About
The Cat and the Fiddle is a webcomic which first came into conceptual existence on cold English benches in the town of Lewes, East Sussex, sometime in the winter of 2007.
Kieran then drew some little pencil drawings that were more in the spirit of Glenn Baxter.
The actual comic did not materialise until after Jessica finished her time in Japan and her illustration job for our friend, Mr. Luke Temple, who writes books for children and makes them laugh and cry... Which meant both Kieran and Jessica, who had been 17 and 18 in 2007, were no longer legitimatly teenaged, although in their hearts they will always remain children.
When the comic is not the thing being produced, Kieran is constantly making music, and Jessica joins in with our wonderful friend, Danny Dourado 'The Hat' to form the YouTube VideoSong band 'CatHatFiddle' or, 'The Cat, The Hat and The Fiddle' - a name that has its origins in the name of this comic, even if it appears to have come before.
Needless to say, Kieran's original little comics turned out to be nothing like the end product, but may appear as a bonus feature sometime in the future if any interest is shown.
The Authors
Jessica
Jessica is the person who draws this comic. She is half Japanese and half English.In her head she is a freelance illustrator, but she's actually a student most of the time.
She studies Shakespeare, because Shakespeare is sublime, and she reads Shakespeare philosophically, because since she started to read Philosophy aged 16, she hasn't been able to get away from it.
Jessica also makes noises on the violin and creates music with CatHatFiddle, a YouTube band formed around friends and friends who are housemates.
Kieran
Kieran does not draw this comic. He just occasionally adds jokes.At most hours of the day he can be found playing the violin, and generally being a musician.
Kieran is therefore the chief musical brainpower behind CatHatFiddle, and without him nobody would know what to do.
He is also a musician in this comic, and continues to be a consistent sort of person.
FAQ
- Is this a manga, or a comic?
- Where does the title come from?
- Do you think of the characters as yourselves?
- What's the process for an average page and how long does it take?
- Will there be a mysterious figure who always appears wearing different hats?
- What are the characters' birthdays?
- For the characters birthdays, do you pick days at random, or link them to a key event relevant to the character?
Q: Is this a manga, or a comic?
A: Due to my Japanese background, I read more manga, so this probably influenced more by manga. But If I wanted to draw in the manga style, I can, and would have, so I like to think of it as an amalgamation of both my cultures.
Q: Where does the title come from?
A: The title is a reference to the Nursery Rhyme 'Hey Diddle Diddle':
Hey diddle diddle,It happened to really fit the two characters that became the protagonists of this comic ^_^.
The Cat and the fiddle,
The Cow jumped over the moon,
The little Dog laughed
To see such craft,
And the Dish ran away with the Spoon
Q: Do you think of the characters as yourselves?
A: No. The initial character design was based on the real-life Kieran and Jessica, and the names (perhaps unfortunately) were kept, but the protagonists of this comic are a totally separate entity to the Kieran and Jessica who are behind it.
Q: What's the process for an average page and how long does it take?
A: I'll do something properly interesting to answer this question. Coming soon!
Q: Will there be a mysterious figure who always appears wearing different hats?
A: There may well be ;) There is already a shady group of people who occasionally appear in crowd scenes always wearing the same hat.
Q: What are the characters' birthdays?
A: This information has been added to the characters section of this website ^_^
Q: For the characters birthdays, do you pick days at random, or link them to a key event relevant to the character?
A: For the characters that are based on people I know, the birthdays are actually their real birthdays... For others, they may or may not be relevant to the character. For example, Benedict Arlowe's birthday is the day Shakespeare was Christened.
Ask me whatever you like by e-mail at catandfiddlecomic at gmail.com, on Facebook, or using Twitter. I like to talk to people.