Final Project

These two digital paintings of ferocious felines were made with the stylist tool- a convenient piece of technology that allows people to draw more freely on Adobe Photoshop. Rather than using a mouse, I bascically painted shapes and colors upon the digital files.

A photo-journalism book that I own called "World of Nature" was the original source of these images.

Since I've always been more of a drawer/doodler, I felt more in my element throughout this project. If there was any initial subject that I was trying to emulate and find inspiration from, it would be from National Geographic, which is my all-time dream job.

By far, designing the spot-like patterns consumed the most time. While I was creating these images, it was always interesting to hide all the layers and merely look at the spots. The manner in which the black patterns created the simple form and silhouettes of these animals is extremely beautiful in my opinion.

It took about a week to get familiar with the stylist, but now I feel like I've mastered the art of tracing and incorporating 3-dimensional qualities to my work. Rendering filters such as the 2 AM Spot Light definitely contributed towards creating the ideal ambiance in regards to spacial depth and natural surroundings. Personal accomplishment.

Another aspect that I feel confident about are the backgrounds. The "jungle" vibe seems to be conveyed accuratly with the transparency of the leaves in the first images and the tall grasses in the second image.

In the first image, I feel as though this creature is searching for their prey while swiftly climbing up a tree within a jungle canopy. In the second image, I feel as though this creature is radiating confidence while it relaxs on the humid grass plains in Africa, all most as if it's smiling at the face of any danger.

Something that I experimented on the most were the trees. Capturing the right kind of texture was a process of elimination, ranging from hues and saturations, filters, levels, etc.

This two-piece series (which proved to be very time consuming and detail-orientated) is dedicated to my Siamese cat Thumper, who I miss very much. : ) Thumper has always been ambiguous when it comes to similar expressions from other animals, so I hope he is proud.