White birds at White Rock

 A spin around White Rock Lake on our bicycles always includes a stop at Sunset Bay where a variety of water fowl hang out on the mud flats and fallen tree limbs.  What a surprise to discover a lone elegant white swan!  From what I could find out it is a Mute Swan and has been at the lake for several months, but no one knows how it came to be there. The American White Pelicans are also here to spend the winter, providing an ongoing show as they glide around the lake or soar overhead displaying the black tips on their ample wings.  The big birds always seems to be escorted by a flotilla of amusing little coots.  If you'd like to see some really fine photos others have taken of the pelicans and various White Rock Lake birds, click here and here.  Such a treasure we have in this lovely lake right in the heart of East Dallas!

 

Shiny birds

One more bird post.  It turned out that birds with shiny objects were a popular interpretation of the Illustration Friday topic "Shiny."  I thought it would be interesting to present a selection, showing what a range of styles you'll see from the artists who submit there.  Be sure to visit all of their blogs/websites to see more of their wonderful work.

The first is from professional  illustrator Mikela Prevost.  About her process, she says "I do a sketch on stretched watercolor, then do a tracing of the sketch on tracing paper that will later serve as my "pattern" later for cutting out clothes or other objects that require collage. I then do the tight nitty-gritty watercolor work and then reward myself with acrylic and gouache messiness to round out the rest of the background. The collage is then applied and then for kicks and giggles, I go back with acrylic or gouache to mussy-up the whole thing."

The next is by Elizabeth Rose Stanton, another professional who specializes in children's book writing and illustration,  listing her skills as "pen & ink, graphite, watercolor, pastel, some computer stuff."

 

Here is a very different take in acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper from illustrator Rachel Fuji who "hope[s]  my artwork creates dreamlike, fleeting atmospheres filled with soft, intricate details that allow the viewer time for quiet reflection."

 

Amanda Dilworth is a freelance illustrator and surface pattern designer in England.

And here is Cyndi Tanner's submission.  She's a recent graduate with a degree in illustration who works "mainly in mixed medium, goauche, ink, dyes, graphite; enhanced digitally. I also am in love with textures and love to experiment with them."

Stephen Macguignon, a children's book illustrator, says "I interpret the words written on a page by telling the story behind the story working with pen and ink and then digitally coloring."

Charley Harper

Now here's an artist who knew how to illustrate birds.

It was probably a couple of years ago that I first spied a Charley Harper calendar in a Paper Source store and immediately wanted to see more of those striking, stylized images as well as find out about the man who made them. There's certainly a lot of info on the web about Charley Harper, but I especially like this site, Charley Harper Prints.

He was of the generation that came of age around the time of WWII, and after his stint in the military, he graduated from the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1947.  Searching for a illustration style that would set him apart, he eventually developed a flattened, simplified approach which he called "minimal realism" and applied notably to nature subjects. It was a style also especially suited to serigraphy, aka silk-screen printing, which he embraced enthusiastically.  Be sure to read his own genial account of his artistic development and career.

One of the things I found most interesting was his work for Ford Times magazine. According to various Internet sources it was first an employee publication and later a general interest magazine.  The Charley Harper Prints website says it was sent by Ford dealers to their patrons.  My parents were Buick drivers, so I'd never heard of it; have you?  From 1948 to 1982, Charley Harper contributed illustrations to Ford Times, and it was through this publication that he became acclaimed for his renditions of birds, hand-screened prints of which were even made available to readers.

To me, whatever the date, his is quintessentially art of the 50s, and as part of the generation that fell in love with the whirls and curls of Art Nouveau in the late 60s, it took me a while to fully appreciate this particular aesthetic.  But who couldn't look at his brilliant reductions that capture so well the minimal telling details and not be impressed?  His artwork is graphic, colorful, and decorative, with subjects – birds, bugs, fish, forest creatures – that are easy to love.



Today's aesthetic sensibility seems to be attuned to his work; locally I've seen prints by at least a couple of artists who have obviously been inspired by him. It seems that designer Todd Oldham as creative director of Old Navy is probably responsible for introducing Charley Harper to today's shoppers; in a video that's definitely worth watching he talks about discovering a Ford Times magazine in a thrift store and his subsequent captivation with Charley Harper's art. Whatever may be the case, I'm certainly grateful to have been introduced to this artist with his unique vision. Not only is his artwork a delight to look it, it also helps one's own eye to see with a different perspective.