🎨 Easy Tabby Cat Acrylic Painting Tutorial for Beginners
Easy Tabby Cat Acrylic Painting Tutorial for Beginners
Free step-by-step video instruction on YouTube
Perfect for first-time painters — and permission to make it your own!
If you love cats and have ever wanted to try painting one, this Tabby Cat tutorial is a fun beginner-friendly place to start.
In this painting, our curious tabby is looking up, patiently—or maybe not so patiently—waiting for a treat. You’ll build the painting step-by-step, adding the background, the cat’s shape, fur colors, facial features, and those important little details that bring personality into the finished painting.
You do not need previous painting experience. Take your time, follow along, and remember that your cat does not have to look exactly like mine.
Watch the Tutorial
Follow along with the full free Tabby Cat painting tutorial on YouTube:
Pause when you need more time, rewind a section, or come back to the painting later.
There is no need to paint at the same speed as the video.
Supplies Needed
You don’t need professional art supplies to complete this painting. A basic acrylic painting setup works perfectly.
You’ll need:
Canvas — 11x14 or a similar size
Acrylic paint
Black
White
Blue
Raw Sienna
Burnt Sienna
Yellow
Green
A few basic paintbrushes
Water cup
Paper towels
Palette or paper plate for mixing paint
See my recommended painting supplies here:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/painting-supplies
Need help setting up your painting space?
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/paint-with-lovejoy-blog/setup
Tabby Cat Traceable
If drawing the cat feels intimidating, you can use the optional Tabby Cat traceable to help get the initial composition onto your canvas.
A traceable gives you the basic shapes and proportions before you begin painting, so you can spend more of your time focusing on color, fur, layering, and bringing your cat to life.
Tabby Cat Traceable:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/animal-traceables/p/tabbycat
Prefer to draw your cat freehand? Absolutely.
Pause the video, look at the basic shapes, and lightly sketch them onto your canvas. Your drawing does not have to be exact.
How to Transfer Your Traceable
If you have never used a traceable before, I have a free tutorial showing you exactly how to transfer the outline onto your canvas.
Learn how to transfer a traceable:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/transfertraceable
Once your outline is transferred, you are ready to paint.
You can also explore more animal traceables for Paint with Lovejoy tutorials here:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/animal-traceables
Your Tabby Cat Does Not Have to Look Like Mine
The tutorial gives you a structure to follow, but you have permission to change things.
Maybe your cat has darker stripes, lighter fur, green eyes, blue eyes, or completely different markings. Change the background color, adjust the fur colors, or use the tutorial as inspiration to make the painting look more like a cat you know.
You are learning the process, not trying to create an exact copy.
The more you paint, the more comfortable you will become making those creative decisions for yourself.
A Quick Note for First-Time Painters
Painting fur can look complicated when you see a finished painting, but you do not paint every individual hair.
You build the cat in layers.
Start with the larger shapes and colors, then gradually add darker areas, lighter areas, stripes, facial features, and smaller details. Give each stage time to develop before deciding how you feel about your painting.
It is very normal for a painting to go through an awkward stage somewhere in the middle.
Keep going.
You do not need to know how to paint a cat before you begin.
You learn by painting.
Want to Build Your Acrylic Painting Skills?
If you enjoy following the free YouTube tutorials but want a stronger understanding of acrylic painting fundamentals, my Acrylic Painting Crash Course was created specifically for first-time and beginner painters.
You’ll learn about brushes, paint consistency, color mixing, blending, layering, and the foundational techniques that can make future painting tutorials easier and more enjoyable.
Explore the Acrylic Painting Crash Course:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/crashcourseacrylicpainting
Or keep exploring the free Paint with Lovejoy tutorials and build your confidence one painting at a time:
Paint with Lovejoy:
https://www.lovejoycreations.com/paintwithlovejoy
I’d Love to See Your Tabby Cat
If you paint along with this tutorial, I’d love to see what you create.
Remember, your cat does not have to look exactly like mine.
Change the markings. Change the colors. Give your cat its own personality.
Follow the tutorial, trust the process, and let the painting become yours.
Most importantly, enjoy creating it.
Never painted? No problem. You might just impress yourself.