Progress on Illustrator Images

So I started my pictograms in the computer and the main tool, practically the only tool, I have been using is the pen tool.  I have kinks and bends in places that need fixing as well as adjusting and moving my images around in order to improve my composition of the dinosaurs and flowers.  I started out with the basic dinosaur shapes and added in the flowers.  I think I might remove the stems and leaves from the image... actually I am going to for the final.  They just seem to distract more than add to the overall quality.  Here are some images so far..

Rough Sketches for Project 1

From my rough sketches, I decided to continue developing the dinosaurs and the flowers.  I am going to attempt to do a combination of some sorts with each dinosaur image matching up with each flower image.  I want to focus primarily on emphasizing the shapes, exploring different color schemes and finalizing my compositions.  It will be interesting to see how I do in creating an illustration versus my hand-drawn images, hopefully it turns out great!

For my collage I threw together some images, most that describe me and my lifestyle and I decided to go with a more cardboard cut look.  I spent most of my time working on the details of the skier and the guitarist.  I had trouble with going back and forth in order to see the details from the base image, but hopefully this will transition to smooth and pain-free.  I enjoyed this project, it takes a lot of time to zoom in  and put details but the difference is amazing.  The skier for example, I started with just a plain yellow shape and after I worked the shadows and creases it made the image pop out rather than just sit flat on the screen.

Thumbnails for project 1

  So for my thumbnails I had to focus on three interrelated images that would express an idea or word or thought on a universal level.  The ones I would like to continue working on are the dinosaurs, the topography, the flowering bud, and the grapes and wine images.

I chose the dinosaurs for their shapes and lines that would make up their design, and I find them interesting and mysterious so I could really take my design to my own interpretation of them.

The topography would be cool to see what abstract yet readable images I can produce that describe different types of ecosystems, and adding on to that, the rose/bud idea stemmed from my interest in how energy and cycles occur in nature and in our own lives.

The wine and grapes would be great, I would like to again see them for their shapes and working on a more monochromatic color scheme.