My topic of illustration for Exercise 2 was an Illustrated Letterform. Before deciding on the letter I would use, I created a wordlist that encompassed the entire alphabet. I chose the letter C because it presented me with the most options from my entire wordlist. Some of the words I chose for the letter C included a cat, a carrot, a caterpillar, a cow, and a crab. After reviewing my initial sketches, I chose a caterpillar to form the letter. Caterpillars can bend in odd shapes and have a great natural curve to them, like the typeface Cubano which was selected as the basis for my letterform. I felt the caterpillar to be the best choice from my wordlist for this project.

For this assignment, I incorporated various art brushes to add texture to the caterpillar. I also used gradients to create highlights and shadows, and an inner glow to add a bit more dimension. The chosen color palette represented the colors of a spring-time caterpillar found in nature, consisting of greens, yellows, and brown. I added a touch of red to give the caterpillar a pop of color.

I was able to apply the lessons learned from the Von Glitschka courses by using the Clockwork Method and Prime Point Placement when creating my letterform. I also found his explanation of brushes, gradients, and textures to be very helpful for this assignment. In creating my caterpillar, I layered gradients on top of one another and used the brushes to add highlights along the body, as well as texture to the body and face. I also found Glitschka’s method of using the reflect tool to be helpful when I created the face for the caterpillar. Using this method I only needed to draw half of the face and then I was able to replicate and flip it, assuring a symmetrical design.