It’s been a while since I did one of these, and I figured I should get one more in before the end of the year. It’s not perfect, but it’s snow goosey enough. Based on a photo I took at Iona Beach on October 22, 2023.
I’ve now got it in my head that I want to do one or more cartoon with geese, because they intrigue me and horrify me in equal parts.
My first step was to do a bird drawing of a Canada goose, but in a more deliberate cartoon style. This is my initial attempt, which I’ll refine as I go along. I’m using the most obvious joke here, they’ll probably get weirder or more obscure if I do more.
This is based on a photo of a goose going berserk (as they do) at Reifel on April 22. Most of these photos turn out blurry because the goose is whipping its head around (as they do).
I started this bird art thing with a chickadee, but it was very simple line art (I sort of want to do some more in that specific style). Here’s another chickadee, in my now-established style.
I finally got off my lazy butt and collected all of my bird drawings in a single gallery, which I will update going forward.
Here’s a quick summary of the process:
Tools used: iPad Pro 12.9″ (2020), Apple Pencil, Procreate
I use a photo I’ve taken, usually one I don’t post because it’s slightly out of focus or otherwise flawed
I do a line drawing of the bird, then colour in after
The line part usually take a few minutes, the colouring can sometimes take an hour or more, depending on the complexity. I have trended toward getting more complex with the drawings, but will still try to throw some simpler ones in.
There are also a few drawings that don’t follow the above formula, like the cobra chicken, killdeer and squirrel, which is not actually a bird.