✦ Artist’s Note

 “Cat Like Me was inspired by Japanese folklore. I’ve always loved Yōkai stories that treat cats as beings who stand with one foot in our world and one in the unseen. Tales of the Bakeneko and Nekomata have always fascinated me - cats who live long enough to awaken into magic, who walk upright, speak, shapeshift, or grow a second tail as their power deepens. There’s a beautiful logic in it somehow… cats already feel like creatures who notice things that we don’t.

Like many people, my first gateway into Japanese folklore was through anime and Studio Ghibli films, where nature spirits, shapeshifters and strange old legends appear effortlessly alongside everyday life. Those stories resonate with the way I feel about animals, nature, and even everyday objects - as if everything carries a personality, an energy, or a spirit of its own. These encounters evoke feelings or moments that connect you to another time or place.

This artwork began as a traditional pencil drawing on heavy watercolour paper. I love the deep textured surface and the presence it gives the finished drawings. I use a mechanical pencil to keep the marks consistent and sharp and an electric eraser for refining crisp, precise details. For the final illustration, I layered hue-shifted versions of the original scan digitally, letting the graphite linework remain visible while colouring beneath it. This keeps the energy of the drawing intact the grain of the paper, the details of the line-work, while giving me the freedom to bring in smooth skin tones and those bright, layered colours I love. I’ve been enjoying speckled texture brush packs lately, something that crosses over from my spray-paint mural work into the digital realm.

Her hair was one of my favourite parts to draw big, bouncy, its giving Bratz-doll drama, with little white cats peeking out mischievously. I wanted her to feel playful, strange and beautiful all at once, like a being who hasn’t yet decided whether to appear human or feline.

I’ve always believed cats have a sense beyond ours, as if they see between the seams of reality. Cat Like Me is my small nod to that idea. I hope she brings a little cat-magic into your world too.”

Size mm cm inches
A3 297 x 420 mm 29.7 x 42 cm 11.7 x 16.5 inches
A4 210 x 297 mm 21 x 29.7 cm 8.3 x 11.7 inches
A5 148.5 x 210 mm 14.85 x 21 cm 5.8 x 8.3 inches