A look at bird illustrations 1-3 (of 14)
in-depth looks (and a video) on my "Purposeful Practice Challenge - Round 1"
Hello!
I’m still thinking about my trip to Savannah / Tybee Island, GA. It was really helpful, I was coming undone…but now I feel (somewhat) zipped back together. I’ll share where we went and what we did, but while I compile that, I have an overdue post for you:
It’s the first in a series of in-depth looks at my “purposeful practice challenge - round one”
(geez, that’s a mouthful👆)
PLUS a video at the end where I say a little more about each piece
Firstly, some time has passed; I should reintroduce this challenge I set up for myself. Below is a quick rundown of the what and how. (And you can read this earlier post for more context)
📌 Parameters:
Timer: 40 min (just feels right)
Subject: Randomly select a bird from “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Birds”
In the style of: Random “inspiration” from my Kidlit Pinterest board
What am I practicing?
speed
intuitive and confident choices
loosening up
resetting my brain after an intense project
How will I analyze and measure progress?
Write out a paragraph or two reflecting on the piece after finishing it
After completing 14 pieces, lay them out in chronological order
Take notice of changes or similarities as I progressed
What choices did I often make? Was that because it was easy, or because I liked it?
In essence, I randomly choose a bird from a book, then I draw it in a style randomly chosen from my kidlit pinterest board.
Bird 1: New Guinea Harpy Eagle
Thoughts: - I didn’t finish the piece in 40 minutes and it was difficult to stop working. Seeing it in that unfinished state makes me feel antsy and like I don’t want to show anyone. I already know I want to simplify the shapes even more, harmonize the colors, and balance the lines and textures. I love how the head came out and I even kind of like that accidental chunk that is disconnected from the beak. I would never have thought to put both eyes on the same side of the head. It’s a brilliant look.
I’d like to finish this once the first round is over. In lieu of a pen/vector tool, I used the “lasso” tool in procreate to draw the shapes—this is something I should utilize more often in my digital work.
Bird 2: Golden Fronted Leafbird
Thoughts: I cheated a little today. I drew the sketch before starting the timer and then gave myself an extra 10 minutes to finish the ink work. Before starting I noticed that this and a few other of Paul’s pieces are two color. I limited my piece to two colors—red and green. The bird dictated the color choices and I tinted them using white and dark sepia. (Oh this is painted with Holbein acryla gouache and ink.) I’d like to practice inking with a brush if I work like this in the future. My strokes are scratchy and small; I would like them to be a bit smoother and longer. I’d also like to balance out my piece with more areas of hatching and dark shadows. I think the bird’s shapes could be pushed more. It remained a bit too “real” in proportion.
Bird 3: Kea
Thoughts: Before beginning I notice this bird has a dull body, but bright magnificent colors under its wings. I’m thinking a pose like he’s wearing a trench coat with one side open showing off the “wares”. It’s funny that such a colorful bird landed with this muted color style—a brain puzzle!
This piece was postponed and finished DAYS later. I went over my timer by 10 minutes, or so. The wing is horrid in all ways. I lost the nice geometric shapes in the drawing due to speed and the rubber cement brush. (smaller brush + more time should help). I enjoy the layered watercolor wash + the black watercolor pencil on top—though I wanted more grain. A better plan of where the pencil strokes should go is needed and I should take a ‘less is more’ approach, but juuuust barely. Disappointed this one isn’t better. It’s sneakily difficult to work this way.
That was all copied straight from my Notion page for this challenge. Unedited…I’m left bare in front of you all…like I left my private journal open on the floor and you happened to walk by. You’re seeing exactly how I plan for myself, and how I speak to myself.
Bonus video: it’s longer than I planned—this always happens 🙃
I just went for it! My hair isn’t brushed and I’m in my pajama shirt. Aaaand you can hear the “claps” I did to sync audio. 🙃 Tell me if this is interesting and if there are any changes you’d suggest. I recommend playing this in the background while you work or do chores and glancing up at the pieces every so often.
I’m remembering already how important it is to refer back to these illustrations and my thoughts. I so easily revert to comfortable patterns and forget to implement what I learned, what I liked.
I highly recommend doing a challenge like this if you are feeling stuck or directionless. Make sure to pick a subject you like and give yourself specific parameters—and remember to give yourself leeway for days you can’t work on it.
Thanks for reading and watching 💛
This, and the next batch of birds (4-6), will be available for everyone to read/watch. After that, I’ll be posting these for paid subscribers—along with more process looks and creative career thoughts. 🙌
This is so interesting to see your thoughts on the beginnings of this project. Thank you for sharing!
I absolutely love this exercise!!