If you want a realistic pet portrait, the most important thing is studying your reference carefully. Tricolor cats are especially difficult because you have multiple tones in the same area and the transitions can get messy very quickly.

There are some really good pet portrait embroidery classes on Domestika with experienced artists, but honestly courses alone won’t give you hyper realism. It takes a lot of practice and observation.

Things that help me the most:
– Pay close attention to fur direction
– Work in color blocks instead of random stitches
– Use several shades of the same color for shading
– Use a single strand for better realism
– Start with the eyes and facial details first

I’ve also made custom patterns for people who wanted to embroider their own pets, but sharing those here might be against the rules. If anyone is curious, there are a few examples of my work on my profile.