A few years ago I hit a really bad slump in selling my art.

Craigslist had done me right for a while but all of the sudden I realized my cat paintings and yarn sculptures were really piling up. My garage was full and I couldn’t open the door to the guest room all the way anymore. I knew I had to do something. But I didn’t know what.

Then one day I saw something on the internet that changed my life. I mean everything didn’t change right that exact moment but pretty soon after that I felt like I was on the right track. Like, within a few days or weeks. Not more than a couple months. Anyway it was pretty fast and I still remember that moment like it was burned into my mind. What I saw was this:

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What is the kitty cat trying to say? I’d go to bed at night and imagine all kinds of things the cat might be talking about, like how it’s too hot in the house, or she wants her owner to turn it down when he’s cranking Neil Diamond, or she wishes the chihuahua next door would just die. Or maybe deeper stuff. Is it possible this cat senses global warming and is trying to warn us? Is she telling us to be more grateful every day? Is she trying to keep her owner away from his Internet porn addiction? I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

You’ll need a side job for at least a few years.

Then one day another funny thing happened. Not funny ha ha but you know, like, whoa that was weird. I was having dinner at my sister’s house and her 7-year-old was playing with an iPhone and making all kinds of cool and colorful animated designs with her finger.

“What the heck is that?” I asked her and she explained it was some sort of game where you could make digital art. “Digital art?” I said. “What the heck is that?” She ignored me and kept fingering the iPhone so when I went home I looked it up, and well, here I am 3 years later and I’m a Digital Cat Artist. It wasn’t easy, I won’t lie to you. But I know you can do it, especially if you love cats and want to make art that don’t take up any space in your house.

So I read the Contributor Guidelines for Pyragraph and it says they want me to share practical tips about my art, so here goes:

• You’ll need a computer.
• It’s best if you’re not allergic to cats. But suffering for your art can sometimes be a plus, especially if you have really puffy eyes during an interview. Then the world will know you really mean business, and maybe even you’re a tortured genius.
• You’ll need a side job for at least a few years.

Now I’m running over the word count in the Pyragraph guidelines so let me wrap up. For my next post I will share my Digital Cat Artist Statement and share some of my ups and downs in finding a paying market for my work.

Photo courtesy of Felix Ball.

Editors note: This post is sponsored by Humbird and is run as submitted by the author, per agreement with the author. The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Pyragraph, its staff, or its sponsors/advertisers.