There Is Beauty In The ‘imPURRfect’ — Interviewing Sidney Davidson

Welcome to the table,

As someone who has worked in the social media space for over a decade, there are creators who rise and fall, and trends that ebb and flow like the season or the tides. What does not change, it seems, are para-social relationships, clickbait, and large companies trying to make the most out of how they try and leverage those who work in the space. What is even more present is the drain that the constant drive to create and adapt can put on those who work in the space and come to rely on it as their source of income and security.

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Sidney Davidson, who you may know as Fat Laila’s dad, and talk about his current comic Kickstarter imPURRfect (found at this link) and the creative drive behind it, the social commentary that serves as a through line, and that little cat Bruno who serves as the emotional heart and the observational perspective of this creative endeavor.

Anton: Hello, Sidney! Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about imPURRfect. Before we dive too deep into this project can you share a little more about yourself for our readers who may not be aware of all you do?

Sidney: Hey Anton! I’m Sidney—I’m married, I have three cats, and a son. I studied sequential art and illustration, and after finally developing the drawing chops, I decided to do a Kickstarter for my book, imPURRfect. Even after I became a more skilled artist, I still struggled with insecurity. Fortunately, I’ve made it a point in my life to have a supportive group of friends and family, and also get a really solid editor!

Anton: With this new project, imPURRfect, you serve as the author and illustrator, this book has some heavy tones speaking to the complexities of  relationships with downtime, social media, and joy. Where did you draw inspiration to take a story in this direction?

Sidney: I don’t necessarily take issue with social media so much as I do much of the messaging about the benefits of “the grind” and being totally possessed by blind ambition. Before social media, I absorbed all of this thinking. Especially the way it masquerades servile masochism as tough, macho and independent. I feel like if you’re American, this thinking is in the air and has been since before I was born.

I looked at these ideals we are supposed to embody to bring our ambition to life, and I could never figure out why they didn’t work for me. After lots of confusion and professional help, I realized embodying these ideals was at direct odds with my emotional needs. That contradiction was paralyzing and it made me joyless, angry, and dissociated in ways that were difficult to understand.

I slowly learned my needs over time, and I realized that I felt much more loving and competent when I figured out how to meet them. The ambition and resilience I previously lacked access to finally became accessible. But that didn’t become accessible with fantasies of success or ambition, it came from a frank acknowledgement of my limitations and my needs. Strangely, those two things are what American success myths often underemphasize or outright antagonize. I wanted to make a book about this exact contradiction, and the paralysis it causes.

Anton: The visuals in imPURRfect are dense and colorful feeling like something that would work alongside comics like Transmet while still maintaining the color and whimsy of an Adult Swim cartoon. How did you land on this particular style?

Sidney: Thank you for the Transmet comparison. I’m flattered! I deal with some heavy stuff, and if I drew it in my normal “gritty” art style, it could alienate people. I wanted to be as charming as I could be, and I realized that I could draw it with a young adult kind of feel with a tad of grit that readers would find this endearing.

So, I wanted to have a young adult feel to the book, and I felt like that Franco-Belgian style of cartooning my figures would achieve that. I also have been obsessed with Geof Darrow for a long time– and I can feel that same Franco Belgian influence in his work. That being said, there are no spot blacks, so I spent a lot of time not merely “coloring” the book, but completing the images WITH color. My illustration background was key to this.

Anton: Bruno, the focus of this work, is a small wrinkly cat with a strange little antini on his head. Is there a deeper symbolism to that visual choice or was it just a cool design move on your part?

Sidney: So it’s actually a switch. Eventually it gets flipped. I think that the idea of having a switch that gravely affects a person’s being. Anybody can flip it at any time, and it just reinforces that sense of vulnerability. It represents a lack of control for how the outer world affects somebody’s inner world.

Anton: Are you a frequent comic reader? If so, what titles or creators do you gravitate
towards?

Sidney: I have a pretty full schedule, so I really have to make time to read books. That being said, I just finished Barry Windsor-Smith’s Monster. I just started reading Daniel Clowe’s Monica. I loved Transmet when I was a teenager. I fell in love with comics reading The Maxx. I am a rock solid Geof Darrow fan though. I read whatever he puts out. I’ll read anything where Frank Quitely is the storyteller. My consumption is definitely geared more towards creators than it is genres.

Anton: imPURRfect feels like a really solid start-to-finish story that works as a commentary for a lot of heavy and emotionally charged themes. Do you think there will be more stories you will be telling through comics in the future that tread this same ground?

Sidney: These themes and commentaries are so much bigger than is immediately apparent. They extend from our personal lives to our collective lives, and I intend on making stories that convey this. I have a lot to say about emotional contradictions, the inadequate myths we cling to to “reconcile them,” and the strange culture we have built to keep ourselves comfortable at the expense of solving problems.

Anton: If you were going to describe this story in two sentences to someone who knew nothing about it, how would you convince them to give it a look?

Sidney: I would lead with the visuals. That being said, I would say that it blends the charm of Winnie The Pooh with the wit of Rick and Morty to convey powerful themes that any reader can enjoy.

Anton: Thank you so much for taking the time to sit with me, Sidney. Before we wrap up can you please let our readers know the best place to follow you and your work?

Sidney: Readers should check out my Instagram @sidney_davidson_illustration. You can follow Fat Laila, my famous cat, on Facebook. I also have a Facebook page called Sid’s Impurrfect Art Page. Twitter/X: @Sdavidsonart.