Sol Cat
Meow
Sol Cat is an artist and illustrator in Solana's growing world of digital fine art. Coming from an architecture background and having graduated from one of the top architecture universities in his country, he worked as an apprentice for an architect who was recently given the “national artist for architecture” award. Sol Cat is also a persona, a character, and a reflection of himself in the web3 community.
1. First things first. I'm going to go ahead and assume you like cats. Do you have any cats, and why did you decide to base your alias and art on cats?
I love cats! I love the “idgaf about you but also love and serve me” attitude. I have 2 cats, Jango and Leia. And Artoo before them. That’s basically how I got the alias. I find them very cute, but also kind of badass and mischievous. I think that resonates well as a character in this space.
2. Has your artwork always been cat-based or were you doing other things before?
Funny that you ask that. I draw a lot IRL, being from an artistic family. But the first piece I’ve ever done digitally was a 'Cets on Creck' fan art that I did last February to get whitelisted for the project. I started my NFT and crypto journey as a degen flipper, not necessarily as an artist. When I made that first Cets fanart, I discovered the possibility of turning this into a career. Afterward, I made a few more fan art pieces and I would always sketch cat-related stuff and post it on my timeline.
3. That's awesome! You mentioned the possibility of this becoming a career. What do you envision that looking like?
An architect’s dream is to have their designs built into reality (permanent buildings that exist in the world). I find it beautiful that through today’s technology, I can do something similar by creating things of my own design and vision, and have them be appreciated by the community as unique digital tokens that will forever be on the blockchain. I can imagine this little cat critter I created as a beloved character in Solana and eventually even beyond that. I plan to keep growing as an artist who makes good art that everyone can find meaning in. Earning while making dope stuff as a career is a bonus!
4. Where do you look for inspiration when working on a new piece?
A lot of my pieces are about things I’ve observed, whether about myself, the community, or the world. I try to make pieces about the things I want to say and the stories I want to tell. But a really big factor that inspires my work is the music that I listen to. I would put on my AirPods, close my eyes for a few minutes and just listen. Music makes me feel things and I try my best to visualize it through pen and paper (or in this case my iPad).
5. What kind of music do you listen to?
I’m into a really broad range of music. It really depends on what I’m feeling at the time. I listen to a bunch of indie, hip-hop, 70s soft rock, some 40s, and even classical when anxiety is kicking in. There’s no specific genre, just what I feel at the time.
6. As we're doing this interview, you have your "All You Nocturnals" piece up for live auction with just a couple of hours remaining. What's it like watching the timer tick down on one of your auctions as bids continue to come in?
When I dropped it, it went up as fast as 24 sol in the first 15 minutes so that was a pleasant surprise considering how bad the market is right now. Now that we have just a little over 2 hours left and bids from people I look up to are coming in, I just can’t help but feel proud but also thankful. Makes me feel excited to grow enough so I can sustainably buy art from other artists who are working just as hard as I do.
7. What's next for you? Is anything coming up soon?
Sol Cat as a 1/1 artist has only existed for a little over a month. I’m excited to continue building my brand, while creating art that is meaningful to me. I am now working to create more of my “Dead Cat Bounce” series and Nine Lives PFPs, creating a bigger body of work that will hopefully send waves across Solana and beyond. I have a few big things coming up that might be a little more long-term but those are TBA for now so stay tuned!
Make sure you follow Sol Cat on his artistic journey by following his socials below!
