How to Draw: ‘Kawaii Birdies’

If you asked me for a list of my creative skills, I could name many things in the world of fiber arts, wordplay, and kitchen-related crafts. What I could not name would be drawing. It is of frequent lament to me that my traditional artistic skills are null and void. Of late, however, my children have been waxing poetic about how I am a wonderful “drawer,” even better than Daddy! They have been asking me to draw things for them. They have been asking to draw with me. They have been coming up with things I can draw on. I think I may have found the long-lost key to acquiring this skill. The how-to-draw book!

Kawaii Birdies was published on May 7, and we have been having a fine feathered time with our cute feathered friends. It’s funny, I have always shied away from these kinds of books. I really am exceptionally bad at drawing, and I suppose I just didn’t want it to be so categorically proven as when I failed with a how-to-draw book. My middle child, however, is a talented artist, and as he grows his skill set with various how-to-draw books I see that creativity he has in spades.

He has been working his way through several varieties of how-to books for years. My 8-year-old is likewise an avid artist; she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up. One of her favorite things to do is use plain wrapping paper when wrapping birthday gifts so that she can draw on the packages with things the recipient will enjoy. For myself, even after this exceptionally cute and helpful book I still have limited skill. Yet, while I do know several who would do much better than I when presented with this book, I am no longer without skill. And all talk of skill aside, I find that for the first time since my own childhood, I am thoroughly enjoying drawing.

The book has several layers of birdy artistry. You can learn how to draw the birds, you can learn how to draw fantasy renditions of the birds, and you can experiment with creating your own birds.

I began with a few regular chubby birds—all the birds are chubby—but after only a couple my children were desperate for me to try the fantasy birds. Each presents its own challenges due to the amount of detail involved, but the written instructions that go along with the pictures got rid of most of my worries, and I only messed up when I tried to get ahead of myself. It felt daunting at first, and I approached my artistic foray with great trepidation. But once the bird’s personality started to emerge on the page, I didn’t really mind the differences, I just loved the experience. And the cuteness.

The book details four different body types for the birds—oval, round, tall, and long—but all of the kawaii birds are delightfully chubby. There are old-world birds, new-world birds, domesticated birds, and my favorite, wild birds. There is no bird discrimination in the choice of birds in this book. It really goes into nice but easy-to-understand detail about all the different types of birds and what makes them different. We are avid bird watchers from our living room couch, and it’s nice to draw what we see.

When you move into the fantasy section of the books you will find the birds engaged in activities such as bathing, nesting, and perching, but then you will also move into the “Shenanigans” section where you will find them playing video games or taking a jacuzzi in a cup of tea. This is finished off with the birdy dress-up section, where you will find a teenage bird but also a Shakespearean bard bird.

After you have completed the tutorials, the rest of the book is filled to the brim with inspiration and coloring pages. It definitely goes beyond a lot of the books my son has drawn with over the past few years, but, at the same time, it works with all ages.

Sometime in my late thirties, I reached that milestone at which you suddenly become very aware and interested in the birds that come to your house. You will regularly find me bird-watching from my couch—waiting for our bluebirds to nest again, watching the Tits chase the Blue Jay away. The Big Year is one of my most re-watched movies. So apparently birds are now just an all round thing I geek out over!

Thanks to Jen Budrock, the wonderful artist behind Kawaii Birdies, I now have another birdy itch to scratch and the tools to scratch with. Be forewarned before checking out the shop on her website, the cuteness will burn a hole in your credit card.

GeekMom received an advanced copy of this book for review purchases.