How to Draw a Kitten

For lovers of small, cute animals, we created this lesson on how to draw a kitten in a realistic, three-dimensional style.

In fact, this is not the first, and certainly not the last, cat drawn on the pages of Drawingforall.net. Earlier, we already showed you how to draw a cat in a realistic style, and we also created an additional cartoon cat drawing lesson in a more simplified style.

Now, using the same style and methods, we will show you how to draw a small kitten and explain in detail how it visually differs from an adult animal from the point of view of artistic techniques.

How to draw a kitten step by step

Step 1: Sketch the head and body masses

Know what a child and a kitty cat have in common? Both have special body proportions. A baby’s head is disproportionately large, just like a kitten’s. In addition to the head, notice two more rounded shapes that form the contours of the body. Draw these shapes using very simple and light outlines.

Step 2: Mark the small rounded paws

Adult cats have long, graceful legs. This is not surprising, because cats are very fast and flexible animals. But kittens are not as flexible or fast, since their legs are small and round. Therefore, draw the paws of the kitten as small, short, rounded shapes in this step.

Step 3: Draw the ears and tail of the kitten

Every part of a kitten’s body makes it even cuter. Notice the ears. Keep in mind that the ears should be noticeably larger in proportion than those of an adult cat. In this step, draw a rounded vertical outline of the tail and a pair of ears that look like simple triangles.

Step 4: Detail the eyes and pupils

Now add the eyes to your kitty cat drawing. Place them noticeably closer to the lower edge of the head. Draw the cat eyes as large, rounded shapes set slightly at an angle. Add large, rounded pupils as well. It is exactly this size and placement that distinguish the eyes of a small kitten from those of an adult cat.

Step 5: Draw the nose and mouth of the kitten

Now move to the lower part of the animal’s face and carefully draw a small, neat nose. Slightly below it, outline the upper lip with a pair of light curved lines. Directly under the mouth, draw a small chin of the kitten with another rounded line.

Step 6: Detail the ears of the baby cat

At this stage, you have a rough sketch of the cute kitten. Now move on to adding smaller details. Start by drawing the inside of the kitten’s ears. You will not draw all the fur that covers the kitten’s body, but use small, short strokes to sketch a few areas of fur.

Step 7: Draw the toes of the kitten

Continue adding small details. Draw short, rounded toes. Make them appear to protrude slightly forward. To achieve this effect, add small horizontal lines at the top of each toe. Make the paws proportionally more rounded than those of an adult cat.

Step 8: Erase the guidelines and refine the outlines

You are now very close to completing this kitten drawing guide. Erase all the extra construction lines used in the previous steps. Then carefully trace the outline of the kitten, its eyes, and the other parts of the body with darker, clearer lines. Press harder on the pencil at this stage. Use short strokes to create a soft fur effect on the kitten’s belly, ears, and chest.

Step 9: Shade the eyes and body

Refine the eyes further to make the kitten drawing look more realistic and lively. Shade the pupils with dense, even, one-layer hatching, and leave small areas unshaded for highlights, as in the sample. Add light shading to other parts of the kitten’s body as well.

Step 10: Deepen the shadows and contrast

You can leave your kitten drawing as it was in the previous step or make it slightly more three-dimensional. To do this, add more shadows using even hatching. Make the body shadows more defined and darker. Increase the contrast in the eyes by adding more shading and highlights.

A kitten is, of course, simply a small cat, but drawing this animal in its early stage involves many nuances that we addressed in this lesson.

A large head, a high forehead, big eyes, and small rounded limbs are distinctive features of any young animal, including a cat.

These traits make it not just a cat, but a kitten. By using artistic techniques that convey these features, you create the correct image in your drawing.

As a cat grows older, its proportions change, and a slightly different image is formed. You can show this in your drawing by depicting a cat of any age, from very young to fully grown, adjusting the specific features discussed in this lesson.

Practice your drawing skills by sketching a sitting cat using our lesson, but make it a small version instead of an adult animal.

To learn how to make a kitten’s face even more appealing, visit our cute cat drawing lesson, where we explain in detail which elements to add and how to adjust them to increase the sense of cuteness in your drawing.