“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” – Maya Angelou, author

I started birdwatching over the COVID lockdown. I ordered a birdbath, a pair of budget binoculars, and started observing all the feathered friends that visit my garden. Last year, I decided to join the Los Angeles Birders and the Pasadena Audubon Society and have been attending monthly bird walks with both groups. Like calligraphers, birders are such interesting people! Both require such esoteric knowledge and years of learning, understanding, practice and observation.

I’ve had a project bubbling in my head for years – I wanted to learn to draw birds better and combine my love of birding and calligraphy in a series called “Birds of My Neighborhood” (also one of my favorite albums by a wonderful American alternative rock / indie folk band called The Innocence Mission). When I received an Apple Pencil for my birthday last year, it was a great time to get started!

Above are the first three birds I illustrated using an Apple Pencil, using the Freeform app. From left to right: White-crowned Sparrow, Allen’s Hummingbird and Northern Flicker.

My first piece, the White-crowned sparrow. The reference text for these practice pieces come from All About Birds / the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Calligraphy is done with pen and ink, then scanned in and combined with the digital art in Photoshop. Title text is Uncial using watercolor, body text is Italic Hand in walnut ink.

Next is Allen’s Hummingbird, my “spark bird.” They are tiny birds with big personalities and I am so happy to have them in my garden year-round. Title text is in Pointed Pen using gouache, body text is Italic Hand in walnut ink.

The most recent is my favorite – the Northern Flicker. Title text is RomItalic using watercolor, body text is Italic Hand in walnut ink. This is a male “Red-shafted” Northern Flicker, they are found in the Western U.S. and Canada. This digital drawing took the longest because of all the details and it kept crashing my iPad! But, I am happy with how it turned out, and upon recommendations, I will definitely try the Procreate app soon.

My current work in progress is a pair of Mourning Doves. I’ve been going through some rough times so I have put it on pause, but I think I will hear their sweet cooing calls beckoning me to them soon.

Hope your 2026 is off to a great start.