iterative illustrations Project

The purpose of this project was to create different images by looking at an object or animal. It was up to us to choose what we wanted to play around with. I choose a Bengal Cat because I found interesting the stripe patterns that they have in their fur. The different ways in which I had to make a Bengal cat were continuous line, collage, typographic collage, geometric, and two master artists. What I mean by “master artist” is choosing an artist and using their style of art to make the Bengal cat. Roy Lichtenstein and R. Crumb were the artists that I ended up doing some research about because their art style is amazing. With this project, we were able to experiment with a variety of media and different ways to make the same object/animal. There are different ways in which an animal can be shown to the world and this project encouraged us to go beyond our comfort zone.

In process collage cat

Practicing continuous line with classmates

Practicing continuous line with classmates

What I learned about the Bengal cat through this process is that they like to really be curious and make themselves comfortable whenever they can. For example, the pictures I was using as a reference showed the Bengal cats in different positions that at times, made it difficult to get the proportions right when cutting the paper. I also know that this type of cat is a breed created from the Asian Leopard cat which would explain their interesting spots (according to ASPCA Pet Health Insurance).

The most challenging medium for me was Photoshop. I have never really learned how to use Photoshop because there are so many different buttons that confuse me. I know that with Photoshop, amazing masterpieces can be done but I just would have to learn what all the buttons do. Regarding hands-on media, I would say my hardest one was the collage. It was difficult for me to come up with something that would look good.

What I learned from Photoshop that I will use moving forward would be playing with the contrast curve. I was surprised by how easy it was to “erase” the paper outline and at the same time make the object darker. I really enjoyed playing with that curve. I like to also play around with the contrast option on my phone but once I was taught the contrast curve in Photoshop it was so much better.

To the right is the in process Bengal cat poster. I did not really like how the set up was looking so I played around with the pictures some more for the final poster.

If I were to continue working with this object for a year, I would represent it by making the object out of 3D objects and taking a picture so I could edit it on Photoshop. For example, using water bottles for the cats legs and a milk gallon for the cat’s body, and for the head I could use an orange. For the whiskers I could use straws as for the tail a piece of lettuce would work. I just think it would look both funny and interesting.

To the right, is my final Bengal cat poster. Compared to the in process one, I like the set up of this one much better. I included some light lines around some of my drawings where I thought would look good. I added a cartoonist background to the cat that is sitting in the right. I thought it was a great addition to it.