 1st, 2007 at 12:34 pmLISANDRO, THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU ROCK ALONG WITH YOUR ARTWORK… KUDOS TO YOU!!!
-
7. M_KATHLEEN Says:
December 1st, 2007 at 12:34 pmLISANDRO, THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU ROCK ALONG WITH YOUR ARTWORK… KUDOS TO YOU!!!
-
8. onlypencil Says:
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pmthank you so much, im so glad it was helpful.
-
9. onlypencil Says:
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pmthank you so much, im so glad it was helpful.
-
10. Abandoned Says:
January 11th, 2008 at 9:34 amThis is the best guide I have seen so far on cat’s eyes. I will be attempting to try the tutorial from start to finish soon.
Thank you for going to the trouble of posting it in such detailed steps. Most people have like 3 pictures of how they drew something. The 1st being super rough sketch, the 2nd being in the middle and the 3rd the final product. The problem with that method is they make it hard to see what they did to take the rough drawing to the final product since there’s so many gaps in their tutorials.
Yours however is perfect as it goes step by step from start to finish, helping beginners like me see what is being done and finally having the courage to take a stab at it.
So once again thank you =)
-
11. onlypencil Says:
January 12th, 2008 at 1:34 pmyou’re very welcome. It’s always easier when you know what steps to take, not only with words but using images. Give it a try and keep on practicing and you will slowly begin to see results. Take care and welcome
-
12. Curtis Says:
January 29th, 2008 at 2:48 pmYour style and technique is fantastic…from one artist to another, well done! Don’t ever stop doing what you do, your hard work and dedication definitely shines through in every piece! Bravo!
-
13. onlypencil Says:
February 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pmthank you so much. Its always great to get feedback from other artists. Well hopefully you come back. take care.
-
14. onlypencil Says:
February 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pmthank you so much. Its always great to get feedback from other artists. Well hopefully you come back. take care.
-
15. artist Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pmthis tutorial was great but hair has always been one of my week points. It can get a little frustrating sometimes but somehow my eye looks really good thanks so much
-
16. artist Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pmthe tutorial was great but i always have a hard time with the hair. it so frustrating sometimes but my eye turned out okay. i just erased the hair and left it with only the eye. Thanks so much. by da way, i didn’t have the right tools to draw this so it turned out a little funky. but what ev. great job
-
17. artist Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pmonly had a 2\hb soft pencil
-
18. artist Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 3:51 pmthis tutorial was great but hair has always been one of my week points. It can get a little frustrating sometimes but somehow my eye looks really good thanks so much
-
19. artist Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 3:56 pmonly had a 2hb soft pencil
-
20. onlypencil Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 8:24 pmThank you artist. im so glad that it was helpful and i can guarantee that the next one you do will be much better than the previous one. Keep doing what you love and you will see results. If you have any other questions just contact me. take care
-
21. onlypencil Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:24 pmThank you artist. im so glad that it was helpful and i can guarantee that the next one you do will be much better than the previous one. Keep doing what you love and you will see results. If you have any other questions just contact me. take care
-
22. io Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 9:43 pmyou… you make me fell insignificant….
-
23. io Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 10:43 pmyou… you make me fell insignificant….
-
24. maddison Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 5:17 amwhats a colour blender?
-
25. onlypencil Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 9:52 pma color shaper. Well its used for paint to add nice effects by spreading the paint around. But its a great tool for pencil because it blends it beautifully on paper. There are different tip shapes which is useful for different techniques. I use it to blend around tight corners and is great when drawing hair. On the left side under “Essential Tools” you can find a link to see what it looks like.
-
26. onlypencil Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 10:52 pma color shaper. Well its used for paint to add nice effects by spreading the paint around. But its a great tool for pencil because it blends it beautifully on paper. There are different tip shapes which is useful for different techniques. I use it to blend around tight corners and is great when drawing hair. On the left side under “Essential Tools” you can find a link to see what it looks like.
-
27. artistguy Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 6:37 pmyou should keep making tutorials because i am not very good artist and my human eye turned out very good:)
-
28. Vanja Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 11:36 amwhere is the rest? and thanks for the tutor
-
29. onlypencil Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pmbelow, under the 5 stars, you will see the page numbers. For this one i decided to split it into pages because it was pretty long. But i think i won't do it anymore for any new ones. Well if you have any questions just contact me.
