List of animals:
-texas horned lizard
-whooping crane
-great egret
-texas kangaroo rat
- peregrine falcon
-black crowned night heron
-Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
Consider
What is the animal’s personality? Write adjectives down to help guide your form making.
graceful
buoyant
stalking
elegant
What are the similarities and differences between you and your animal’s behavior? List them.
- quiet
- patient
What are your animal’s special traits or behaviors?
- stalking and wading for prey
- fly slowly but powerfully
What factors led to the animal’s extinction or endangered status?
- habit loss
- degradation
- contaminated runoff from farm fields or sewage treatment
- water pollution
- disturbance of nesting colonies
Narrative Story:
Great Egret (Ardea alba egretta)
Wading through the marshland, I extend my long S-curved neck and look for prey. I primarily eat fish, reptiles, birds, and small mammals. Endangered in Pennsylvania, I also head south for winter to areas like Dallas, Texas. I’m usually spotted by the local kayakers as I stand immobile to capture a fish with a deadly jab of my yellow, dagger like bill. Patiently waiting, I stand still and scan the water for fish and other small aquatic creatures. You can find me in both freshwater and saltwater, but over the years our population has been declining due to habitat loss, degradation, water pollution, and disturbance of nesting colonies. For some size reference, I’m smaller than a great blue heron and larger than a snowy egret, so you could say I’m close to goose-size or a little larger. One of my most impressive features is my wingspan which can be as long as 5.6 feet! I weigh around 3.3 lbs and I’m around 3.5 feet tall. In the late nineteenth century my species was nearly hunted to extinction for our plumes, but this sparked some conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds. Even though I spend most of my time wading in the marshes and I can also be found flying to nesting colonies. I fly slowly but powerfully, with just two wing beats per second my cruising speed is around 25 miles per hour. Gliding through marshland, I tuck my long neck in and my long legs trail behind. During the breeding season, a patch of skin on my face turns neon green, and long plumes grow from my back. We are known as colonial nesters and usually place stick nests high in trees above lakes, ponds, marshes, and lakes. Sometimes these nests are up to 100 feet off the ground! One interesting fact about me is that the National Audubon Society used me for their logo. This is one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America. Most recognizable from my color pattern, I have white feathers, a yellowish orange bill, and black legs.
Sketches & Notes:
Feb. 25
Goal for first iteration:
- don’t focus on color or texture
- accurately depict the angles and proportions
- full animal/bust
- post 2–3 pics anonymously on Miro(top view/side/perspective) — group them together(command G)
Design Ideas:
- simplified form
- body- Clorox or milk container upside down
- curved flap piece for tail feathers
- 3–4 tube pieces for S-curved neck
- detergent handle for head
- orange tide pods container for bill
Feb. 28
Before I began cutting my plastic, I decided to go into more depth studying the proportions of the great white egret. I’m still playing around with the orientations I could display but I’m going to start with position of the bird slightly tilted forward, looking for fish in the marshes. One thing I really want to keep in mind while doing this iteration is to focus on the exaggeration of the S-curved neck so that this is really distinctive and recognizable. Instead of making the entire bird, I will leave off the legs and focus on the form of body.
Materials:
- bill/beak: slivers of tide pod container
- head: Febreze spray top
- neck: spray bottle, handle of detergent/milk container
- body: Clorox/milk container upside down/curved plastic piece for hump
- tail: long curved piece for the tail feathers and to soften the form
- wings: kept close to the sides of the body so I need slightly curved convex pieces to attach to the milk container on both sides
- feet/legs: plastic hangers attached to the milk container at almost a 45 degree angle backward and the joint of the leg going forward
Mar. 1
Goal for review on Tuesday:
- finish first iteration(2–3 pics from different angles)
- post anonymously on Miro(group them — command G)
Mar. 2
Notes from Class:
- parts vs. whole
- simplified form
- using form instead of creating it
- inherent qualities
- color vs. contrast
Focus for Thursday:
- find more pieces for the neck(green pieces are distracting and look as though you are trying to highlight those areas
- beak color is good; work on a simple interaction(movement of beak/wings)
- revise the legs and feet and clean up the model
Mar. 3
Process images:
Iteration: #2
Adjustments:
- longer beak
- smoothing out the curves
- changing the legs and feet(how they attach to the body)
Mar. 4
Critique Notes:
- focus on interaction for Tuesday(open and close beak)
- re-make the beak with more dimension
- bigger piece to for the wings(should cover more of the bird)
- straight beak instead of curved beak
- soften the curve on the back of the head(more of an S-curve/not as abrupt)
- change the knee joint or make the connecting piece slightly smaller
- change the angle of the body/neck(neck angled down a bit more)
Mar. 5–8
Final Iteration:
Overall, I think I was able to accurately portray the proportions of the Great White Egret. If I had more time to work on it, I would find more pieces to make the neck more S-shaped and I would also change the angle of the neck.
