Experience Tumblr Like Never Before
Reblog (Reference) - Blog Posts
Seeing Her In A Child - Submitted by pill0wc4se
#06051A #151A3A #152C71 #6D80A7 #BBCFED #DCEAF6 #C1B7CE
Hello From the Children of Planet Earth - Submitted by @nookisms
#FFF8E7 #E8C681 #44B1B0 #491C05 #8D5903 #DAA444 #EEFFFF
Reference images: Cosmic Latte, Nebra Sky Disk, Voyager Golden Record
go charizard - Submitted by: fastman27
#0A0A0D #261633 #794EA1 #D8BE61 #E6E3B2
We’re Just Running Faster Through the Same Disaster as Before - Submitted by @thetwistedwhiskersshow
#6DB8FD #5481EC #F1C7E9 #F96ACD #9B25EA
A Tale with a Twist - Submitted by Galaloser
#28502E #47682C #BAD1B3 #4A646D #45475F
art hint: people always share resources for reference pictures of people, but if you are an artist who draws cats a lot i offer you the CFA - The Cat Fanciers Association website. they are an association dedicated to professional show cats
you just go on the website and select breeds
in there you can select to see all the breeds they have or choose one you want
once you have selected a breed you can click on Breed and National Winners
from there you get a big gallery with pictures of show cats of this specific breed
at the top of every gallery you can sort the cats by pelt color and pattern
they have many different breeds, with lots of pictures of the cats in different poses and with different colors, its a good place to find references for cat pictures (though i think looking for show cats in general is a good way to find them)
shading colour tips
hey yall its me the Art Mom™ to help you shade pretty
rule 1: DO NOT SHADE WITH BLACK. EVER. IT NEVER LOOKS GOOD.
red- shade with a slightly darker shade of purple
orange- slightly darker and more saturated shade of red
yellow- i think like..a peach could work but make it a really light peach
green- shade with darker and less saturated shade of blue or teal
blue- shade with purple
purple- a shade thats darker than the purple you’re using and maybe a little pink (MAYBE blue)
pink- darker shade of red
white- a really light lavender or blue..or i guess any really light colour??
black- okay listen dont use pure black to colour anything unless you want to leave it with flat colours because you cant really shade black lol
grey- a slightly darker shade of purple or blue (less saturated)
brown- slightly darker and less saturated shade of purple or red
aaaaand thats all i got lol. let me know if there is anything i should add to this list!!
i've gotten a lot of very kind feedback about how i draw fat bodies, so i thought id make a little guide showing my thought process!! this is far from comprehensive, but maybe it'll be helpful to anyone who feels intimidated drawing plus size furs :)
if anything is unclear, please feel free to ask questions in the replies or reblogs!! <3
Where do you find references for some of the poses you drew for some of the designs? For examples of what I'm talking about, I mostly mean the fighting, cleaning, holding prey, and running poses.
heres a few blogs/sites that i use for poses , design inspiration , and just trying to stylize different breeds. otherwise i watch youtube videos or just google specific poses like 'cat with bird' or somethin sometimes to get inspo
(under the cut)
a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town
academy
adventurer's guild
alchemist
apiary
apothecary
aquarium
armory
art gallery
bakery
bank
barber
barracks
bathhouse
blacksmith
boathouse
book store
bookbinder
botanical garden
brothel
butcher
carpenter
cartographer
casino
castle
cobbler
coffee shop
council chamber
court house
crypt for the noble family
dentist
distillery
docks
dovecot
dyer
embassy
farmer's market
fighting pit
fishmonger
fortune teller
gallows
gatehouse
general store
graveyard
greenhouses
guard post
guildhall
gymnasium
haberdashery
haunted house
hedge maze
herbalist
hospice
hospital
house for sale
inn
jail
jeweller
kindergarten
leatherworker
library
locksmith
mail courier
manor house
market
mayor's house
monastery
morgue
museum
music shop
observatory
orchard
orphanage
outhouse
paper maker
pawnshop
pet shop
potion shop
potter
printmaker
quest board
residence
restricted zone
sawmill
school
scribe
sewer entrance
sheriff's office
shrine
silversmith
spa
speakeasy
spice merchant
sports stadium
stables
street market
tailor
tannery
tavern
tax collector
tea house
temple
textile shop
theatre
thieves guild
thrift store
tinker's workshop
town crier post
town square
townhall
toy store
trinket shop
warehouse
watchtower
water mill
weaver
well
windmill
wishing well
wizard tower
As I have been promising for years, the eye color chart is all cleaned up and ready to be shared! I'm totally ok with this being saved and passed around, that's why all my info is on it.
Basic image description is in alt, and a full transcript of all text in the image is under the cut.
This model has been in a process of expansion and tweaking for a very long time. Huge huge thanks to all the folks who contributed and hunted down photos, helped me name all the colors, and gave the final proofs!
Sparrow's Eye Color Chart 2025 Edition
Eye colors in cats are difficult to model because they vary to a significant extent on two axes. This is my best attempt at a general model of cat eye color based on observation and research into how eye color works across species.
Pigmentation refers to the amount of pigment in the colored layer of the iris. Higher pigmentation causes darker colors.
Refraction means the extent to which light is scattered in the structures of the iris. Higher refraction causes deeper blues or greens.
