Man Cat As Art: Chairman Meao

[This is part of a continuing series:Man Cat As Art. For more like this, see Van Gogh, Matisse,  Da Vinci, Darger (and a couple others) and Tommy Wiseau.]

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I cannot draw a cat. Well, I can't draw their faces. Not realistically, anyway, so be kind and imagine that this looks vaguely reminiscent of a cat. One day, I will be able to do this much, much better. That's a day I look forward to.

I don't know a lot about Andy Warhol. He lived before my time, and I was never much into art history. Much of art has passed me by in a whirlwind, and I am just now beginning to look at it, and ask questions. I'm a bit more familiar with Andy Warhol, though, because he just happens to be Krissy's favorite.

From what I have seen and read, he was eccentric, but what artist isn't. He didn't create pop art, but he is one of the driving forces behind its popularity, and what it is today. There are only a handful of artists I can recognize as inspiring other pictures or art, and when it comes to pop art, I can think of just two: Warhol and Lichtenstein.

I think I'm improving, but I think I'm going to have to take a look at cats, cat drawings, paintings, and the like, because trying to improvise kitty features is kind of hard, especially when you are trying to put them where they do not belong-- like on Chairman Mao.

In some ways, it's kind of fitting to have Mao as a Man Cat. Cats can be ferocious little beasts, and any freedoms one once had before getting a cat are soon swept out the window. In a way, all cats are little Meaos. But they do all generally have their moments where they're all curled up and cute like. That's why no cats, Man Cat included, are truly Meao Cats.

Maybe one day I can come back to this, and redo it so it looks more realistic, though. Not realism realistic; just better. I'm not entirely happy with it, especially in some parts. But overall, considering my abilities, I think I did an okay job. I don't know why I ever decided to make a project involving drawing a cat. Fur is hard (for me at least), and cats have differently shaped faces to humans too. I'm getting used to human faces, but cats are something else entirely. Maybe in doing this, I will improve on that, though. After all, if I can master drawing a cat, or at least a cat face, then that opens up a wide swath of new animals, since so many animals have that cat-shaped head, or a small variation of it.

Also, still getting used to my tablet, and using a new program, which made this take forever. I think I could have been a tad more expedient had I been using Illustrator, but it's okay. Corel Paint is kind of fun.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. This is my drawing of Man Cat as Art: Chairman Meao, inspired by Andy Warhol. And some of my randomly random thoughts as they came to me concerning it. I hope you enjoyed them.