Part 4: Exercise 4 - Visual Distortion

Visual Distortion:
This is the picture I used to copy from.

Cat
[Accessed 13 August 2015, www.gettyimages.com]

This my copied drawing:

This is a photo of my drawing using no more than five lines:

I developed this part of the drawing into a collage using:

A garden of plants and distorted them horizontally to show the direction of the cat's fur. I used a pattern on the cat's face and distorted the features further by using different eyes and two mouths. This takes things to a new level but it still looks like a cat I think.

I found the fabric from the arm of a couch and used it in a way that shows the round form of the arm of a couch along which the cat can stretch, to still show a lazy, content character. The olive green throw on the left side of the cat also suggests fabric, that the cat is lounging on something soft despite the jagged edges of the collage.

I chose blue and white fabric and collaged it at an angle to give it form and perspective. I chose to distort the cats face and gave it a double mouth which I think works. The fur and two front paws are cutouts of grass and garden photos and I placed them horizontally to depict the direction of the cats coat. The paw of the cat is a little pinkish red to distinguish its languid pose and call attention to it. I used a cutout of a green throw in the background to show that cats inclination towards comfort.

After my tutor's notes, I responded by adding to the collage especially where there was white space, providing a far more lively collage. I realise in retrospect that I could have distorted the cat's body more fully. The stripely background was chosen to complement the playful nature of the cat and to enhance the domestic feeling with a chequered pattern found so often in blankets and linen.

This is the line drawing of my collage, above, where I simplified the angles and designs to their most basic elelment without losing content of the picture. I decided to develop this further by adding two extra characters to the drawing below.

The text could read: Minor the rat says "Watch that cat!"

Responses after my tutor's notes: Mary Fedden's cat paintings remind me of my own collage.

Source: www.theblankcardcompany.co.uk [Accessed 12 June 2016]

Source: www.fossegallery.com

I have incorporated my collage below into a bigger image using other elements that introduce a narrative. I have used Mary Fedden's examples for inspiration, particularly the flattened more naive style of her work.