Easy cat drawing lesson with oil pastels

Let’s celebrate International Cat Day with our children with an easy cat drawing lesson using oil pastels to create gorgeous feline art!

 

 

Easy cat drawing lesson with oil pastels

International Cat Day is celebrated on August 8th. The day was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare to encourage us to learn about, help, and protect cats.

More recently cats have become a social media sensation – just take a look at #catsofinstagram and the viral cat videos on YouTube and Facebook.

Let’s celebrate cats in art today, creating our own feline pictures.

 

In this lesson you will:

:: learn about famous art featuring cats

:: explore oil pastels and watercolour paints

:: work with shape and pattern

:: create you own cat art

 

Materials needed

:: white card or watercolour paper

:: oil pastels

:: watercolour paints

 

 

 

Famous art featuring cats

Famous artists have included cats in their paintings. Click through on the following links to see examples.

As you look at the artworks, answer these questions:

• What can you see?
• What words would you use to describe the cat in each painting?

 

Cat Catching A Bird by Pablo Picasso 

The Black Cat by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

Julie Manet also known as L’enfant au chat by Pierre Auguste Renoir 

The Cook And The Cat by Ribot Theodule 

 

 

 

ART PROJECT :: PATTERN CATS

Let’s create our own cat pictures using oil pastels and watercolour paints.

Begin by using an oil pastel to draw a simple outline of a cat: head, body and tail.

 

 

Then draw in your cat’s face.

Are their eyes open or shut?

Are they smiling?

Don’t forget the whiskers!

 

 

You can arrange your cat how you choose: sitting, lying, standing.

 

 

Then use your oil pastel to fill in sections of your cat with shapes and patterns.

Perhaps fill in the ears, the tail, the legs, and the body. 

Use shapes such as circles and triangles, and straight and curving lines.

You don’t need to stick with natural markings or make a realistic cat, go wild and free with your patterns and make an art cat.

 

 

You can stick with one colour of oil pastel, or use a selection.

You might like to colour in some sections with blocks of colour, but do leave some space for your paint.

 

 

Finally, brush all over your cat with watercolour paint, covering your whole cat.

You’ll notice that the oil pastel resists the watercolour paint, making it standout against the painted areas.

 

 

You can choose which colour of paint you use. 

 

 

You might like to create a rainbow cat, using a sequence of colours across your cat …

 

 

A midnight cat, using all black paint …

 

 

or a marmalade cat, painted orange.

 

More oil pastel projects to try

Oil pastels are a gorgeous art material to work with. Try out these projects too:

Scratch art

Warm and cool colour theory lesson

Kandinsky circles art project

Monochrome art project