Editorial Cartoon

Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Medsker

2D Design

13 November 2020

This project is obviously centered around a specific political theme. It is very in your face, and easy to detect. This theme is body shaming, an important issue in our society today as well as in the past. I wanted my cartoon to show viewers through irony that body shaming is extremely sexist, and holds women to unrealistic and harmful standards. I tried my best to illustrate the idea that women throughout history have felt trapped and oppressed by gender stereotypes, and I used text as well as drawings to pass along my message. I wanted the viewer to walk away from my work with a better understanding of what it feels like to constantly be told that you are imperfect, and that you need change your appearance in order to be beautiful. I wanted people to understand how ridiculous these stereotypes are, and how a woman can spend her whole life struggling and making personal sacrifices to fit society's impossible standards of perfection. This project relates to my life because as a woman, I have experienced this struggle myself. Social media is a place that makes it easy to insult others while hiding behind a screen. Not only have I witnessed body shaming, I have experienced it firsthand. Whether it is an offhand comment or an intentional insult, it is hard for others to understand how much it hurts to be held to standards that are constantly changing. Body shaming can have a huge impact on young girls, and I wanted to draw light to the issue because it deserves to be recognized. Life is short, and women should not have to go through it constantly worrying about things like how much food they are eating. Everyone should be able to freely enjoy life and be recognized for their natural beauty.

The work was made partially on paper and partially using digital editing. I started by using pencil to sketch the figures and text boxes that I wanted to draw. I then went in with a black ballpoint pen for the detailed areas of these shapes and figures. Once the details were added, I used a black felt tip pen to add larger, simple lines. Finally, when all the pen had been added to the page, I used an eraser to remove the pencil lines from my original sketch. After I could see what I had drawn with a little more clarity, I went back in with a black, ball-point pen and added shading where I saw fit. The next step was to photograph my work in good lightning. I made sure to set it up properly, and then used my iPhone to snap a photo of the piece. I uploaded this photo into Adobe Photoshop, and then used the retouch tool to remove extra pencil lines that had been a little stubborn. I adjusted the shadows and highlights a bit to get a cleaner white background, and then used the paint bucket tool to add color to the piece. To give it the vintage feeling I wanted, I finished by adding a warm filter to the artwork. The finished product was very successful! I was definitely able to convey the message I wanted in a unique and memorable manner.

I experimented with the process a lot when creating this piece. I was unsure of how to convey my message, what kind of text to add, etc. However, in the end, I am happy with how it came out! I am glad that I chose to use irony to illustrate how ridiculous many of society's standards are. I am also proud of my choice to use digital editing to color the piece rather than marker, because I think it made it really pop, which the marker would not have done. I also utilized a number of elements of art to create the final product. First and foremost, the line is the backbone of the piece, and really accents the style and colors used. I used lines to create my figures as well as my text. Color is also a big part of the drawing. It adds a lot to the vintage vibe I was going for, and also makes certain elements of the drawing, such as the women’s bodies, stand out. I also used color to highlight text. The slight contrast between the colors I used really highlights the most important parts of my piece. I also used texture to add intrigue to the project, so that the figures had form to them and appeared a little more realistic. It brought an element of real-life to the artwork, which is important so that the viewer can see that body shaming is a real issue. The use of these elements made my piece balanced as well as unqiue, and it definitely stands out. I’m really proud of my work! I would say that it evolved from a very vague idea to a cohesive and intentional design. I think my next steps should be to learn how to use photoshop to accent my lines a little better.

. . .