Very new. Looking for some C+C

[pixelalex]

The main weakness of your cat is as others have already said the shape(also I know you said you wanted to draw a cartoon cat, but what I have to say will still be relevant even if applied to a cartoon):

As you can see, it is rather difficult to see, just by looking at your silhouette, what exactly it is. It is obviously a mammalian quatroped of some kind, but it is unclear what species it is. This is because as Cyangmou rightly points out, the proportions are off. The ears in relation to the head, the head in relation to the body, the tail's shape and the oddly shaped hind quarters are key issues that make the shape ambiguous. He had no intent to insult you, and clearly was putting a lot of effort into trying to explain his points to you. He also wouldn't waste time trying to teach you something if he thought you incapable of progressing. Try not to take things personally, while a natural thing for people to do, it can be of no benefit to either you or the people dedicating time to help you. Not saying you should be a robot, no one is, but that you should learn to restrain your emotions long enough to analyze the validity of the arguments you are presented with.

In my silhouette, you can see clearly that what you are observing is indeed a cat. Why do you suppose that is? There is literally no shading applied to the specimen, so how can you possibly tell what it is, much less what species it is? All the shading skill in the world can't make the shape of the first more recognizable.

It should be clear that the shape communicates the most information about the subject, before you can master shading you have to understand shape. After that it is important to grasp 3 dimensional form and how light affects said form and lastly you can worry about shading :


Finally, you should be aware that many members of this forum are not native English speakers, myself included, and it is worth bearing in mind that meaning is often lost in translation as it were.
Don't give up on your cat, pour your passion into learning to make him look great 

Good luck 

Nicely done on the cat!  I really like your having put them in silhouette form.  It really shows how important the shape is.  This may be a simple thing for a lot of people, especially those seasoned in this, but, for some of us, it's obviously been missed.

Thank you very much for your concisely stated advice!  I'm loving all of the information that I'm getting on this forum!

[coffee]

Just wanted to drop by one last time and say that your edit is wonderful wolfenoctis

I agree on what you said. Although I know, myself being a very emotional person. It took me a long time to get used to being just objective with my art when I wanted to. Being a good teacher is not just about knowing how to teach and knowing all the facts, it is remembering how you were taught yourself and it is to *know* that all people are not tought the same way.

I bumped in here because I saw a bad tendency. You need both sides of the coin afterall and I don't want this forum(personally) to scare away more people.

again, great edit!

[HarveyDentMustDie]

@ coffee That apple in 2 min, you must be kidding me. Great skill.

@ wolfenoctis Amazing edit. So much details, you can almost guess type of the cat. I post this comment, just to give compliments.