I love cats, and if you’re a cat lover like me, then chances are that you love art that’s centered around cats, too. I came across Leandro Francisca’s work while cruising Instagram, and immediately I was smitten by his eye-catching style and beautiful details. I reached out hoping to share this purrfect artwork with other cat lovers out there, and thankfully for me, he agreed. So, everyone enjoy learning about this impressive talent that makes cats simply come to life.
How long have you been making cat art?
I started illustrating cats recently, about 1 year ago. But this story started earlier, more precisely in 2019, when we adopted Pudim (the pet kitten at home) and living with him, I started to notice feline habits and aroused interest and inspiration in illustrating cats. My taste for art has been going on for many years, since I was a child, I have loved to draw, and over the years, I have improved myself with various techniques, and today I am a full-time illustrator, illustrating children’s books for authors and publishers from around the world.
Where do you get your inspiration from when you’re creating cats?
My inspiration comes from good family moments with our cat, funny everyday situations that lead me to realize that cats are mystical beings with their peculiar feline behavior, this is something I try to express in some of my illustrations, creating an imaginary world full of mystery and magic for cat lovers like me to enjoy.
Can you please share with me some details your book, Atento Como um Gato?
The book “Atento Como um Gato” by author Raquel Dias, which I had the pleasure of illustrating, teaches through feline habits how we can practice mindfulness, focusing on the here and now. It was a challenge to illustrate the cats in the book, as I had to study more about this meditation technique to convey in the illustrations the expression of fullness of one who meditates on the cats’ faces, which was one of the authors’ requirements. For this purpose, I looked for references in Buddhist figures and managed to insert in the illustrations this sensitivity and fullness of meditation techniques.
I love your cat posters! Can you share with me some details about them?
The posters started unpretentiously, just as authorial illustrations that I did to relax in my spare time. However, due to the success that these illustrations achieved when I posted them on Instagram, I started to receive purchase orders from different parts of the world and this motivated me to sell the posters. I believe that the success of cat posters comes a lot from the setting of the illustrations, where I create a world of magical cats, with mysterious lights, managing to convey all the mysticism that cats represent in our lives, as beings that live with us, but don’t bend over backwards. our wills and behave like true gods in our house.
What is something special you’d like for others to know about the art you create?
Something I would like others to know about my art is that they are made from a great interest in cats to others, so I really enjoy receiving stories and photos from my followers who share experiences with their cats; it strongly inspires me to keep going with my work.
I’d like to give a special “thank you” to Leandro for allowing me to share his story and work with all of the Cattitude Daily readers. For more of his amazing art, be sure to check out @leandrofca on Instagram.
