Ever wonder about the process an artist goes through when developing new product? Given an overall bird type theme the studio products and art was taking on for the Christmas season, I knew that the 2022 holiday card would have a bird on it this year. And I felt that the cardinal was the correct choice. But creating just the right cardinal proved to be quite a process!

The first idea was go go bold and graphic. It was good in theory but it just wasn’t coming together so as you can see I didn’t even finish this one. That happens sometimes!

Next attempt was this guy. It’s more complete but I struggled not getting him to look so angry! To top it off I showed it to my husband who said it looked like the bird had eaten too much Thanksgiving dinner. Sigh. And back to the drawing board!

I think it was worth the process! Here’s the end result! This cardinal is happy and bright. The imagery will make for a great holiday or Christmas card. Who doesn’t want a bit of bright mail at this time of year? Get on the studio newsletter list to have first dibs at this limited print run of cards. They will be available with a choice of inside messages.