stickynotebirds - Tumblr blog

[stickynotebirds]

327. Oystercatcher

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326. Crested Jayshrike

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325. Doodle

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324. Masked lapwing

[stickynotebirds]

when you complete your goal with this project, what will you do after? Will you keep this blog up so people can find it?

I will keep the blog up for everyone! Even if I'm starting to get a little tired of drawing birds it has been so much fun creating a little community around bird appreciation. I dont think I could just delete it :)

After the challenge is over I'm probably going to take a small break from art before returning to use my art blog, @night-the-starfish (I havn't posted a single thing there since starting this challenge lol)

[stickynotebirds]

323. Squacco Heron

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322. Shoebill

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321. Boat-billed Heron (again)

[stickynotebirds]

I use stabilo (the thin ones) and a staedtler highlighter. You can see the colors below :)

They are just what I had laying around when I started the challenge. I have had them forever so I can't really say what they cost.

However, I will say that staedtler highlighters have very intense colors which is great when it is yellow but maybe a bit too much with other colors. At least that's my opinion.

Do you only use color pencils?

I'm so glad you asked me this anon because now I can ramble about my art supplies! (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

So when I started this challenge I thought it would be fun to only work with cheap office supplies (yes, I consider dollar store colored pencils an office supply). You see, limiting your art supplies is fun because it forces you to be creative and experiment with different looks. And the texture of colored pencils works really well to imitate the texture of feathers.

However! Using only cheap colored pencils gets kind of boring if you have to do a challenge for an entire year. So after around 50 birds I started slowly adding to my arsenal:

Higher quality colored pencils

Some birds have bright vibrant colors which are impossible to achieve with bad colored pencils. Which is why I added some slightly better quality pencils to the mix.

I still don't have a good green pencil which is why it took me so long to draw a kakapo and why I still haven't drawn a kea...

Highlighters in different colors

You might not think that highlights are a very useful art supply but they have been very useful in this challenge for two reasons: 1) They are great for creating the shiny iridescent quality of some feathers (see my drawings of hummingbirds for examples) 2) how the f do you show the difference between yellow and white when working on yellow paper?? Yellow highlighter!

Black fineliners

The texture of pencils does not work well if you want to draw something that's fully black. This is especially important to me because my favorite birds, coots, are black.

Fineliners are the markers I have found that gives me the least texture for the ideal slick black bird look.

White Posca pen

For making white details. I use it most often for making eyes and feathers look shiny but sometimes also for larger details.

So there you have it! The semi-complete list of art supplies I use! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Since I only have around 50 birds left to draw I probably won't be adding anything new before the challenge is over (unless I find a good green pencil lol)

[stickynotebirds]

Do you only use color pencils?

I'm so glad you asked me this anon because now I can ramble about my art supplies! (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

So when I started this challenge I thought it would be fun to only work with cheap office supplies (yes, I consider dollar store colored pencils an office supply). You see, limiting your art supplies is fun because it forces you to be creative and experiment with different looks. And the texture of colored pencils works really well to imitate the texture of feathers.

However! Using only cheap colored pencils gets kind of boring if you have to do a challenge for an entire year. So after around 50 birds I started slowly adding to my arsenal:

Higher quality colored pencils

Some birds have bright vibrant colors which are impossible to achieve with bad colored pencils. Which is why I added some slightly better quality pencils to the mix.

I still don't have a good green pencil which is why it took me so long to draw a kakapo and why I still haven't drawn a kea...

Highlighters in different colors

You might not think that highlights are a very useful art supply but they have been very useful in this challenge for two reasons: 1) They are great for creating the shiny iridescent quality of some feathers (see my drawings of hummingbirds for examples) 2) how the f do you show the difference between yellow and white when working on yellow paper?? Yellow highlighter!

Black fineliners

The texture of pencils does not work well if you want to draw something that's fully black. This is especially important to me because my favorite birds, coots, are black.

Fineliners are the markers I have found that gives me the least texture for the ideal slick black bird look.

White Posca pen

For making white details. I use it most often for making eyes and feathers look shiny but sometimes also for larger details.

So there you have it! The semi-complete list of art supplies I use! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Since I only have around 50 birds left to draw I probably won't be adding anything new before the challenge is over (unless I find a good green pencil lol)

[stickynotebirds]

320. Boat-billed Heron

[stickynotebirds]

Where do you put all the sticky notes after you post them!? Throw them out or do you have a wall of them somewhere?

I have them all in a nice little stack! (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-)⁠ﾉ✧

I do plan on hanging them all on a wall and take a picture once I'm done though!

(i must have put at least 100 hours into these bad boys im never ever throwing them out)

[stickynotebirds]

319. Horned Coot

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318. Andean Coot

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317. Red-gartered Coot

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316. Red-knobbed Coot

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315. Giant Coot