Shape and Color
Emily Heese - Project 2 - W/22
When looking for new inspiration for these projects, I find myself combing through my old photographs, both from my phone and DSLR camera. These pictures were collected while visiting a butterfly sanctuary with my sisters last spring.
I thought that butterflies would be a good subject for shape and color due to their wide array of wing shapes, wing patterns, and naturally perfect color harmonies. Some wing patterns look like optical illusions, while others are mirrored or repeating, but never exactly symmetrical. Butterfly wings are a good reminder that beauty lives and thrives in the imperfect.
I think I gravitate towards these images because of the good memories from the day they were taken. These were taken last Spring towards the end of a pretty tough Winter season, and it felt like this day was one of the first "good days" that I had experienced in a while. I guess I chose these images due to the sense of warmth, comfort, and familiarity that they bring.
Looking through these photos as a starting point, I was so happy to see so many rich colors and standout color schemes. Red is usually not a color I associate with butterflies due to their need to be hidden and protect themselves, but the red and blue splotches in the butterfly on the left were a welcomed surprise. From the way the wings are positioned, it seems as though the red can be hidden if needed, but I am curious as to the practical purpose of such a bold, eye-catching color.
The circles around the bottom of the butterfly's lower wing almost look like eyes, while the rest of the wings look like tree bark. I am thinking of using this layered-circle effect in this exploration, as well as mimicking the zebra/tree-bark pattern on the rest of the wings.
The blue butterfly (below and above) has little pattern on its wings to draw shapes from. However, I still love the smaller shapes coming from the the black border along the blue wings, including the contrasting red-orange triangles and dashes. Possible shapes to use in this exploration.
The butterfly on the right is so hypnotizing. It almost looks like the eyes of an owl.
I began by drawing the patterns and shapes of the butterflies wings on paper. I noticed that although the patterns are mirrored on both wings, they are not an perfect copy of one another.
Line Drawings
Beginning to Examine Shape
I had fun looking at the different shapes that are featured on butterflies wings! No two shapes are exactly symmetrical, even though they may be mirrored on the butterflies wings. I think that this little side step helped me to pick out all the shapes that I needed to include on my final butterfly compositions, as well as helped to introduce me to the different values and shadows placed on the wings.
I wanted to play with the organic shapes within the butterflies wings, making them with the pen tool in Illustrator. I will use these in a pattern or composition later for this assignment.
I didn't end up moving forward with developing ideas or compositions with the butterfly above. I felt that there were too many small pieces or parts, and that they may get lost in the images and textures in the final composition. I still think it would have been cool to incorporate the "eye" into another composition though...
Tonal Mapping
The photos that I picked for this project have pretty even lighting with only a few shadows. The lighting tended to be on the highest points of the wings, or directly on the middle body in most images. Doing two iterations of the tonal mapping helped to give me a different perspective of the butterfly.
Beginning to Gather Shapes and Create the Butterflies
The drawings on the left were my initial renditions working with the shape of butterflies in Illustrator. I initially began by drawing with larger, more general shapes, but after my first one-on-one consultation, I realized I should be paying more attention to the details of the butterflies, such as the shadows, light spots, and different tones throughout.
This green and brown butterfly is one of my favorite improvements/transformations. I love the variations in brown tones that I was able to bring out. I think it works to frame the rest of the green parts of the butterfly well and add dimension to the overall composition. I am hoping this translates well in my final compositions.
Using Images for Texture
The butterflies below were some of the ones I presented in my second consultation. They helped me feel like I was on the right track in terms of the clipping masks, but the "same as original photo" color matching left little room for real creative growth. These butterflies were a great starting point for this project, and ultimately helped my grasp clipping masks and become comfortable with mixing textures and images in compositions.
All the blue portions of this butterfly remind me of a quilt! Going through this process of creating masks in illustrator got me thinking of how useful this tool would be for trying out and placing different quilting cottons as a "preview" before I begin a quilt pattern...
Working Outside of the Base Colors
In this stage in my process, I began to experiment with different patterns and textures that what would be typically found in the original image. Although I never used any of these in my final compositions, I think that my growing confidence for mixing patterns and textures in these butterflies in exemplified in the images below.
