Quick answer: The cat paint by numbers kits that paint best share three things: one cat, large; a plain or softly blurred background; and clear contrast between the fur and whatever is behind it. A close-up portrait like the Cat Close Up or the Calm Cat gives you big, easy sections for the body and a manageable face, while a cat in a flowery meadow or a busy room doubles the work. Realistic portraits take 20 to 30 hours; Mariia Sukalova's softer, more painterly cats about the same on a 16 × 16 inch canvas; and a set of six mini cat paintings is one or two hours per picture. Whichever you choose, the eyes are where the likeness lives — save them for a fresh evening and your smallest brush.
Cats are the most requested animal in the shop after dogs, and for the people who ask, they are usually not just any cat. It is the tabby who sat on the newspaper every morning for seventeen years, or the black cat who still does. This guide covers what makes a cat design paint well, the best kits by type, how to paint fur, eyes and whiskers so they look alive, and how to turn a photo of your own cat into a canvas.
What you will find in this guide
What makes a cat design paint well
One cat, filling the canvas. A single face or a curled-up body gives you large sections for the fur and a concentrated area of small ones for the face. Two kittens are still fine; six cats on a sofa are not a first project.
A quiet background. A cushion, a windowsill, a wash of color. The cat should be the only thing that needs care; everything behind it should be rest.
Contrast. A ginger cat on a blue blanket, a white cat on a dark chair, a black cat against pale flowers — the kit designer has done the hard thinking when the cat and the background are clearly different in tone. A grey cat on a grey carpet is one shape with numbers in it.
Fur direction built into the sections. Look at the preview: on a good cat design, the sections on the cheeks and chest run in the direction the fur grows. When you paint them, follow that direction with the brush and the fur reads as fur without any extra work.
Big eyes. Cats with eyes that take up a visible part of the face are easier to bring to life than cats with slits, because the iris, the pupil and the little white highlight each get their own section.
Realistic cat portraits
These are the kits for someone who wants a cat on the wall that looks like a cat. The Cat Close Up is a square 16 × 16 inch face with large green eyes and clear stripes — a single animal on a simple ground, and one of the easiest realistic portraits in the shop. The Calm Cat is a resting tabby in soft greys and warm browns; the body is broad, restful sections and the face is where the evening's attention goes. Two Kittens in a Basket is the one for grandmothers and kitten lovers: two small faces, a woven basket that paints as pleasant repeating bands, and plenty of pale fur that will want a second coat. Girl with Cat adds a child to the picture and is really a portrait of two.
Difficulty: medium; the faces are the only fiddly part. Time: 20 to 30 hours. Browse all of them in the cats collection.
Painterly cats: the Sukalova style
Mariia Sukalova is one of the artists whose own work the shop turns into kits, and her Gentle Cat with Yellow Flowers shows what a painterly cat looks like as numbers: looser shapes, a softer palette of creams and ochres, and a background of blooms that is suggested rather than drawn. Because the style is already loose, nobody will compare your edges to a photograph, which makes it a forgiving canvas and a lovely one for a bedroom or a reading corner. Her kits come on a square 16 × 16 inch (40 × 40 cm) canvas or the standard 16 × 20, and the whole Mariia Sukalova collection shares the same gentle light.
Difficulty: easy to medium. Time: 18 to 28 hours.
Six little cats: the mini sets
A mini set is six small canvases — rectangles, squares, rounds or hexagons — each one a complete picture that takes an hour or two. For cat lovers this is where the fun is, because the sets are built around a mood. Lazy Cat Poses is six round pictures of cats doing what cats do best; Kittens in Teacups is as sweet as it sounds; Funny Cats from Behind is six tails and six backs and makes everyone smile. Ginger Cat Moments and White Kittens with Bows are portraits in miniature.
Black cats get a whole shelf of their own: Artistic Black Cat Portraits, Black Cats in the Garden, Black Cats among Flowers and Black Cat Hobbies. A black cat is the easiest cat there is to paint — the body is one or two dark sections and all the character goes into the eyes and the background color.
Minis suit a painter who likes finishing something each evening, a gift for someone who has never tried the hobby, or a gallery wall in a hallway. Our mini paint by numbers guide explains how to hang six as one. Difficulty: easy. Time: 1 to 2 hours per picture.
