This is a blog to show the process I went through to complete my entry for the Threadless Loves Drawing contest.



First some thumbnail concept stage sketches. My wife Jennifer had this idea for a bunch of different kinds of birds all working together to bear the weight of the world with ease and playful flying. I really liked this Idea but was struggling to find a way to connect the birds to the world. Would they be using rope or a net or what??? I opted for the net with ropes extending off of it.


I collected some source material to base me drawings off; thank you google :). While drawing the first couple of birds I had an idea to make the birds sewing the world with thread. That is the kind of concept shift or happy accident that occurs while you concentrate on an idea or perception by drawing. After drawing the animals and globes general shape out with pencil I inked them with pen and then used watercolor to shade and color:


Finally I knew I wanted the threads to be both green and blue and for the illustration to go on darker backgrounds. This work was done with Photoshop using a Cintiq screen from Wacom:


This art is pending approval from threadless

High Res View: