August 2023 Illustrations *˚⁺‧͙ ✧⁺‧͙。

The enchanted forest theme is complete! I loved drawing these glowing, purply images. It was a nice summer sendoff.

Thank you all for your suggestions and votes! The winners were sooo close this month.

Enchanted Forest Theme Poll Winners:

• Small Animal Curled Under Glowing Mushroom (63 Votes)
• Fox Kit (63 Votes)
• Nine-Tailed Fox (62 Votes)
• Fairy Garden (61 Votes)

Did the polls work correctly this time? I'm not sure if there's a fix yet, but if you're looking to vote for multiple options and the polls won't let you, it may work correctly on another device (computer or ipad). 

I hope you felt encouraged by the drawings this month. And if not, I hope at least they were fun to look at! ♥

Where I live, summer is winding down and that means bird migrations! We've already stopped seeing hooded orioles, who head down to warmer Mexico for their non-breeding season.

Such pretty birds! I won't miss the "presents" they leaves on the feeders, however. XD

Lately we've been seeing a frenzy of hummingbirds as they pass through California heading south.

There's so much dramatic movement and color, it looks almost like a renaissance painting, no? I'd like to point out a few interesting birbs here!

Female Black-Chinned Hummingbirds look very similar to Anna's Hummingbirds! Usually they can be differentiated by the behavior-- BC's flare their tails more often, and they have dramatic black feathers with white tips.

Allen's Hummingbirds are almoooost year-round where I live. They are common in northern San Diego, about an hour south. I think they like the coastal warm air!

Anna's hummingbirds live in my area year-round and are the cutest little friend-shape borbs! She's sticking out her little tongue here, so sweet.

I hope the migrators all make it to their destinations safely! It's amazing that they do this every year, hundreds of miles!

Also, I am so excited about the White-Crowned Sparrows returning this year. In past years we saw them mid-September, fingers crossed! I love their songs, and they're so fun to watch. ♥

Thanks for letting me nerd out about birds for a bit there. If you'd like to observe more birds, I highly recommend the Twitch stream Californiabirbs. The community there is so nice!

Thanks for reading! I am very excited to draw Fall imagery soon, let's go September!

I hope the rest of your day treats you well. ♥

Until Next Time,
Kate