Cats on objects and seasonal kits
Beyond the canvas, cats turn up on most of the formats in the shop. There are cat designs among the DIY clock kits, where the finished painting becomes a working wall clock; cat covers in the hardcover journals; and every winter a litter of cats in Santa capes and party hats in the Christmas Light collection, which are panels with small LEDs behind them. For Halloween, the mini sets and door hangers fill up with black cats in witch hats. Our guide to kits beyond the canvas explains how each format works.
Your own cat as a kit
The cat people really want on the wall is their own, and the custom kit turns a photograph into a numbered canvas. Cats are good candidates because they hold still in good light more often than dogs do. Three things make the difference between a custom cat that paints beautifully and one that disappoints:
- Daylight, not flash. Flash flattens fur and turns eyes into green discs. A window on a bright day, cat facing the light, is perfect.
- Close and simple. Fill the frame with the cat and let the background be a cushion, a blanket or a wall. Crop out the room.
- Choose 36 or 48 colors for a tabby or a tortoiseshell. The standard 24 colors are plenty for a black, white or ginger cat; a patterned coat needs more tones to keep its markings.
Our photo guide for custom kits goes through choosing and cropping the picture in detail.
Painting fur, eyes and whiskers
Fur: follow the direction of the sections
Paint each fur section with strokes running the way the hair grows — outward from the nose on the cheeks, downward on the chest, along the back. You are not painting individual hairs; the direction of the brushstroke is enough to make flat color read as fur. Dark fur first, then the mid-tones, then the lightest, because white and cream need a second coat and look best painted last over dry neighbors.
Eyes: three sections, one evening
A cat's eye on a numbered canvas is usually an iris, a pupil and a tiny white highlight. Paint the iris color first and let it dry fully. Then the pupil, with your smallest brush, in one careful stroke. Then the highlight — one dot of white, placed exactly where the chart puts it, because that dot is what makes the cat look at you. If the highlight section is too small to find, a single touch with the tip of a toothpick works.
Whiskers: last, and lightly
Whiskers are rarely numbered sections; they are usually implied by the pale fur around the muzzle. If you want them, add them after everything is dry with a fine brush, a little white thinned with a drop of water, and one quick stroke per whisker from the muzzle outward. Practice on paper first. Fewer, finer whiskers look better than many thick ones.
Noses and paws
A pink nose is usually two sections, light and shadow. Paint the lighter one first. Paw pads are the same. Neither needs to be perfect; from three feet away, they read as nose and paw.
If something goes wrong — a pupil too large, a highlight in the wrong place — let it dry, paint the iris color back over it, and try again tomorrow. Acrylic forgives. Our troubleshooting guide covers the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Which cat paint by numbers kit is easiest for a beginner?
A single cat in close-up on a plain background, such as the Cat Close Up, or any black cat design. Black fur is one or two large sections, and all the detail is in the eyes.
How long does a cat paint by numbers canvas take?
A realistic 16 × 20 inch cat portrait takes most people 20 to 30 hours over two to four weeks. Each picture in a mini set takes one to two hours.
Can I paint my own cat by numbers?
Yes. The custom kit turns your photo into a numbered canvas. Use a sharp daylight photo with the cat filling the frame, and choose 36 or 48 colors for a tabby or tortoiseshell coat.
How do I make the eyes look real?
Paint the iris, let it dry, then the pupil, then one small white highlight exactly where the chart places it. The highlight is what gives the eye life.
Do I have to paint individual hairs for fur?
No. Fill each section with brushstrokes running in the direction the fur grows, and the flat color reads as fur. Whiskers can be added last with a fine brush if you want them.
Why does white fur need two coats?
White and cream acrylic are less opaque than darker colors, so the canvas print shows through a single coat. Paint white sections last, over dry neighbors, and give them a second coat.
Put your cat on the wall
A portrait for the living room, a painterly cat for the bedroom, six little cats for the hallway, or the cat who is asleep on your feet right now as a custom canvas: the cats collection has all of them, and the animals collection has the dogs, birds and horses for the rest of the family. One color at a time, eyes on a fresh evening, and the cat will look back at you.
