Explore the hilariously clever comics by Patrick Cheng, the artist behind “Cat Trigger.” Patrick is a professional artist, animator, and motion designer who’s been working largely in tech and advertising for almost 20 years. On the side, he has been making comics to experiment with different styles and topics.
Previously, Patrick noted that for him, comics serve as a binding element for both his personal and professional work, as each one represents a miniature project the artist has to brainstorm, write, draw, and finalize each time. Patrick’s comics are usually short, filled with sharp humor and unexpected twists that also tend to end in absurdity. So, let’s hop into the post and read our most recent interview with the artist below.
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First of all, we asked Patrick to describe the essence or theme behind his cartoons.
The artist shared: “I’ll be honest and say that in terms of a ‘theme’ or ‘essence’ of what makes a CatTrigger comic, it is largely to avoid one. Unlike most other comics in this genre who stick by a topic, a set of characters, or a style… I use my comics as a springboard to experiment with different styles and topics.
The comics range all over the place: social commentary, pop culture, personal relationships, fantasy logic, etc. And they are a springboard for artistic experimentation, which is the reason why you would see talking bunnies in one comic, and realistic humans in another.
Sometimes my comics will cover something serious, like healthcare insurance, or something irrelevant like meme culture.
The reason I do it this way is because I get bored easily and am afraid that I’ll get tired of drawing the same character, topic, or style.”
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We were wondering what a typical day is like for Patrick when he’s working on a new comic, to which the artist replied: “Once I have a basic written outline down, I tend to block out my comic in simple shapes, and then experiment with different color palettes and styles for looks. Once I have those things done, the rest is just drawing and filling out stuff. It’s fun!”
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As creativity goes, bad ideas tend to come up as well. Patrick shared whether he has had to scrap a comic idea after starting it.
“Plenty. Oftentimes it’s because of real-world events.
A while back, I sketched out a comic, for instance, that was a James Bond parody where the bad guys kidnapped the Queen of England.
A day later, the Queen kicked the bucket, and the comic just wouldn’t have had the same funny look with King Charles. (Sorry Charles, your brand is too new),” explained Patrick.
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We were curious to learn about Patrick’s biggest influences on his art and storytelling style. The artist wrote: “I was a big fan of Rodney Greenblatt when I was a kid, a hit children’s artist who is best known for Parappa the Rapper. It wasn’t really an influence on style per se that I fell in love with, but the way he interpreted things, which helped vary my perspective in art.”
He also shared about a time when a reader’s response made him feel good about his work.
“I love it when people make fan works of any of my artwork. It happens a lot more in the video games I make, but occasionally I’ll see a fanart, or edit or something for one of my comics and it melts my heart.”
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Lastly, Patrick added:
“I’ve been working on video games along with my comic stuff. You can check out my latest game on Steam called ‘Storm the Swan.’ It’s free.
You can also check out my biggest project yet, ‘Date Time,’ which has a demo available now.
You can also follow me on Bluesky. This is where you’ll see me post my newest comics (even before Instagram) as well as other cool stuff I do.”
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