How to Draw Dr. Birdley

Here is the first installment in a how-to-guide to draw Dr. Birdley. This was suggested to me by Kristen, a student in my sixth period class. I know it would work better with pictures, so those are coming. But in the meantime, see if you can figure it out with these steps. This is how to draw him turned slightly to the right side of the paper (or papyrus, if that's what you're using.)

1. First, start with the eyes. Draw two circles...make the right one a skosh smoller.
2. Then, draw the curved line for the head. Use a few zig-zag lines for the feathers.
3. Then, draw the beak. Start near the eyes and go to the point of the beak.
4. Draw the mouth as part of the beak. (This is where the drawing would come in handy. Oh well!)
5. Draw the collar and bowtie.
6. Then, draw the jacket. Do the flaps on the sides and two pockets.
7. Don't forget the pads on the elbows for that professorly look!
8. Draw a line in the center of the shirt.
9. Draw the hands: three triangular fingers and a triangular thumb. They can be tricky.
10. Draw the belt. Black with a yellow buckle, if you are using color.
11. Draw the pants. Typically the legs are about as big as his upper body.
12. Finally, draw the shoes and maybe a bit of a shadow under him.

That's it! You should have a Birdley staring back at you...or more likely, into space. I'll have to put up some online pictures to go with this once I carve out a spare hour.

Art & Science

Over the years I've had a lot of students who have surprised me with the way they combine art and science. Whether its through comics, posters, flipbooks, or other media, these students have been able to convey science ideas in artistic ways that grab the interest of the viewer. In the Dr. Birdley strip this quality emerges in Neil, an artistic student is initially jaded with science and is caught doodling in class. After learning more about why elements are important, he starts to think about science more creatively and begins painting a few molecules. Neil can be seen painting one of his masterpieces in this panel from the comic Symbols and Formulas (included in DBTS: Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures).