Process: Spooky Time Birds Sticker Sheet
A quick look at my illustration process for these silly, spooky birds
I finally did it. I had an idea for a product and took it all the way to printed and delivered.
A few friends and shops have encouraged me to make products over the years, but I’ve been hesitant. Honestly, I don’t really buy much stuff and couldn’t get past thinking “What would I even make?”
Well, what fair muse appeared and guided my hand, you may be wondering.
It was birds.
(specifically “neutral birds”, but I’m getting ahead of myself)
The Sketch
It all began with this quick little sketch of a Duck Witch. I was feeling stuck working on a client project, my mind wondered to an upcoming witch themed art show we are doing at The Warren, and this little spooky time, feathered, friend just fell out of my pencil.
I thought, “wow, now THIS is a sticker I’d like to have.” But why make one sticker quickly, when I could add 4 more spooky time birds and make it 4x harder on myself. (haha!) I can’t help but think of things as a series or collection.
Neutral Birds
That’s where the idea of “neutral birds” comes in. Globally, *everyone must know about ducks, right? I needed to think of 4 other birds that *everyone knows about/encounters. This is the order in which they came to me: Crow, Pigeon, Owl, Chicken
(Brad actually thought of chicken, I forgot about them. ha)
*most people
Inspiration
Next up, “how do I want this sticker sheet to look?”
Every year I would LIGHT UP when my elementary school teachers put up the classroom Halloween decorations. They have such a specific, nostalgic feel. I wanted my sticker sheet to give someone else the same feeling those elementary school decorations gave me. :) Below is a small sampling of color and aesthetic inspirations I found on Pinterest.
You’ll notice the owl with the moon and the reddish orange color are both featured in my final sheet. I took the limited color palette these inspirations offered and headed into Procreate on my iPad.
The Actual Illustrating Bit
I decided on a dusty, muted, primary color palette and the “ink bleed” brush for the line work. I used the “marker” brush for adding color and “multiply” blend modes for mixing the 3 colors. The lines are intended to feel loose and scratchy, because a.) I like the look of loose and scratchy lines and b.) I didn’t want to get hung up on perfection, I just needed to complete it.
Click on the Instagram link below (and swipe) to see a time lapse from thumbnail to finished drawing. (There are 3 other spooky time bird posts with time lapses on the IG grid if you’re interested!)
Theme and Consistency
Deciding on what the 4 other birds would be doing and how to keep the theme consistent was my favorite part. Pigeons are kind of dopey (in the most lovable way); I knew they would need a funny interaction. I tried keeping the activity true-ish to the bird and relative to the season. :) And for an “in your face” consistent element, they are all wearing black capes. ha!
The top row is the finished digital illustration in Procreate and the bottom row is the printed sticker.
The Mock up and the Final Sticker Sheet
It took a while to find the best placement for the 5 stickers. I went with the 4”x6” size, and made each sticker as large as I could manage, while still having space to make it cute and add some hand lettering.
In the final sticker sheet (below), I had to add more white space around each illustration for the laser’s margin of error. I added my website (promotional!) and the phrase “a neutral birds series” because…you’re going to see these birds again! :) AND it opens the window for other kinds of “birds series” (ex. tall birds series; fuzzy birds series; flightless birds series, it’s endless!)
Bonus: A monochromatic version of the mockup that I accidentally stumbled on after grouping all of the layers (for deleting) and it was set to multiply. There’s something about it I really like. I don’t know if I’ll do anything with this version, but I nevertheless wanted to share it with you! (happy accident)
My New, Shiny Shop
I started a Big Cartel shop yesterday! It was scary (felt like I wanted to barf when launching it) but I did it, and if you like these stickers, you can get them there! I’ve set the shipping to FREE for now. :)
Thanks for reading this process post and being interested in my silly birds!
I absolutely LOVE these!! It's fun to see your process.