VCA2023

Cool Cat takes inspiration from city pop album illustrations, vaporwave and cityscape illustrations from retro shoujo anime. My art usually includes depictions of people, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone for this design. I challenged myself by incorporating the two things I draw the least: cityscapes and cars. I loved the colours used in 90s shoujo anime and made a colour palette from a city scene in Sailor Moon (1992). The skyline view is inspired by the overlook at Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. At the time of making this, Cool Cat by Queen was stuck in my head at the time, so I referenced the song on the car’s license plate. I used different halftone brushes from Adobe Fresco for the patterns in the print.

An ink illustration from the "300 Drawing Prompts" book, for the prompt "The Kraken".

The theme of the work is persevering through growing pains. Growing up is difficult, but being able to push through is what makes the results rewarding. This work is a reminder that the sky's the limit - with strength, tenacity, and endurance, you’re unstoppable. Koi fish symbolize perseverance; I decided to depict them swimming in space to go beyond the boundaries of water. The colour palette is influenced by the galaxy and soft, pastel colours used in shoujo anime. I love using colour shifting paint and felt it was perfect to create movement and dimension in the galaxy, depending on how the light hits the painting. As for the koi and planets, I used oil pastels. I used glitter over the fish and the black areas. For the fins, I wanted to experiment with physical texture and used gift wrapping tissue. Lastly, for the stars, I used holographic foils.