meow286

[meow286]

notes on how i go about stylizing cats from reference.

ive observed when drawing a cat with extra fat, its easy to lose the form and have it look like a balloon animal. if you keep bony landmarks and silhouette in mind as you caricature this can be avoided. these landmarks are places like joints, the spine, some points of the ribcage, and certain bones in the face.

the joints are where you "break" the silhouette of the figure. these are essential to a strong drawing and selling the volume of your character. interpreting the contrast of straights and curves around the figure will give a visual rhythm and prevent your drawing from appearing stiff and lifeless. some inner descriptive lines in places where muscle, fur, skin and fat are more obvious create a more defined shape that can really add something extra if you find your drawing is appearing too flat.

selling the markings by having them follow the contours of the body will also really help in making sure your drawings come across as volumetric. its easy to slap them on as an afterthought, but copy pasted looking markings can totally ruin the illusion of your characters dimension!

this of course is all relative to your own goals when drawing a piece, if you want your art to be flat and graphic, go for it! i will say it always helps my design sense to understand how things work in a 3d space before i get really abstract with them. the more you can understand your subject the easier it is to find success with the end goal of your piece.

this also geared towards animation. when you can "see" clearly how the character is structured from every level, drawing them in sequential motion becomes just that much easier. thanks for reading!

[meow286]

some ramblings today. with a little sketch and its tie down

drawing cats is always easy and almost automatic for me since theyre basically my foundation. so when i want to warm up on some concepts, theyre usually my go to.

recently ive been studying art again more seriously, really looking at where i was lacking and doing studies, reading a lot of art theory and reference books, life drawing, everything i can. getting better at grouping shapes, values, focusing on clarity of silhouette, simplifying information, have all become my priority. i really try to think the entire time im drawing now instead of going on autopilot. so even revisiting drawing cats occasionally, now feels new as im doing it with a new mindset/perspective on what i want to achieve. i tend to practice drawing 6-8 hours a day but the goal of where i want my ability to be still feels so impossibly far away.

i havent animated very much at all in the past year, and im trying to rekindle my love and drive for it, it scratches an itch in me that drawing never does. over the years of being a lonely teenager who tied their self worth to their online art presence, my self esteem was linked to how well i could perform artistically any given day eventually lead to me crashing and burning mentally. i could not animate without significant stress and feeling like i was going to throw up because i knew the end product wouldnt satisfy me. so i avoided doing it for almost a year.

i know a lot of younger artists follow me and its easy to fall into this trap, esp with how competitive it is and the incentive of social media attention. but it will make you miserable, and upset. even know i have to repeat to myself "its ok to make bad drawings" and that comparing myself to others has no purpose. this sounds overly dramatic since a lot of you know me as a former warrior cats animator, but ever since i made animation my career this thought process became increasingly difficult to escape and would affect my performance at work sometimes. i got a job working with dogs for a while since i didnt want to have the mental toll of doing professional work anymore. im trying to get back in the game now, almost reteaching myself art in a way. and ive been feeling a lot better.

im thinking of making some sets of cat anatomy tips, reference drawings, and my thought process when stylizing them to out up on gumroad for free. maybe some animation cycles and breakdowns too. if you read this far 😀 hi

[meow286]

some warriors stuff is available on my store!

[meow286]

what media and/or artists inspire you? I love the recent warrior cats stuff youve done and have been curious if theres anything that inspires you to keep going or experiment with your art, all the times ive ever tried to get back into drawing warriors i loose inspiration so fast.

i tend to draw people more often than cats now, ive found drawing more varied subjects improves you quicker than just drawing one thing over and over.

my favorite animator is yoh yoshinari, but recently ive been watching a lot of older anime. ergo proxy, samurai champloo, wolfs rain, hellsing, etc. the animation of tam lu and spencer wan also comes to mind. a lot of these shows have excellent shadow blocking and ways of simplifying forms that i really enjoy. i also save a lot of art i come across on twitter and look at it if i ever need inspiration.

i think within warriors ( and a lot of fandoms) art styles sort of begin to cannibalize each other since people are always drawing their inspiration from such a small pool of of people.

ive found art styles that are semi realistic but still heavily stylized, not too detailed just very effective fundamental drawing are my favorite and what i focus on guiding my art towards. practicing with clear focus on your goal, the ability to self critique, and stepping outside of your comfort zone are all you need to do. i think anyone can get their art where they want it to be once they figure out what works for them.

when you draw warriors, is there anything that bothers you about the drawings, things youre not satisfied with? ive found when i have no inspiration deconstructing what i want and what is and isnt working gives me somewhere to restart from.

[meow286]

Oh my gosh what lmao

I saw your recent art and thought “oh my gosh the way they draw whiskers is familiar, are they the person that did that one copy cat part for the Ivypool map??” I can’t believe I just recognized you from the whiskers

i love drawing whiskers i wont lie

[meow286]

sorry for cancelling my sticker club, i did refund everyone through patreon that got charged still. when i lost my insurance around november i lost my bipolar medication for a while which heavily impacted my ability to... be a person for a while. still kind of trying to course correct. but i am drawing some cats again, might make more stickers in the future

[meow286]

cats

[meow286]

hi guys! im launching my sticker club thru patreon! basically every month ill be making 2 stickers of a warriors character and for $8 you get them mailed to u, postage included :) i might do polls for what characters to do in the future, though for october i'll be making scourge stickers for sure!

first set is classic ashfur, the larger sticker will be around 3-4 inches and the chibi around 2 inches. thinking of doing some kind of holo effect as well.... much to think about

[meow286]

pretty soon, im going to start making warrior cats stickers… probably going to make a monthly sticker club on patreon. still thinking of what im going to design the sets to be every month rn tho

[meow286]

this being from 9 years ago is fucking me up like umm what, didnt i just draw this, i just got scared

flamewish

[meow286]

friends oc

[meow286]

[meow286]

Lackadaisy Stratagem (Animated Short)

Just Mordecai and Viktor having a normal one.

Watch the full short here on YouTube!

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Clips here feature the animation and cleanup work of Sam Kessler (ENDO), Keaton Sapp, Julia Schoel, Carolina Senra, BMBrice, and Sam Staehler, with compositing by Matt Pichette!

[meow286]

you are mt favourire warrior cats artist :)

:)

[meow286]

Did you give Scourge Luffy’s scar accidentally or was that on purpose

its just a cartoon scar i wasnt thinking about one piece

[meow286]

Hey Sam!! you used to have a WC design blog right?? :0 is it still up?

yeaa its @thecatpit

[meow286]

im 25 today isnt that insane