About

Santa Fe-Based Artist

I’ve been drawing cats in humorous situations for most of my life, inspired by the many cats I’ve had. When I moved to the Southwest in 2022, I fell in love with the colors and landscapes of New Mexico and with the ginger cat I adopted, who loves to explore those landscapes with me in his trusty cat-pack. I found myself drawn to the old cowboy artwork and movie posters from the silent film era through the 1960s. One day I drew a cat version of Tom Mix’s The Fighting Streak (The Fighting Tabby) and the rest is history. 

How do I draw my feline movie poster?

After I select a film poster for catification, I uses Adobe Fresco to create my designs. I start by creating a sketch using blue lines. It's rough but helps get everything into place and set out the proportions. The sketch is based on the original poster, which I place in a background layer with the opacity turned down so I can see what I'm doing.

Step 0.5: The Idea

People are always making suggestions for movies to catify and I'm always coming up with ones myself. I keep a running list in my phone, some of which I have puns for already and some that I'm still trying to come up with the purrfect title for. In the example case above, it was a movie I had a vague idea of doing someday, but then I suddenly thought of the title 10 Things I Ate and Then Puked, and I had to do it right away. I never start a piece until I have my title. Next, I have to find the original movie poster from the initial release. It has to be something that works for catification. This means it needs to have people on it. And then I need to find the composition pleasing. Sometimes, I will also look up foreign release posters for a movie and use one of those, or combine elements from both.The Birdswas one such case (I think the one I worked from with the Italian release).

Step 0.5

The Idea

People are always making suggestions for movies to catify and I'm always coming up with ones myself. I keep a running list in my phone, some of which I have puns for already and some that I'm still trying to come up with the purrfect title for. In the example case above, it was a movie I had a vague idea of doing someday, but then I suddenly thought of the title 10 Things I Ate and Then Puked, and I had to do it right away. I never start a piece until I have my title. Next, I have to find the original movie poster from the initial release. It has to be something that works for catification. This means it needs to have people on it. And then I need to find the composition pleasing. Sometimes, I will also look up foreign release posters for a movie and use one of those, or combine elements from both. The Birds was one such case (I think the one I worked from with the Italian release).

Step One

Sketching

After I select a film poster for cat-ification, I uses Adobe Fresco to draw my designs. I start by creating a sketch using blue lines. It's rough but helps get everything into place and set out the proportions.

Step Two

Line Drawing

I lightens the blue sketch layer and, in another layer, draws out the lines for the finished design. This step is also when I add the details of the cat's face after finding models with the appropriate facial expressions. Sometimes, the line drawing follows the sketch exactly, and sometimes, it deviates a lot. 

Step Three

Puns Part One

This step may move around, depending on my mood, but usually after I finishes the lines, I move on to making the title. I've already come up with the title pun by now, but this is when I draw it out, using the same font and style as the original title. Thus, "10 Things I Hate About You" becomes "10 Things I Ate and Then Puked" or whatever the case might be.

Step Four

Color

I draw the colors in solid sections, making a mosaic of hues rather than a blended or gradient effect one might get from painting or other techniques. It's what gives my style it's unique look and why people often ask me if it's block print art. I am heavily influenced by traditional block print art, so I guess that makes sense. Bringing the design to life with vibrant colors is my favorite part.

Step Five

Cat Puns Part 2

Once the color is done and I have basically a finished piece, I finish with adding the credits (actors, directs, studios, etc.). Usually I use the original poster for the template but sometimes I don't like the way it looks or I can't find a high enough quality file to actually be able to read the text, and then I might need to use a different version of the poster for a template. Then, the fun part is making up the name puns. Unless the actor or director in question has already been catified in a previous design, I come up with all these puns on the fly as I write them out. Julia Stiles becomes Julia Riles, Heath Leger becomes Teeth Leger etc. Sometimes the puns are easy, like Teeth instead of Heath, and others take more time to think of, like Joseph Gortongue Levitt. Catification is a real skill.

Step Six

Finishing Touches

Finally, I check over the finished piece looking for any flaws or missing shadows. Once satisfied, I move the file to the computer and sizes it for printing.

Step Seven

Printing

I worked hard to find the best printers, going over many samples and proofs of my various offerings, ensuring that I have high-quality finished products with vibrant colors. Once they arrive, I double-check the quality, and, if excellent, they're ready for purchase. Get the design here.