It is an understatement so say I was excited when Kevin Fisher, art director for Audubon Magazine, called with an assignment to reinterpret one of John James Audubon’s painting for the Illustrated Audubon series. Many of the best illustrators have contributed to the series and it was a project which was on my list of dream assignments.
Kevin asked if I would reinterpret the Great American Hen since the issue would fall during Thanksgiving. I was not familiar with the Great American Hen and would not have picked it on my own but it was perfect for my approach to reinterpreting. The biggest barrier during sketches was being too respectful of the original painting. Kevin assured me he wanted it completely deconstructed and rebuilt as I would approach the assignment. There is a great quote that art is about misremembering and this was the approach taken. I started with the relationship between mother and hen and the hen was literally deconstructed to a wire frame like body. Once the wire frame idea came to mind, the rest flowed.
We were both happy with the final art. Much thanks to Kevin for one of my favorite projects of the year.
Sketches for the Illustrated Aviary. The final was pushed further as Kevin encouraged me to give the “full Yang” treatment
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The final art in print.