Playing with Brighter, More Neon Images and Some Warped Lines for Contrast
I wanted to add some brightness to the butterflies wings, so I began looking only for images with neon signs or lights to use. I feel like the brighter colors add a new energy to the butterflies. It is kind of a fun contrast or contradiction too...putting an un-natural light source inside of a natural form. However, much like moths, butterflies are apparently attracted to the light too...so that's also a connection I guess. Regardless, I am really proud of all these butterflies and I love how well they complement one another.
Working with the Butterflies to Create Compositions
...and trying out making stamps in Illustrator
(Above) This was one of my earlier stamps, using one image ion the wings from Unsplash and picking the accent colors for the rest of the body from that image. This was in the early stages of beginning to figure out the layout of the stamps, as well as what aesthetic I was going for. While I like the simplicity of this piece, it doesn't incorporate enough texture or include enough photographs.
I really love this design, but it doesn't feature any photos being used. I guess it was kind of more of a practice with composition than a final, but I like how it looks so I'm including it on this page. I want to continue with this idea, but moving forward I will work with cutting out images on the butterflies and maybe the borders of the stamps.
Had the idea to make the butterflies look like different fruits. With the red butterfly, I wanted to make them look like cherries. I think that making the butterflies into cute little characters or making them look like other objects is a fun way for me not take these design projects so literally.
I really love the aesthetic of this composition, and I want to work more in this style! Maybe create an entire butterfly fruit family?
Above are the butterflies I used to make the composition below. This composition was one of the most difficult for me to make because I was continuously trying to reconfigure the butterflies to fit within the stamp together in a way that worked and felt natural. I didn't want it to feel like they were competing for attention or space.
I placed the white cut-out silhouette underneath each of the butterflies to try and get them to "pop" off the background. I think it also kind of makes them look like stickers of magazine cut outs, making the whole composition overall feel like a collage.
This is one of my favorite compositions so far. I spent a lot of time going back and forth with backgrounds, placement, and orientation, and I am happy that I didn't scrap the whole concept because I am proud of the end result.
When I first created this butterfly, I was unsure as to how I was going to use it in compositions. It is pretty busy, due mainly to the fact that I used a lot of "optical illusion" images on the wings and body of the butterfly. I tried out this butterfly in a couple other compositions, but it never seemed to blend well, taking the attention away from the other subjects of the composition.
I decided to lean into the trippy, illusion-like theme of the butterfly and create a background that featured similar elements. The text spiral reminds me of the black and white circle pattern I used on the butterflies wings, and the neon-light like background reminds me of the neon-light pattern I used on the spots on the wings.
Overall, I am happy that I was able to create something using this butterfly. This composition kind of remind me of an album cover...maybe because it looks like a record spinning? or maybe because the light look like a party? Are the butterflies dancing with each other? maybe...
Okay it's official I'm calling these "Fruit-Flies". These fruit-butterfly stamps with cute little puns or phrases are one of my favorite things I have made in Illustrator so far. I am so proud of myself for making these and I really want to make this into a series with a lemon and an orange...OOO a Dragon Fruit would be cool too!
And here is the finished Dragon Fruit butterfly! I love how the different textures on the wings work with one another, and how the background stamp colors act at a kind of cooling element. I am really proud of how
In creating these past few "Fruit-Flies" compositions, it has felt like I have begun to develop my own taste and style. I have noticed patterns in the fonts I gravitate towards, the layering I like to do under my subjects and text, and the color pallets I use. I have been working in more of a lighthearted, happy, optimistic aesthetic.
When creating certain art or design pieces, I find that it is often hard for me to move past interpreting only what I see. This kind of got in my way in the beginning stages of this project, where I was only placing colored textures and images in the spaces that corresponded with that color (like yellow texture images in a yellow space, blue in a blue space, etc). Working further in this project, I started to feel like I was challenging myself by trying to not see things just how they literally are, but in the different ways I could interpret or transform them. This is how I began to see the butterflies as becoming different fruits.
