Secretary bird. I had to look up if he actually exists, with all those AI images I wasn’t sure. And he exists indeed, this cool looking dude.
The secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a unique, large raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, known for its impressive snake-hunting abilities and distinctive appearance. He stands about 1.2 to 1.4 meters (approximately 4 to 4.5 feet) tall, making it one of the tallest birds of prey. It has a wingspan of over 2 meters (6.6 feet).
The first 10-15 animal took definitely some effort. Effort to sit down, and effort to sketch. Now I am at the point where I am starting to have fun.
I have been using Pinterest a lot to look up reference images and create boards. I only now discovered that Pinterest is drowning under a flood of AI-generated junk. What once was a useful platform for photographs, has turned info an AI dump which is flooded with ads. I didn’t notice it at first because I hadn’t been on Pinterest in months, but it became especially apparent when looking up images of birds and suddenly I was faced with only AI generated non-existent bird species. Beside the creepy look of AI generated imagery, they look like the same same garbage the more you look at them.
I have been listening to a lot of illustrator and artist podcast and the discussion with the issue of anything AI generated. While there are the fast-fashion consumers that don’t see anything wrong with anything AI generated, there are the traditional artists. Art lives through its imperfections. No human generated art, being it music, painting, sculpture will ever be 100% perfect. They might be close but not perfect. And it is this imperfections that gives the artwork its soul and life.
Have you been noticing that Pinterest is collapsing under the weight of AI-generated garbage?
Sun is shining, but it’s freezing cold out there. Perfect drawing weather. Another page filled with random animals. What other weird and wonderful animals are out there?
Summer came and went. I am trying once again to get out of hibernation with a step by step plan. I tidied up my desk and drawers. I realised that the most valuable possessions I have are a dozen ink bottles and the piles of watercolour paper that I accumulated over the years and never used. Let’s not mention the box of Caran d’Ache coloured pencils that I bought one by one…Just like books, buying art supplies is just too tempting wherever I am. Time to use them all!
So follow along for my September plan. Join in if you want!
draw 100 animals
dust off my pencils
take out my ink again
have fun with my sketch book
draw daily for at least 20 min
This will be my INKtober warm up. Last year was the first year after 7 continuous years of participating in Inktober that I skipped it. Will try to make up for it this year.
2025 is the year of changes. Time to embrace them and make the most out of it. The changes are not always positive, but even those are an opportunity for growth and to turn them into positive outcomes. So we are still hanging in there…
Seems I am a mono-tasker after all. While I am focusing on my Etsy I have been neglecting my blog a lot this year… BUT I have not just been idle, there have been the occasional sketches and also editing work on my book.
I realized the last post has been a while. I was busy enjoying the sun in the Algarve in Portugal.
Despite the lack of updates on my blog, I have been busy with my Etsy designs and was working on my never ending book project. BUT the end is near and I can hopefully get started on the next adventure one soon!
In the meantime here is a little easter bunny for you.
Yes, I have been busy. Drawing, working, editing illustrations, my first proper commission. So much so that I forgot all about the blog.
Valentine’s day is just around a corner. I prefer Friendship Day, Ystävänpäivä as they call it in Finland. Still missing a card? I put some up on my ETSY Shop.
I finally tidied up my desk and came across all those ink bottles I bought over the years. Thought it was time to give some of those different colours a try. I usually just go straight for black ink but I quite like the look of the indigo one, the bird on the far left.
Here are some more printable cards I have been designing. Way too late as every year.
Let me know which one is you favourite?
Subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll be sending out another round of printable versions tomorrow, in case you are in need of that last minute Christmas card.
Of course if you like to support my art you can also go to my Etsy for more printable posters and cards 😉
Melanie Franz 