The Birds Go Pirate

Well I tried, but the the birds have their own agenda. After painting them and drawing them in their little canoes repeatedly they decided they wanted to evolve in the grand scheme of nautical history.

They pirated these ships.

I am not proud of this, but they are particularly driven in their need to find and claim new migratory routes. Plus these boats are more stylish.

The first image is the first pirated vessel. The pieces that follow are part of a series depicting the fleet. You will not see the birds on these ships as it is an issue of scale. The boats are huge, the birds are busy.

What I like about these two ensuing images besides the conceptual component are the lines and the flat washes. Frankly, they remind me of the children’s books I grew up with in the days before full-colored illustrations were affordable. The fresh linear elements excite me. The layered sense of space came about through transparency, as if you could see through all the ships to the horizon. It is meant to create a sense of limitless space and ships innumerable. All of these pieces are mixed drawing media and tempera paint on watercolor paper, 22×30″ in size.

I am a bit afraid of what the birds will make me do next. At the moment they are in their pilot quarters pouring over maps…