I recently reached 40K followers on Instagram, which is both just a number ... and also a cause to give thanks. I thank you for following along my creative journey, for sharing comments, feedback, ideas, and your creativity. For taking my free classes, my not-free online workshops, and my in-person gigs at Shop Made in DC and at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington. Not only do I feel fortunate to be connected to a HUGE
community of creatives, but I am also very appreciative of how this following allows me to reach so many.
I brainstormed a way to mark this virtual milestone with a thank-you and decided on this easy Mixed Media Bird Tutorial that I hope you will enjoy.
I'll list my steps below, and then at the very bottom of this page is a PDF file with two pages of super simple bird shapes (which I cut from paper bags to use as my templates). You can print these out and use as templates yourself, or you can just wing it, and craft your own!
Here's my process in 5 easy steps:
Make some simple bird silhouettes to use as templates (this makes making a series easier). You can cut them from paper bags, from cardboard, etc.)
Use your templates to cut your bird silhouette shapes from black paper (I painted scrap paper with black acrylic paint for my birds).
Glue your bird silhouettes to your substrate. The silhouettes that I have provided can be adapted (trimmed) to work on different size formats: small and larger greeting cards, postcards, even ATCs!
I added details (some or many) to my bird shapes using a white gel pen or paint pen, but you could also use a colored pencil.
For the last step, I enjoyed doodling a variety of patterns in the space remaining around the birds, but you may think of other ways to decorate yours. (I'm thinking of making mine with polka dots next time.)
And that's it! I know, super simple. right? I really like the subtle contrast between the black-and-white birds and the single-color doodling ... but again, you may find more fun ways to embellish yours.
Please share by tagging me on Instagram so that I can see yours (I'm @jenniferwilkinpenick).
Below is a button that links to a PDF with 2 pages of bird silhouettes (like those that you see here), ready to print or just to take inspiration from.
Enjoy!