I had this idea to draw an owl. Snowy owls in particular have really cool patterns on their feathers. Sometimes I get lost in their repeating patterns. Drawing the same thing the same way over and over becomes meditative.
I got on to other things but the snowy owl kept nagging at me. I think I invented this one in my head, because he was a mix of two different owls. He had the face of the owl in Labyrinth, but the body of a different species.
He fluttered out about a year ago. Art Share L.A. contacted me about designing a beer can for Angel City Brewery downtown. Angel. Like, big white wing angel.
An idea started to form.
The beer was called Faux Snow because it uses potato flakes - the old Hollywood trick for snow in movies. So a snowy owl on a field of potato plants.
How would I incorporate the hops and spruce tips?
The answer came from my sister.
"You're from the land of real snow," she said. "Why don't you include a bison on it to represent Buffalo?"
Another idea coalesced. A bison with a winter laurel crown like the Ghost of Christmas Present from A Christmas Carol. It would have chinook hops and spruce tips in it ... the last remaining ingredients of the beer.
The can debuted last Friday. I still have the original black ink drawings of the owl and bison and potato fields that led into a spruce forest at the foot of some mountains.
I have another idea for fish. Don't know where that one will end up.
A can of sardines perhaps?
