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Artist Illustrates Relatable Moments From Life With A Cat, And Many Cat Owners Can Relate (35 New Pics)
Interview With Artist
Any cat owners out there? Today, we're excited to share more of Nick Filippou's work. This artist is known for his relatable comics that capture the everyday reality of living with a cat. While the author's cat Minnie is undeniably his biggest muse, some of his new strips also feature additional characters - a dog and even a baby! As you can imagine, having this wonderful trio around must be truly inspiring and, at times, quite challenging.
In our previous interview, the artist told us about his comic series: “Art is expression. Most of my comics are inspired by real events. These comics are an outlet of what I’m feeling and it’s helped me with all the highs and lows of real life."
Scroll down to see the most recent works by Nick, and if you missed out on previous Bored Panda posts featuring more comics from this artist, you can find them here, here, or here.
More info: iizcat.com | Instagram | Facebook
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We reached out to Nick Filippou again to ask a couple of questions regarding his recent work. First, we wanted to know what, in his opinion, are the most rewarding aspects of being a comic artist. We found out that: “One of the most rewarding aspects of being a comic artist are the messages and comments from fans. I love seeing how my comics made people laugh or how they sparked memories of how their cat did the exact same thing in my comic. Cat people are my people, lol. The process of creating a new comic is also rewarding in itself. It starts with an idea that forms in your head and you get to play and experiment with it and bring it to life.”
We were also wondering how Filippou stays motivated and continues creating on a regular basis. The artist told us: “Drawing comics is my creative outlet and is the deeper motivation that keeps me going. Not every comic or creation will be ‘successful’. You have to create comics for you. It’s a nice bonus if fans enjoy it too.”
Very common with kittens. However, my 9 year old void, Jack, will still get that crazed look on his face and go after my feet sometimes. Guess he’s a perpetual kitten. A 9 year old, 15 lb kitten.
Asked how his style has evolved over time and what factors influenced these changes, Nick explained: “My style has evolved a lot over time and that’s all part of the process. My first comic was on a whiteboard in the kitchen of my apartment that made my girlfriend (now wife) laugh. She encouraged me to share the comics on social media and I started with just a pencil and paper. They were awful! That led to different pencils, pens, and papers as I tried to find my style. I ultimately use Procreate now on the iPad and I look back at some of my older comics, even just a year ago, and they look really different to me. It reminds me of one of my favorite comics by Sarah Andersen. In the comic, a fan asks how she draws so well, and Sarah replies ‘practice’. The fan ignores Sarah and thinks it's just natural talent. Sarah again replies ‘practice’. The fan just chalks it up to something totally out of anyone’s control, to which Sarah Andersen says again... ‘practice’.
‘Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something’ – Jake The Dog.”
We were curious if Filippou could describe the most challenging part of creating a comic and how he usually manages to overcome obstacles or difficulties during the creative process. Filippou shared with us: “One of the most challenging parts of creating a comic that not many people know is that I’m colorblind. I have some of my colors saved and labeled in Procreate when possible (like the color of Minnie), but I still need to run things by my wife to make sure ‘Hey, does this look okay?’. Even simple things like the color of a wall can be challenging for me and I’ll have to ask for help.”
Nick continued: “Another major challenge that every artist encounters frequently is that ideas don’t always come so easily. Sometimes you have blocks. Another favorite comic of mine is by The Oatmeal called 'Creativity is like breathing'. He discusses that when you create, it's like exhaling. But… you can’t exhale forever. Eventually, you’ll need to breathe in. So you can't force it and keep exhaling, you need to take a step back, breathe in, and feed your mind in other ways. Inspiration will always come.”
My little blind cat must sit in my lap even if it's just a 10 second pee. "I'll never p00p alone."
Lastly, we asked how the artist balances the creative aspects of his work with the business side of things, such as marketing and promotion. We found out that: “It is a balancing act and an ever-changing learning experience for both the creative and business side of things. Think of how the social media landscape has changed over the years. I posted mainly on Facebook when I first started, then started posting more on Instagram, then began posting videos on YouTube, then TikTok came… Now there’s Threads? Each has its own marketing nuances and business experiences which are constantly evolving! I try not to worry so much about the business side because, at the end of the day, I create comics because I enjoy it. That’s the most important piece. I don’t want to ever take away from that. The business side will work itself out.”
Especially if they found the trash themselves. Or stole it themselves.
Don’t be distracted by the floofy cuteness, there’s a cunning creature underneath. Cats can be incredibly smart and clever. Believe me, I’ve been a cat person since childhood.
One of our now dearly departed cats, Smudgy, started out as an outdoor cat, then we adopted her and she was an indoor/outdoor cat. She knew how to hunt. But when she became the neighborhood serial killer of small birds, animals, and reptiles—-I can’t tell you the grisly sights we would see when we got home from work, some were so bad we couldn’t tell what the animal used to be—-we brought her inside permanently. She did however continue to be a good, and of course ruthless, mouser.
True. When I was little, I used to pile all my dolls and stuffed animals on my bed, and suddenly we’d magically be on a sailing ship having adventures. Sometimes one would fall off the bed, so we’d have a toy overboard, and (as the Captain, of course) I would have to “dive in and swim out” to rescue them. Children’s imaginations are a wonderful thing sometimes.
Love the vein diagram 🤣 Edit: ugh autocorrect, I meant Venn
Making biscuits isn’t the only method of waking mama/daddy up. It will amaze you just how effective a very wet, very rough cat tongue “kissing” you, or the lightest touch of a very cold, very wet nose on your face can be to instantly wake you up from a dead sleep. On par with that very particular sound cats make right before puking up an enormous wet stinking hairball in the middle of your carpet—-usually placed in a spot where you’ll step on it with your bare feet in the dark.
I build the box forts for the kittens, hubby throws them out on recycling day. Tip: use a few different sizes of hole saw attachments to make lots of different amputation ports in the kitty castle.
I thought the covered up word was motherfuckered my plants,then I realised it says murdered.
Yes she does. My little fat one is a relentless food hound... She comes running from ANYWHERE if she hears the sound of whipped cream, used to "popcorn" herself when she was younger-- essentially a spontaneous backflip followed by a begging scream, and sticks her head right into the bag to steal a donut. 😂 (For the record, NO I don't let her eat that or any excess... she's obese and very VERY persistent to get to food in difficult places)
Note: this post originally had 45 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
These are all too true. Winnie seems like a clone of my cat nyx.
On the artist's Youtube channel you can see Minnie in real life, and it's awesome: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCVYN_6dCSN9yGImu4yGiXow
These are all too true. Winnie seems like a clone of my cat nyx.
On the artist's Youtube channel you can see Minnie in real life, and it's awesome: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCVYN_6dCSN9yGImu4yGiXow