-
30. onlypencil Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 12:02 pman dont say thank, it just takes practice and a passion for drawing.
-
31. vasanth Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:05 ami like it
-
32. onlypencil Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 7:55 pmthanks
-
33. Michelle Says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:38 amThis tutorial is AMAZING. Thank you so much!
-
34. Laura Says:
December 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pmTHANKS!!! I?M WORKING HARD; THANK YOU
-
35. Axelorio Says:
February 7th, 2009 at 1:22 pmThanks a lot!
It did work quiet good, looks Okey at last But just a question, is “Color Blender” the same thing as “Colour Shaper Kids Paint Set “?
Want to be able to use the most things you use… And it's one of the few things I dont have… -
36. onlypencil Says:
February 7th, 2009 at 11:15 pmyes the colour shaper kids paint set, it comes with different sizes and shapes which can be helpful with getting different effects.
-
37. Axelorio Says:
February 9th, 2009 at 11:49 amOkey
You don't have any tips about something else I can use? That gives a simular effect.
Did not even know that this tools existed before I visited your site. And I dont think I have seen any in any of the stores (and it cost so much to order from USA to Sweden)… -
38. onlypencil Says:
February 14th, 2009 at 10:36 amYou can probably find them in your local art store. They should have them. you can use a shading stump, which is similar but its made out of compressed paper. You dont get the same control as with the color shaper but it does help with shading.
-
39. joe Says:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:44 amwere are the things to do this????
-
40. kate Says:
April 12th, 2009 at 3:09 pmthese tutorials are phenomenal. it is 20 years since i drew anything. i long to try to draw my own dog, and have been practicing various of your tutorials, and suddenly i am starting to believe i might just be able to do a half decent drawing…. i never thought i would pick up a pencil again, and i am so grateful to you.
-
41. noob Says:
May 9th, 2009 at 2:36 pmerr where do i click to watch this tutorial?
-
42. noob Says:
May 9th, 2009 at 5:09 pmoh XD nevermind!
-
43. zbeth Says:
May 13th, 2009 at 7:31 pmI am officially an idiot, but where do you click to get to the tutorial?!
-
44. onlypencil Says:
May 14th, 2009 at 9:59 amyou can read the cat eye tutorial here http://www.onlypencil.com/blog/tutorials/drawin...
-
45. doforanimals Says:
June 12th, 2009 at 9:15 pmI have a suggestion for those doing the tutorials… Do the same tutorial several times and learn from the mistakes you made in the first attempts. Personally, my mistakes were making the drawing too small, or the lines not quite following the contour properly, or the darks were too light, or not blending enough. Also allow plenty of time to read the instructions repeatedly. Another side note, I felt that I've learned a lot from these FREE tips and tutorials so I chipped in to help Lisandro get the good camera for better video tutorials. Just something to consider the next time you get some valuable info from this site…
-
46. onlypencil Says:
June 13th, 2009 at 12:21 amThat is the best way to improve, keep drawing. The more you draw, the easier it will become. You will see improvement with each one. Every new drawing that i do is a learning experience and i use whatever i learned on my next drawing. The moment you believe that you have learned everything is the moment you hit a wall and will not move from there. Thank you for chipping in and i know the video tutorials will be a great compliment to the written tutorials. Thank you for the kind words and hopefully these tutorials have been helpful. Take Care.
-
47. Diva Says:
July 28th, 2009 at 6:57 amThank you so much.I love it.
-
48. onlypencil Says:
July 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pmyou're welcome
-
49. Pippa Says:
September 29th, 2009 at 3:37 pmI am sorry if im being silly – but where is the tutorial??
-
50. Deepak Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 11:40 amCan you achieve the same effect with a tortillion or a blending stump as you would with a color shaper? I am having a really hard time trying to source a color shaper in my country.
-
51. Sheila Says:
December 5th, 2009 at 1:06 amI think you must be a kind and wonderful man to share your superb talents with us. Thank you so much. I have had difficulty with a pencil drawing of a tigar and have scrapped it three times but now I can't wait to try again. Thank you so much.
Yours Sincerly,
Sheila.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
[...] Drawing Realistic Cat Eyes [...]