Hey Beautiful People! Thank you so much for your support of Alphabird! We are officially funded! Stay tuned for more.....after a word from our sponsors!
Back soon with more of our future feathered friends from Alphabird!
If you're already a backer and reading this missive, you surely already got the message that Alphabird hit its fundraising goal this morning. Yahoo! Thank you so much to everyone who helped me make this book happen. I've had a blast this month working on the first half of the characters and look forward to the next few months when I see it to fruition. I couldn't have done it without you, so please pat yourself on the back for a job well done. If you still want to pledge, you have until 10:30AM tomorrow PST. Click here to be a part of Alphabird!
Are you ready for our lucky 13th bird? Oh boy oh boy.....here we go!
S is for Seymour whose beak was two spoons, which only encouraged his love of show tunes.
I really had to push to get this one done for you today, but it happened! Here's an early studio shot of our friend Seymour:
Soon after taking this photo, it dawned on me that I needed to reverse those spoons so they would resemble the awesomely simple musical instrument and not a dumb set of salad tongs. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult a task.
I had a great time figuring out how to interpret the gorgeous plumage of the real bird on my piece--above is a detail shot from this morning, and below is the back of the finished piece:
I have another update on our friend Kevin the Kingfisher. When I posted this on Facebook, a conversation ensued about how the kettle drum looked like a glass of beer. I do appreciate feedback about my work, as well as a fine pint of beer. However, I've gotta be convinced it's a valid argument before going back in on a finished piece. I think the addition of some minor hardware to this sculpture is a good one, though, so thank you. It still kinda looks like a glass of beer, but that's okay by me because I believe that all good kids books should also appeal to adults. I love your comments and feedback and encouragement.
Of course, it also gave me an opportunity to hang out at my favorite art supply store, more commonly known as a hardware store. I found some sweet little keys that look like tuning keys for my kettle drum. Here's a closer look at them:
I almost hate to do this, but in case there are any of you out there who are still thinking about grabbing one of the five remaining spots at the $350 pledge level to pick first from the original birds, I'll let you in on my present plans for the remaining 13 birds to make: F - a Flamingo with a fiddle G - a Goose with a gong I - an Indigo Bunting with an ipu J - a Junco with a jug M - a Magpie with a marimba N - a Nuthatch with a nose flute O - an Owl with an oboe Q - a Quail with a qin-qin T - a Tanager with a tambourine V - a Vireo with a viola X - a Xenops with a xylophone Y- a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker with a yu Z-a Zebra Finch with a zither
It's a little risky announcing this now, so please contact me before the Kickstarter ends if you have your sights set on one of these projections because I might change my mind in the next month!
I'm back again with bird number 12. But first, an update on the progress of Alphabird. As I write this, we're a mere one hundred and fifteen smackers from reaching our goal with less than 48 hours to go. Woohoo! I think we're gonna make it!
So on with the program......there weren't a lot of birds or instruments that start with the letter U, but fortunately, there was an exceptionally clear set of choices here-- the Umbrellabird with a ukelele. As a native Oregonian, I'm frequently told I'm not supposed to own one, but I proudly sport my Barbara Kruger bumbershoot every year. And who could resist a bird who's naturally coiffed like Elvis? I also couldn't resist choosing a ukelele because it's one of the sweetest sounds around. So.....U is Unanimously for Umbrellabird!
U is for Ullie who tuned his strings daily while trying to master slack-key ukelele.
Both males and females have a long, inflatable (!!!) wattle on their neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls. The males extend their wattles to attract the females. Some birds have red wattles, but I chose to stick with an all black-bird again.
I painted the feathers on the wattle of my bird, but I'm honestly tempted to go back in and figure out a way I can do some dimensional layering like the illustration. I'm still pretty pleased with my cowboy-booted Umbrellabird.
So......I promise you one more bird before the Kickstarter ends. And it's gonna be a good one.
Did you think I'd forget you today with my update for Alphabird? Even though it's the high holy day of bunnies and exploding peeps and bloody marys and rhubarb soup with vanilla ice cream, I would never ever forget you.
P is for Pablo who hailed from Peru. He loved to play pan flute in a floral muumuu.
I've been making penguins for years and it's one of my favorites. I believe the first ones I made were matching sets for my nieces for a holiday gift, but I've gone on to make many incarnations over the years. Here's my studio shot of the piece in progress:
As you may have noticed, I decided to go with a different kind of hat, the black Fedora or bowler-style seen on many men and women from that region. My notes suggested I'd go for a chullo, but I know penguins prefer a classier chapeau.
Every time I look at this piece, I get El Condor Pasa stuck in my head. Could be worse, right?
And hey....by the way.....Alphabird just hit 100 backers and is less than $700 from its goal. Thank you all so much! Three more days of fundraising, and then a lifetime of bird puns. And believe me, I've already come up with a millennium's worth of hilarious El Condor Pasa lyrics in the past 24 hours.
And, speaking of birds, here's a sweet Easter photo of me and my Goddaughter Birdie from today.
I'm back with bird #10.....the Raven with a recorder.....AND with great news! As a result of an email and Facebook blast, we're now a mere $1265 away from funding Alphabird! Fingers crossed that there are still a few people out there who like the thrill of waiting for the last minute. If you have been thinking about any of your friends when you've seen any of my updates, now is the time to let them know about Alphabird on Kickstarter!
Here's my sketchbook page for the letter R:
R is for Rosco, an avid sports fan. His rocking recorder led the team's marching band.
This bird is a perfect example of why I need to hire a professional photographer for this project. Black is one of those colors that can easily confound the camera, and I haven't made matters any easier with my subtle black on black feather patterning.
It was a lot of fun making this bird and his band outfit.
Thanks to everyone who has supported my project in the past few weeks! I'll be back tomorrow with bird #11.
It's time to show you my favorite bird thus far--the woodpecker playing a washboard! I used my favorite variety of woodpecker as the model: the Flicker. I made my first Flicker about 13 years ago when I was one of six Oregon artists asked to make an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree with a bird native to my state. I had just bought my house and saw a Flicker using a dead tree on the property as his own personal bug cafeteria, so that's the one I chose. You'll also see a dapper Flicker in my playing card deck! I was happy to reprise him again, but with even more detail than ever before.
W is for Wilbur
whose washboard solo
had the warblers two-steppin'
and begging for more.
I had a great time working on the details in this piece like the washboard:
It's a Kingfisher standing on a kettledrum. You'll see that my original poem had him playing a kazoo, and although I like the poem a lot, I didn't want to mess up the beautiful shape of this bird by having to bring its wings forward to play a tiny kazoo.
So I guess I have to work on the revised poem, but I'm hoping I can still work the name Kalamazoo in there!
Apparently, this breed can come in a wide variety of colors, but I chose this nice photo of common Kindfisher, with a tealy blue and rust colored one to work from.