Eye colors are related to coat color, but not as closely as breed standards might have you believe! Most coat colors can have most eye colors outside of purebred lines selected to meet breed standard.
What Color Are My Cat's Eyes?
Color names are descriptive of the actual color of the cat's eyes - I chose them all to sound nice so that breeders can use them if desired. Note that breed standards have a much broader use of color names - "Amber", for example, may include much of the golden to orange range.
Colors are based on pictures of cats in full white light (such as midday sun fully illuminating the eye), and tweaked to look good on properly color-calibrated screens. Always determine eye colors based on how they look in full light.
Main Block
standard eye colors possible with most pelts
Every cat is assumed to have genes that specify some genetic eye color in the main block, but certain other alleles can depigment the eyes partially or completely, creating the lower block.
Pigmentation and Refraction are modeled here as dependent on multiple genes, which seems to best fit the wide spectrum of possibilities in cats. The actual number of genes is unknown and could be very many, but for simplicity they are shown here on a scale from 1-7.
In theory, the genetic eye colors of the offspring should tend to fall somewhere between the genetic eye colors of the parents. Then, any depigmentation factors are applied, which may result in an actual eye color somewhere below the genetic eye color.
Lower Block
occur with phenotypes which cause depigmentation of the iris.
Gray-blues: Fairly rare coloration. The cause of gray eyes in humans is not well understood, but one theory is that collagen or very small amounts of pigment in the eye alter the scattering of light.
Blues: Most common depigmented colors. Can be caused by white spotting/dominant white, colorpoint, and sometimes mocha. There are also multiple Dominant Blue-eye (DBE) mutations known which cause blue eyes as the main effect.
Albinistic: Caused by complete albinism, which also fully depigments the back layer of the iris meant to keep light from getting through. This allows the red color from the retinal blood vessels to bleed through, and also causes poor visual acuity.
Following is a list of all eye colors shown on the main diagram. Rows are pigmentation levels starting from the highest pigmentation, refraction increases from left to right.
Main Block: Copper, Chestnut, Umber, Walnut, Earthen, Olive, Moss; Ochre, Caramel, Bronze, Serpentine, Artichoke, Fern, Forest; Orange, Amber, Brass, Peridot, Avocado, Clover, Malachite; Saffron, Butterscotch, Shrub, Spring, Jade, Pine, Emerald; Gold, Citron, Pear, Lime, Mantis, Grass, Viridian; Yellow, Chartreuse, Sprout, Laurel, Mint, Turquoise, Teal; Canary, Chiffon, Honeydew, Sage, Celadon, Aqua, Cerulean.
Lower Block: Gray-blues: Frost, Opal, Flint, Storm, Steel, Slate, Cadet. Blues: Ice, Powder, Celeste, Sky, Azure, Lapis, Cobalt. Albinistic: Pink, Mauve, Lavender, Periwinkle, Cornflower, Royal, Indigo.
Combo Colors
Cats can exhibit a few different heterochromia types, most commonly a blue with a non-blue. The other most common cause for heterochromia appears to be localized hyperpigmentation, which can be caused by damage to the eye. It can also happen simply due to differing iris structure or unusual pigment migration within the iris.
It is also relatively common for the center of the eye to be a slightly different color, without being marked enough to constitute full heterochromia. My provisionary term for this is "dual-toned". The boundary between this and "true" central heterochromia is somewhat subjective.
For any form of heterochromia or dual-toned eyes, my recommendation for describing them is to note both colors with a slash. For dual-tones, I generally write the outer color before the center one.
Complete Heterochromia Blue/non-blue is commonly caused by white spotting/dominant white, other combos are rare.
Sectoral Heterochromia Blue/non-blue sometimes occurs with white spotting/dominant white. Can also be from hyperpigmentation.
Central Heterochromia Can occur due to hyperpigmentation, uneven pigment distribution, or iris structure. More common in certain breeds.
Dual-toned Irises Relatively small differences in central eye color are common in cats.
Iris Atrophy Iris atrophy due to old age can cause a distinctive lighter ring in the center of the iris.
All writing, art, and chart design ©Sparrow Hartmann 2025
Icon designs are released to the Creative Commons under a CC-BY-SA license and will be made available for download.
Go to sparrows-garden.com for more genetics resources!
Bird Wing/Tail Database
If you ever need references for bird wings/tails I cannot recommend this collection enough! It has images of the dorsal/ventral sides of wings from a wide variety of species.
Hey kid, look at me.
I want you to T-pose. Turn your right thumb up and your left thumb doen and look at your right thumb. Move your arms up and down a bit until you feel a nerve running from your armpit to your palm. Now turn your right thumb down and your left thumb up, and look at your left thumb. Keep your chest facing forward and your shoulders back. Move your arms again until you feel that nerve again. Keep alternating between these two for a minute, or look at each thumb thirty times each.
Now sit down. Put your left hand firmly under your left buttock, palm down. Keep your shoulders back and put your right hand over the crown of your head, very gently pulling it to the right. Do this for thirty seconds, then do it again but with your right hand under your right buttock.
These are stretches for the nerves in your arms, and are very good for people who sit behind a computer a lot, or fibre artists, or you name it. Do them daily. They will hurt in the beginning, but keep doing them, even after the pain has gone, or it will return and you'll have to start all over.