Q: Why cats?

A: Have you met cats? They're the most amazing creatures. They're basically wild animals that live in our houses and they have all kinds of funny quirks and habits. Ever since I was a little kid I've loved cats. And I grew up in a family full of dog people. My dad used to train huskies for the Iditarod and we always had at least two house dogs. But, we also always had a cat, mostly because we lived on farms and used them for pest control. But to me, they were magical. I was seven when I got my own cat and they're the only pet I need or want. 

But as far as artwork goes, even if I wasn't cat-obsessed, they lend themselves to anthropomorphizing and parodies very well. Unlike dogs, they're relatively the same size and shape, making them easy to switch with humans. They're heads are also fairly round and self contained, like a human head. There are so many cat words to pun off of. I often joke I have a wide lexicon of cat words that I apply as necessary, and that's true. From the obvious (meow) to less obvious (gorge). Cats are also so relatable. Anyone who has known a cat knows their weird little ways so the jokes are instantly recognizable. And finally, what I call "The Duality of Cat." Basically, they have depth of character. Unlike dogs who have one real personality trait (absolute love for their people), cats can be sweet and snuggly one minute and the devil incarnate the next. I can't envision casting a dog as a villain (like the Terminator) or an antihero (like Tony Montana) since they're just too good. Dogs only give good guy vibes. But all cats are antiheroes at heart. But they're also adorable and silly so they work for heroes too.

Q: How do you choose what movies and music albums to catify? 

First, the piece in question has to meet at least one of these these criteria:

1) I have to like the work in question

2) I need to find the potential pun funny enough

Most of the things I do are for movies and music I love. You can get a real sense of my tastes lol. But sometimes, it's for something I don't particularly like but I think the pun is hilarious. For example, I am not a fan of zombie movies, absolutely hate the entire concept. I find it deeply unpleasant and disturbing. But when I thought of Night of the Living Unfed I just fell in love with the concept immediately and now it's basically my favorite design. 

Additional Criteria:

3) For movies, it needs to have been released before the year 2000. It's not that I don't like any movies that have come out since the turn of the century. It's that the posters are not as good. The style changed a lot and I don't care for it. Also I need to have a limit somewhere, both for myself and the expectations of my customers.

4) They have to have SOMETHING I can turn into a cat. As much as I love Bush's album Sixteen Stone, there's nothing in the artwork I can turn into a cat. I gotta have something vaguely human to work with. Like Days of Future Pawsed is pretty abstract but it was full of little people shapes and faces for me to turn into cats.

Secret Fifth Thing:

5) I can't be actively boycotting the original or the creator(s). I'm not saying I wholeheartedly approve of every actor, director, or musician featured in my artwork (the cat versions are better "people" anyway). But if someone involved is actively using their platform, voice, and wealth to do horrible things in the world, I'm just not going to participate, even with a silly cat parody. I'm not a political artist but I do have standards.

You may notice that nowhere on that list does it say something has to be popular. Ultimately, the only person whose opinion matters is me lol. I mean, I'm the one drawing it. And I'm not above drawing something obscure for my own enjoyment (see Swats in Play and Sleep Until Dark).

Q: How long does it take you to draw one of your designs?

A: I actually hate this question because it feels like anything less than sixty hours of active drawing is too fast for people. The truth is, I have always been a very quick artist. I can remember being a little kid and drawing with my best friend, who is also a great artist today. She would spend the entire drawing session on one drawing and I would have a stack of them. I don't have a lot of patience to work on the same piece for endless hours. So from an early age, I have trained myself to draw things very quickly. I'm decisive and I'm open to the piece of art taking me in a direction I wasn't originally planning. I don't sweat the process. So, when I say that depending on the piece it might take 4 hours to 12 hours (and people always react like I said five minutes) you have to remember that it's about 30 years of honing my speed and skill and then 4-12 hours of actual drawing.

Q: Do you come up with all the puns yourself?

Someone's gotta do it! I do indeed come up with the puns myself. It's a skill I have honed. I can catify most anything, given enough time.

Q: How long have you been doing this?

Well, it's kind of hard to define an exact time I started this. I was a watercolor artist when I first started selling art in my early twenties and I did paintings of cats in historic fashion. Then after a while I did cats versions of classic literature and fairytales. When I switched to digital illustrations I spent a few years doing a little of everything from cats in fancy dress to cat Vaudeville Magician posters. This is also when I designed my tarot deck. I did my first movie posters shortly after moving to New Mexico in 2022 but I didn't do anything with them until Christmas season 2024 when I launched Billy the Kitten Studios at the Railyard Artisan Market. So it's either been 15, 7, or 2 years, depending on how you look at it.

Q: Did you go to school for design?

A: I didn't even go to school lol. I have four years of formal education period. I was homeschooled as a kid and then went to an alternative high school. Luckily for me, I love to learn, so I've educated myself very thoroughly. I think I've taken maybe six art classes in my life, a few of which were photography classes and one was giant puppet making. So yeah, I'm mostly self taught. I was "trained" in graphic design in my early twenties when I worked at a screen printer and everything else I figured out on my own. 

Q: How many cats do you have?

A: I have one cat. People do not like this answer lol. They seem to think it disqualifies me from being a true cat person. As if my body of work doesn't prove my obsession level. I've had many cats over my life and have only lived without one for a few months (awful times). But I like to have one cat. I like to focus all my love and attention on that cat and spoil them rotten. When I've had multiple cats I always felt like I was neglecting one if I was paying attention to the other. So I'm happy with my one boy, Fin, a ginger tabby who inspired B is For B*tthole.

Q: Will you ever do dog movie posters?

I touched on this above but here's more. Here's the thing about dog movie posters and why I don't have them in my selection. Dogs have weird bodies. There, I said it. Most cats are shaped relatively the same. That makes it pretty easy to replace human actors with cats.

Consider the Great Dane vs the Dachshund. Both are dogs. Are they shaped the same? Decidedly no. If someone wants chihuahuas and labradors in the same poster, it's a real head-scratcher to make that happen. I have to pull out a lot of creative stops to swing it. And even having one type of dog, if it's the wrong kind of dog, things get confusing. Basset hounds have tiny legs. If I'm making Han Solo into a Basset Hound, do I give him tiny arms? If it's a Newfoundland, what are the repercussions of all that fur? Is it under the human actor's cloths? Wouldn't that really change the shape of the actor? You can see that it really complicates things.

Q: Which program do you use to draw on your iPad?

I use Adobe Fresco. Many people are shocked I don't use Procreate. But if you know anything about digital illustration, you might notice that my artwork is not pixel art, it's vector. I build everything in solid blocks of color. There isn't any melding or gradients or blending. This is partially because I first learned graphic design working at a t-shirt shop and using Illustrator. But also, one of my early influences was Japanese block prints. Ukiyo-e may have more gradients and blending than my artwork does, but it's much more blocks of color than, say, painting.