Learning to draw can be a delightful experience, especially when starting with something fun and engaging like cats! This simple guide will walk you through creating adorable wild cat drawings using basic shapes, perfect for kids and beginners. It’s a fantastic way to practice drawing circles and building artwork from larger shapes to smaller details.
Materials You’ll Need
Before we begin our cat drawing adventure, gather these simple supplies:
- Drawing paper (half sheets are ideal for younger artists)
- Pencil and eraser (for sketching and correcting mistakes)
- Crayons (Crayola Construction Paper Crayons are excellent for light shading)
- Black marker (for outlining and making your drawing pop)
Let’s Draw Some Wild Cats!
This drawing exercise is designed as a great starting point for the school year, helping to review fundamental drawing skills. We’ll focus on three exciting wild cats: Lions, Tigers, and Cheetahs! For younger children or beginners, drawing two wild cats side-by-side can be a fun and rewarding project.
Step-by-Step: Building with Circles
- Heads: Start by drawing two circles on your paper, these will be the heads of your wild cats.
- Shoulders: Next, add the shoulders by drawing curved lines extending down from each circle.
- Snout: Within each head circle, draw a smaller circle towards the bottom to create the snout area.
- Facial Features: Now it’s time to bring your cats to life! Draw noses, mouths, eyes, and ears on each snout and head.
- Legs and Body Details: Add simple lines extending from the shoulders to represent arms or legs, keeping it basic and shape-focused.
Choosing Your Wild Cats: Lion, Tiger, or Cheetah
Now for the fun part – deciding which wild cats you want to draw! Here’s how to make each cat unique:
- Lion: Give your lion a majestic mane by drawing a fluffy shape around its head. Don’t forget a little puff of hair at the tip of its tail!
- Tiger: Tigers are known for their stripes! Add stripes on the top of the head, sides of the face and shoulders, and a wavy tail with stripes.
- Cheetah: Cheetahs have distinctive spots. Draw three oval shapes on the top of the head, sides of the face and shoulders, and a wavy tail with oval spots.
Outlining and Coloring
- Outline: Once you’re happy with your pencil sketch, carefully outline everything with a black marker. This will make your drawing stand out.
- Erase Pencil Lines: After outlining, gently erase the pencil lines to clean up your artwork.
- Add Details: Fill in the tiger’s stripes and outline the cheetah’s ovals with your black marker to emphasize their patterns.
- Coloring: Color in your wild cats lightly using crayons. To keep it simple and focused on the drawing itself, limit your color choices to just a few per animal. Crayola Construction Paper Crayons are great for creating soft shades by coloring with the side of the crayon.
Crayola Construction Paper Crayons Tip
Crayola Construction Paper Crayons are a fantastic choice for this project. Using broken pieces, about an inch long, allows for easy shading using the sides of the crayons. This technique helps create subtle color variations without overwhelming the simple line drawings. Sorting out a limited color palette beforehand can also streamline the coloring process for young artists.
Conclusion
Drawing wild cats using simple shapes is a fun and accessible art project for children. By following these steps, kids can confidently create their own lions, tigers, and cheetahs, while practicing essential drawing skills. Encourage creativity and enjoy the process of bringing these amazing animals to life on paper!
