"Cartoon Art Museum" Descriptive Essay
Nostalgic Inspiration
Being a lifetime art enthusiast, I spent the majority of my San Francisco trip visiting the best museums they had to offer. All of them inspired me in one way or another but only one of them in particular actually motivated me to continue to become a better artist. The Cartoon Art Museum, or CAM, brightly stood out among the rest because at this museum I was surrounded by the icons of my childhood that originally inspired me to pursue an art career. My passion for my work was rekindled after perusing this museum. When I heard the name “Cartoon Art Museum,” I naturally imagined it as a vibrant and dramatic building that had to be massive, with enough rooms to store a lot of cartoon artwork. Arriving at CAM, I was almost taken aback by how small and dull it seemed. It didn’t look like much; just a medium sized, brown brick building with black windowsills and door frames. It looked very modern and conservative; almost like any common apartment building or warehouse. At the front entrance, there were large display windows showcasing posters that advertised what new or limited edition exhibits and merchandise were available. All of the posters were attractive and vibrant in their own styles. Some were more tradition and minimalistic, sporting just logos, sketches, pictures, and classy serif texts. Others were glaringly flashy and colorful, with big comic book text bubbles and halftone comic book characters like Superman yelling at you to “check out this SUPER exhibit,” or Loki commanding you to “relinquish your money and sate your comic book cravings!” The biggest poster in the windows was advertising the “Evolution of the Avengers” exhibit. It was designed with the original concepts of the super-heroes on the left and the current, modern renditions of the super-heroes on the right, presenting a “then-and-now” effect. Another poster that really piqued my interest was a much smaller one advertising the “Darth Vader & Son” pieces, by Jeffrey
Being a lifetime art enthusiast, I spent the majority of my San Francisco trip visiting the best museums they had to offer. All of them inspired me in one way or another but only one of them in particular actually motivated me to continue to become a better artist. The Cartoon Art Museum, or CAM, brightly stood out among the rest because at this museum I was surrounded by the icons of my childhood that originally inspired me to pursue an art career. My passion for my work was rekindled after perusing this museum. When I heard the name “Cartoon Art Museum,” I naturally imagined it as a vibrant and dramatic building that had to be massive, with enough rooms to store a lot of cartoon artwork. Arriving at CAM, I was almost taken aback by how small and dull it seemed. It didn’t look like much; just a medium sized, brown brick building with black windowsills and door frames. It looked very modern and conservative; almost like any common apartment building or warehouse. At the front entrance, there were large display windows showcasing posters that advertised what new or limited edition exhibits and merchandise were available. All of the posters were attractive and vibrant in their own styles. Some were more tradition and minimalistic, sporting just logos, sketches, pictures, and classy serif texts. Others were glaringly flashy and colorful, with big comic book text bubbles and halftone comic book characters like Superman yelling at you to “check out this SUPER exhibit,” or Loki commanding you to “relinquish your money and sate your comic book cravings!” The biggest poster in the windows was advertising the “Evolution of the Avengers” exhibit. It was designed with the original concepts of the super-heroes on the left and the current, modern renditions of the super-heroes on the right, presenting a “then-and-now” effect. Another poster that really piqued my interest was a much smaller one advertising the “Darth Vader & Son” pieces, by Jeffrey