I’ve always loved two things: drawing and cats. A couple of years ago, while I should have focused more on my Master’s degree than silly cat drawings, I decided to put these two loves of mine together and began the process of creating a drawing style that showcases not only cats but other animals, too.
“Hello, I’m a Cat,” is a direct result of a two-year-long process of refining my drawings. I’m still learning how to color in the cats– how to even draw the cats, how to texture them, and make them pop in a way that I’d like. It evolves every day, but I’m so happy to see the progress I’m making little by little.
My process first begins with paper and ink. I love drawing on paper. A lot of my drawings start off as doodles that I then trace over on a new sheet of paper with a lightbox. “Hello, I’m a Cat” started this way. I drew it while on a video chat with my boyfriend with a brush pen. Then I took a picture of it, messed with the levels in the editor so that the lineart was black and the background was white, and then I put it into Autodesk Sketchbook on my Samsung Tablet. I colored it with a basic color palette available on Autobook Sketchbook, which has become my go-to palette.
I love flat colors. I take a lot of my inspiration from old cel animation techniques used in old Disney animation and Studio Ghibli. I also love brands like Sanrio. The styles of these brands have helped me develop both my coloring and character style.
I’m really happy with how my technique is turning out. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s been exciting for me to see my development over time as I make more art and post them as prints and stickers on my shop. “Hello, I’m a Cat,” as well as my other art, is available in my shop.
