A Chirpy, Joyful Illustrated Series with Bird Buddy

Hello, flying fellows,

This past Christmas, we introduced a new member into our family – a delightful device known as the Bird Buddy. This smart bird feeder is equipped with a camera, a notification system, and AI software that identifies the type of birds for you. It has added a dash of color to our backyard and brought some amusement to our phones.

Initially, a Christmas present for my father, Bird Buddy found fans in every family member. The kids love seeing the postcards and watching the birds. It has transformed our backyard into a stage of ever-changing natural beauty and our living room into a theater tuned into our yard. 

The Bird Buddy app informs us when we have visitors and allows us to save the videos or photos for later. It has cute language referring to these notifications as “postcards.” The Bird Buddy does more than just alert us about these visits; it also identifies the species and provides fascinating information about them. It’s our personal birdwatching guide, making the experience educational and enjoyable at the same time.

A Creative Flight

One of the most delightful offshoots has been the opportunity to explore my artistic side. The postcards captured often resulted in bouts of laughter, especially when our avian visitors struck amusing poses or made funny faces. Inspired by the birds visiting our feeder, I started creating drawings of my favorite postcards. 

I’ve recently started an Instagram account dedicated to these little drawings. It is called Beak Happy. Follow me on Instagram or Facebook to see more of my creations.

I created these in Procreate and decided to maintain a consistent background. This lets the illustrations fully capture what it is like scrolling through our postcards at the end of the day. 

Click to see the entire collection and the photo that inspired it.

On the technical side, I used the Baskerville brush to outline the bird and the round brush to color in. I added a few shadows but tried to keep the illustration simple. Other than the Bird Buddy trademark red landing, I left the background black and white, allowing the birds to stand out.

I hope you enjoy these six drawings. I promise there will be more to come, so stay tuned. Also, pay attention to my social media sites for additional videos of this series.