Japanese Artist Crafts Incredibly Realistic Cats Out of Felted Wool

The traditional needle felting technique is becoming more and more popular among crafters, with many textile artists using wool’s fuzzy fibers to create charming sculpted creations. One creative to master this craft is Japanese artist Wakuneco, who creates hyper-realistic hand-felted cat faces.

Each incredible three-dimensional, felted feline is made by painstakingly poking layers of wool with a needle until the fibers gradually compact and form into solid shapes. Wakuneco’s palm-sized pieces feature realistic fur, lifelike glass eyes, and true to life whiskers. From striped tabbies to ginger toms, Wakuneco uses photographs of real cats as a reference, adding and trimming each unique marking as she goes. Once complete, she mounts each textile kitty inside wooden frames, resulting in adorable works of art that look like they could come to life at any second!

Wakuneco sells her work via Yahoo! Auctions and currently only ships to Japan. However, you can see more of the artist’s work on Instagram. And if you’ve been inspired to try out needle felting yourself, you can check out our article on how to craft your own adorably fuzzy creations.

Needle felting Japanese artist Wakuneco creates incredibly realistic felted cat faces.

They are made by painstakingly poking layers of wool with a needle until the fibers gradually compact and form into solid shapes.

Each palm-sized piece features realistic fur, lifelike glass eyes, and true to life whiskers.

They're based on real-life cat portraits.

Check out the artist's process below.

Wakuneco: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
h/t: [Laughing Squid]

All images via Wakuneco.

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Emma Taggart

Emma Taggart is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is an artist now based in Berlin. After graduating with a BA in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013, Emma decided to combine her love of art with her passion for writing. Emma has contributed to various art and culture publications, with an aim to promote and share the work of inspiring modern creatives. While she writes every day, she’s also devoted to her own creative outlet—Emma hand-draws illustrations and is currently learning 2D animation.
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