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P.M. Neist

Hurray for the birds: the power of black and white


sketch drawing of large black bird with three chicks

Two weekends ago, I drew a large bird with three little chicks.

This isn't my best drawing by a very long shot - the chicks aren't particularly worked out and I had to tie the composition with a bunch of orange flowers to sort of balance things out - but I posted the result on Facebook, for grins, and immediately people liked it.

Someone asked if I would print cards with the drawing on it. Another person asked if it was for sale. It's not.

Why people like this drawing is because it is an experiment in contrast:

  • black birds/white background

  • tall bird/small chicks

  • straight legs/squiggly tail

  • black feet/white legs

  • three birds look at each other/one bird looks aways

Oh! And that big round eye on the big bird! Hard to miss, uh?

Our eyes and brains adore this stuff. It's what baby-Einstein toys are made of.

Personally, I have great fun doing it. In fact, I am thinking about turning it to the extreme and redraw the bird as a super long, sleek, narrow dude with a flocks of fluffy little chicks pecking at the bottom of the page. I have just the right fabric to incorporate in the design and I am obsessed with this particular shade of orange-ish pink that will work great for the flowers.

I will let you take a peek in the next post.

In the meantime, hurray for the birds and the wonders of the human eyesight!


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