Sunday, June 01, 2008

baby crow

Birdland II ~ 4" x 4"

Ellen very generously offered to give me her extra scanner when our
old desktop computer gave up the ghost. The scanner I was using still worked, but without our old computer (the ancient scanner's printer port was from a different millennium) there was nothing to plug it into! I got the new scanner up and running today and what a difference! Now I need a digital SLR. Anyone willing to help...?

To help make it worth her while I have been doing a couple of small drawings (more below) based on my Primal Landscape paintings to frame and give to her. Now, Ellen has something special going on with crows so it was weird that while I was doing this drawing a fledgling somehow ended up on our back lawn. Carl was mowing the grass when he discovered it. Greg put the baby up in the cherry tree so Carl could finish the grass but the parents were beside themselves, screaming and divebombing Carl, so he gave up to let them deal with their not-yet-able-to-fly young'un. I love crows. For a great video on their intelligence check this out, as recommended to me by Hayden.

I finished the drawing by making the birds in the tree into crows, with the baby on the ground below. Then I remembered that this week's Illustration Friday theme is 'baby'. It's just one synchronicity after another.
epoch II
bloom II

26 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I feel a lot of magic in your post today. Always love your little drawings. And the baby bird even though it's a crow is just to cute. Actually I believe crows are good for creativity.

1/6/08 6:05 p.m.  
Blogger tlchang said...

Love the 'Primal Landscapes'... I wished my brain worked a bit more that way.

A shiny, new, spiffy scanner is on my wish list for my next studio upgrade... I've about given up on my current one. Lucky girl.

1/6/08 6:29 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cool print and adorable baby bird. I actually like crows - they are a little raucous, but that's okay.

1/6/08 6:50 p.m.  
Blogger Ellen said...

Hey I'm the luckiest girl in the world! I've seen the bottom one, fabulous in person, they're all wonderful!! (That crow one is for ME?? she asks hopefully and eagerly)

Love the synchronicity with the fledgling.

Also, I'm curious, when you do your primal landscape paintings, do you do a lot of planning with thumbnails or sketches first on it is mostly spontaneous on canvas?

1/6/08 7:02 p.m.  
Blogger dinahmow said...

Awww! How cute. And how's this for another link in the synch...I got home 20 minutes ago and a juvenile crow was sitting on the street lamp(at our gate). There are lots of crows around, but this is the first time I've seen one at our place.

1/6/08 7:49 p.m.  
Blogger Caroline said...

Fabulous crow synchronicities.

2/6/08 12:48 a.m.  
Blogger Heather said...

Love the new works! Crows are one of my favorite birds...except when I am camping...I don't like to sleep inside a tent unless it's raining, and crows like to drop things on you and caw real loud so you'll get up and start making breakfast...so they can get some of course. My friend growing up had one as a pet, it was the coolest bird ever, and smart to the point where it was scary sometimes. I love them and your work! Later tater.

2/6/08 3:06 a.m.  
Blogger Melody said...

Don't you just love it when something comes together like that. Gorgeous work

2/6/08 4:16 a.m.  
Blogger Paula In Pinetop said...

I'm a crow gal too. I love birds in general, but those crows, they have a world all their own.

2/6/08 7:37 a.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Toni: After you commented I added the link to the TED video. Check it out!

Tara: I realized that the clunker I was using was from the '90s. You will be amazed at how streamlined and efficient they are now!

Citizen: The TED video (see comment to Toni) is really worth a watch.

Ellen: Emailed already. ANd no, I'm the lucky one.

Dinah: They really are as ubiquitous as humans aren't they?

Caroline: I knew you'd like that. :)

Heather: Wouldn't a pet crow be great? I was so tempted to take that juvenile yesterday just because I'd love to see, first hand, how smart they really are.

Melody: Synchronicities are the spice of life.

Paula: They sure do.

2/6/08 9:07 a.m.  
Blogger Peyton said...

And did you know that Jay's are part of the crow family too? Just prettier.

2/6/08 10:35 a.m.  
Blogger Connie said...

Love your crow landscape both as a design and because I'm also a fan of crows and have daydreamed about taming one! We live in east central Scotland which is great crow country. Enjoyed the video.

2/6/08 10:48 a.m.  
Blogger Ian Lidster said...

Wonderful medieval feeling to this.

2/6/08 2:21 p.m.  
Blogger nadine said...

Loved all your crow synchronicities. The drawings are great. What do you use? Gel pens?! My home town (Thompson Manitoba) is full of Ravens. Which of course I never appreciated as a kid, but miss deeply now that I am so far away.
And isn't TED just the best? I dream of breaking a hip so guilt-free hour after guilt-free hour, I could just lie in my bed surfing the TED site.

2/6/08 5:10 p.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Peter: And just as noisy -- and clever! (Well, maybe not quite as clever...)

Connie: If east central Scotland and northern Queensland (Dinahmow) are both crow country, I'm beginning to wonder what corner of the world isn't!

Ian: I never would've thought of that.

Nadine: Gel pens, Sharpies, white pencil crayons, etc. Ravens are like super crows aren't they? (And you have heard The Tragically Hip's song, Thompson Girl, right?)

3/6/08 6:50 a.m.  
Blogger Cynthia said...

Fantastic drawings, Andrea!

That seems like you've encountered a bit of magic.

If you find any SLRs growing on trees, would ya let me know?

3/6/08 9:17 a.m.  
Blogger Lorie McCown said...

delightful style, nice treatment.

3/6/08 11:50 a.m.  
Blogger Romeo Morningwood said...

I don't know if you read my post about a Crow following me while I was walking my son to school..it freaked me out becuase of all the mythical mumbo jumbo about Crows being a sign of a deceased relative trying to give you a message..which is prolly See You Soon!..so it was weird.

I love your trilobites and the evolutionary sediment..
you love exposing the layers of secrets yet to be discovered that are right under our feet.

Yowza!

3/6/08 9:10 p.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Cynthia: Those SLRs growing on trees are probably being protected by crows!

Lori: Thanks.

Donn: I don't usually miss any of your posts but that doesn't sound familiar. I'll be right over... (and no, I'm not saying that because I am, secretly, The Grim Reaper...)

4/6/08 6:43 a.m.  
Blogger Zig said...

how do you know it was a crow and not a rook?

4/6/08 2:42 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I found you through Tara at Silver Apples. I must say I'm very impressed. I took the time to quickly scan through some previous posts. I'll have to come back when I have more time. I love your process and the small painting are wonderful!

5/6/08 6:41 a.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Ziggi: You tell me!

Vicki: Thanks for visiting.

5/6/08 7:01 a.m.  
Blogger Sandra Evertson said...

These are Amazing! And I have to say I think you have THE best blog name EVER!
Sandra Evertson

5/6/08 8:54 a.m.  
Blogger mimi said...

I love the Corvid family. We have crows and ravens, but I love the magpie. When the fledglings leave the nest, the already noisy birds fly from tree to tree with constant communication between parents and young.
The magpies talk back and forth in a call that distinctly resembles a question, with the calls ending on a higher note. Do you see this with crows?

6/6/08 8:30 a.m.  
Blogger merlinprincesse said...

Thanks for the video, Andrea! I love crows too. I've loved them since a little girl and know they are very intelligent! :) A crow is my totemic bird! :)

7/6/08 7:10 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These works are not only charming, they are on the brink of being very important. The mexicali motif has become a contemporary design in which a myth has materialized. I like the little crows in the tree or, is that the mythological crow tree born from the remains of some ancient crow?

12/6/08 4:05 p.m.  

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