Robotic Editorial 3

This is third editorial illustration for the article ‘Tiny Flying Robots Modeled on Insects’ by John Roach for National Geographic News. The article is mainly about how certain insects such as wasps and bumblebees are being used for inspiration to create new military technologies. It mentions why scientists are modelling robots on insects because they say that the insects are small enough to scout warzones without being seen. It also says how they could search for helpless victims trapped under rubble. The points the scientists make about using the insects for robotics are the main reason why I chose to illustrate this article. I really enjoyed this interesting subject matter. These points are going to be the inspiration for creating this illustration.

The main idea I used for my illustration was using the body of an insect with robotic parts attached to it and within it. In my original sketches I used a dragonfly but the problem with that was the article didn’t mention anything about dragonflies. I wanted to use a dragonfly because I really liked the structure of the dragonfly, but I decided to use a wasp instead. The actual pencil drawing took roughly two hours to complete, then it was coloured in Photoshop. I want the illustration to contain different parts of machinery such as cogs because I wanted it to look realistic and convincing. I am really pleased with the final outcome for this illustration because out of all the robotic drawings I did this one looks the most credible with the accelerating growth of technology.