When they announced the word, I immediately thought of a camera. After all, I've been having all sorts of fun with a point and shoot camera. But the thought soon left me, so obviously, that didn't have much of an impact on me. If I didn't care all that much, I didn't expect anyone else to care either.
When I went back to the sketch, the word, "cheese" stood out. Why do we say cheese when we pose for a camera anyway? Wait, a minute... cheese? What animal is the most focused? I thought of my cat. That critter can get focused on anything that moves. Cats... cheese... mice.... I wondered what connection could be there.
Here were the sketches I made as I was thinking and doodling. As I was thinking of a mouse, I thought how focused one feels if they get the feeling they are being watched.
I took my illustration into Adobe Illustrator. I started drawing the mouse.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAGqjXOWm-pBj1-1p1AhRzHqxugJ8lkt0f6NIW_KS3HLrZ-ZiBoNtgEtaw7EWJ5FPvdvovz68eZJruZ1gpp78p0mTOf5rBxmBJu6D7XIl1VFPuaF7yo9PnPU87g1vi9I9-pCM/s400/Focused02.jpg)
I begin drawing by using the pen tool. It takes a little while to get used to, but you can't beat the accuracy and the flexibility once you master it. The pen tool allows you to draw with a mouse or a digital tablet equally well. When I finished the drawing, I took it into Live Paint, eliminated the unneeded strokes and started filling in areas with color.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJt6CuO3p8ASdYCotumSFLjzBvlU9YtBEQ5fCs3TC2gHcnRBJ7tPM3s7PolYs6qpBw8Wwd2qve6HD9G4ROM6ZwOftdGTjvwFBG7SdRExhh_Ckub2xM1ywm8XptyUasewLldBP/s400/Focused-3.jpg)
Next, I began drawing the cat. I put each character on a different layer so I could move them around and apply different effects to each.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilnkWutAWY8sXRuoA_3V3Dx-g5G3djoV0posSicbQK_AYzLP13wws6Y38NkGZVvRdloVy_JbfGOQXswWBmxXWLy48yq1e6o9qJJBhOltwzb2aUSMKrNrUbCxNZ1WdP3YvwV71/s400/Focused-4.jpg)
I put the eyes and whiskers of the cat on different layers to I could apply a glow to the eyes, and a faded effect for the whiskers. Next, I added a layer of dark color just above the cat layer. This helped everything pop a little more and give a little mystery to the cat.
I drew this all in Adobe Illustrator.