Camouflaged: A Junior Self-Portrait Illustration by Paige Eller (2012)

Everyone has their own unique flaws and insecurities. The way I've been dealing with mine throughout high school is by blending in. Although I would consider this to be my worst flaw because I don't always act myself, I care too much about what others say it can also be a good quality to maintain. While I easily blend in with others, it shows that I am relatable and can fit in with different groups of people. To represent this characteristic, I used a chameleon because it too blends in wherever it goes. Instead of using one object to have the chameleon blend into, I decided to use multiple aspects because there are many parts of my life into which I blend: school, friends, family, sports and fashion. Doing this was a risk because it will be harder for the audience to see what I am trying to get across.

After selecting the images from the web, we opened them into Adobe Illustrator and used the pen tool to cut and slice the object. This was the most difficult part because the work is very tedious and takes patience. While cutting out the images, you have to create new layers so you individually edit them. Using layer after layer after layer, you either add other images or take away certain images to create the image you ultimately want. Since my illustration is of a chameleon, that blends in with the objects behind the animal, I had to use many layers. There were even layers within layers just for the chameleons body! Adobe Illustrator is a very hard program to get used to because there are so many different tools you can use. I used an elliptical tool to make the eyes of my chameleon so it was more precise! Although I easily get frustrated by this program, I am having so much fun being creative and expressing myself