I requested this book because recently I had taken a workshop on painting cats on head and thought this would be a great addition. Little did I know the author was the same artist who gave the workshop!
Terry’s work is whimsical and so much fun. I love the illustrator side to her painting and could see many children’s books made with her cats.
The book provides various watercolour techniques to obtain the many different cat styles. She shows you how to paint the cats themselves and then how to create worlds for your cats. I.e. cat’s in a coffee shop, cats on a boat. The lists are endless!
I throughly enjoyed reading and looking at all of the different cat paintings in this book. I definitely want to give this cat painting a go and see what I can create.

Thanks to Net Galley and Leaping Hare Press for the advanced copy.

P.s. if you can take a workshop with Terry for more cat fun!

Beautifully designed book with good instructions on how to paint cats. It shares info on how to use watercolors as well as other media like fineliners. There are a lot of beautiful examples. Reading the book made me want to get started right away.

I adore artist Terry Runyan's whimsical work, including her previous Quarto book, Painting Happiness, and now Terry instructs you in using watercolor to paint charming cat portraits. Her colorful illustrations bring me joy and are sure to elate you too. Great fun!

I really enjoyed this. The author presents step-by-step technique to create abstract cat paintings. I teach adult crafting and believe I could teach people who do not know how to paint how to do this. The author's cat paintings are adorable. If you are looking for instruction on how to paint realistic cats with watercolors, this is not for you. However, the author does include one beautiful example of a realistic watercolor cat. I would recommend this book to people who want to experiment with watercolor painting and of course to cat lovers.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I selected "Painting Cats" because I adored "Painting Happiness" by Terry Runyan. To this day, "Painting Happiness" is my go-to for unwinding after a stressful week.

"Painting Cats" has the same vibes. Terry Runyan loops in little anecdotes and engaging text about cats and relating to the creative process in a way that is enjoyable and low-stress. It isn't about being perfect; it is about letting the process be an opening to creative joy.

I do prefer hard copy for this type of book so I have "Painting Cats" on my wish list and I look forward to September when it is released.

What a fun and easy way to play with watercolors! This is a great book for those who love cats and watercolor alike. I haven't painted in a while, but reading this book and seeing the great pictures in it made me itch to grab a brush again. This book makes for a great gift and something to do together with friend and the kids.

Terry Runyan works her magic once again in this cat specifically about painting cats. Only cats? I hear you cry! Don’t worry ‘Painting Cats’ is full of ideas and methods to use in all areas of painting and art.
There are so many variations on the theme of watercolour cats, you will be learning about all kinds of water colour techniques as well as creating your own cat clan!

This is such a cute book! I loved the idea behind it and the introduction all about cats was lovely. The instructions and tutorials were really detailed and easy to follow. The illustrations made it come alive and helped me to understand what to do. As a beginner at watercolour, the book made starting a new hobby easy.

This book is a guide to loose and fun watercolor paintings of cats. The introduction to this work was fun, discussing different and common personalities/characteristics of cats and how to incorporate those into your creative process. This includes a brief foray into the practice of mindfulness and using your art to relax and unwind. There was also some basic color theory included, which is helpful when mixing paints or deciding what colors would look best together in a painting. It also included some basic watercolor techniques, making this read quite approachable for those who have minimal experience.

My favorite portion was probably the bit about painting cats in clothes. This included painting the clothes on separate paper, cutting it out, then painting the cat and placing the clothes on them. It resulted in whimsical, cute paintings that were reminiscent of illustrations in children’s books. I quite like the author’s illustration style, and the clarity of the instructions makes it easy to take the ideas in the book and incorporate your own art style.

If you like cats and are interested in watercolors, then you should check this one out. My thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for allowing me to read this work, which will be published September 12, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is such a cute book!! The little painted cats throughout the book are a cute little touch.

There is the color wheel using cat heads instead of dots. A section on the different techniques, which there are more then I could have imagined. The author gives examples of the different types of backgrounds to use while painting the cats. Are you worried about painting the mouths and eyes? Don't worry, the author has you covered and gives you some ideas on how to do that.

I'm definitely going to need a physical copy of this book. It is so cute as well as a great book to learn how to paint cats.

Thank you #NetGalley for #PaintingCats by Terry Runyan.

Really fun, whimsical art book with a good balance of tips and examples. The back of the book has a lot of additional references too!

This is a lovely book, lots of basic info about techniques and an abundance of adorable cat paintings!

This would be a lovely present for a new-to-watercolours artist, particularly one that wasn't quite confident enough to start painting by themselves and wanted some hand holding

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Some time ago, I reviewed Terry Runyan's previous book "Painting Happiness", and as with her original book, this one is a joy.

Filled with the slinking, sinuous shapes of cats, "Painting Cats" is a guide to free you mind from the human confines and embrace mindful creativity the way a cat would embrace life - with curiosity, a care-free attitude and the ability to let the watercolours flow without overthinking.

As with other craft books, this one includes a short section on the artist's preferred tools - the paints, brushes, pens and papers - but this is only a brief initial section, with a more comprehensive guide at the back of the book.

Then we explore the creation of watercolour cats in all their blobular glory, from a simple mindful splodge to the emergence of the full feline. It's all about being playful and spontaneous. There is a nice section on colour theory and some good watercolour and other art techniques to explore before diving into the fun personalisations you can do with your painted kitties. From storytelling to still life, personalities and poses, crowds, cat-hats and anims friends, if there is a place for a cat, it's in here!

The illustrations in this book are all highly stylised in the artist's style, however the tips, techniques and prompts are all easily transferable to one's own style.

All in all, this book is a fun journey into playful painting, and unpredictable minfdulness. A must for cat-loving artists. Or artistic cat people.

~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

What a beautiful book of fun and whimsical illustrations accompanied by supportive, encouraging and helpful insight from Terry Runyan! I only recently got to know her and her work through an online watercolor class simply titled "Cats on Heads." Even though I'm more of a dog person, I do appreciate the appeal of cats and this book has wide appeal even if you're not in the dog or cat camp.

There are many books/resources that will go into great technical detail about watercolor painting, but this book keeps to fairly simple and accessible techniques (e.g., she tells us to paint "blobs" that we'll eventually turn into cats) while walking you through Terry's creative process, one that can followed by any of us!

This book is great for cat lovers, animal lovers, aspiring artists, seasoned artists, and/or people who are curious to try something new.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Leaping Hare Press for the ebook - I've been inspired to paint some of my own cat-shaped blobs :)

An adorable guide to the many ways of painting cats with watercolors. From blobs, to wet on wet and wet on dry techniques.

I enjoyed this painting book quite a bit. The steps to painting fun, whimsical cats were easy to follow and understand. I really like Terry Runyan's artwork, and this book did not disappoint.

Painting Cats: Curious, mindful & free-spirited watercolors is a step by step guide on watercolour painting using cats as the subject. It is full of fun and perfect for beginners, cat lovers and children. A variety of techniques are covered and the projects are easy to follow and clearly laid out. Very well illustrated providing lots of ideas for further creativity.

This book is a pure joy. It is fun, quirky and so different. It’s suitable for adults and kids since the author teaches in free flowing form of painting. I absolutely enjoyed painting and following along. It just brings a smile to my face every time I follow along and paint or even when just going through it. Highly recommend to have this in your collection.

As a cat-lover, I love this book. Terry Runyan makes painting cats seem so easy. Will definitely get this one when it is out.

A detailed “How- To” book on watercolors using cats as the focus. I like how they related the cats to the watercolor in the beginning of the book. The steps were also easy to follow. A good book for beginners and advance watercolor-ers alike! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC to review.