Bird Alert!

Hi there. How are you?

I've been neck deep in art fair prep. All studio time has been spent pumping out new work for my first show of the year. (If you're in the St. Louis area, do come see me at the Art Fair at Laumeier Sculpture Park over Mother's Day weekend.)

I've made a flock of new birds. Well, maybe not a whole flock, but some! I've been having a tough time capturing the actual look of the graph paper on these pieces. It either shows up a little too strong or drops out entirely when I try even out the white balance. Even so, I'm still really liking working on gridded paper and have done most of my new work on triangular isometric paper.

This new collection is a bit more minimalist than those I have done in the past. I'm trying to simplify in my art these days. I have to constantly fight not to over-do things. To read about how I create these birds, click HERE.

All of these new pieces are for sale, but are not listed on Etsy. If you are interested in purchasing, do give me a shout!

Hope things are well and springy in your world. Ta-Ta for now!

P.S. Do you Pinterest? I've got a great "Bird Nerd" board going there. Go see and follow along!

The Evolution of a New Illustration

 

Hi There. How are you?

I had a very successful weekend in the studio and created this lovely little Red-Breasted Nuthatch illustration. I thought it would be fun to share some of the pics I snapped as I worked on this piece,  and walk you through my process.

First off I made a simple drawing of the bird on aqua paper. I worked from a photograph.....I am not one of those artists who can work out of their head! I applied a sheet of sticker paper to the back of the drawing, and then cut the whole thing out and adhered it to the graph paper.

The first bit of ink I add to my bird illustrations is always the eyes. That very quickly brings a drawing to life. I used a black Bic ballpoint pen, a white Prismacolor pencil and a dash of white Sakura Gelly Roll ink in the highlight of the eye. 

I continued to add detail with the ballpoint pen and Prismacolors. I added a little bit of a golden brown to give this cutie his "red belly."

After a spell, (I have no idea how long this took.....I don't really pay attention to the clock when I'm in the art zone) the bird was fully formed. I drew in a branch to have him perch on. 

Once all of the inking is complete, I started playing around with my signature collage elements. As I've mentioned before, this is sometimes the most difficult part of the process for me. I tense up and worry about overworking things. Even now, I second guess...This was kind of cute like this....Why did I change it? 

And voila! All that is left to do now is give the whole thing a few coats of a satin varnish to seal and protect it. This original 8"x8" is available for sale in my etsy shop.

Have a great week friends. Until next time. Ta-ta!