11
Feb
A blizzard
A collective noun for snowy owls is a blizzard. I doodled Koch snowflakes with a blizzard of these superb owls. They hunt day and night and are an utter delight to observe.
Math Birds
03
Aug
Raven Paradox
Raven’s were a fun one to research. I had a hard time selecting the math for these intriguing birds. From vocalizations to intelligence to barrel rolls – it was a tough pick. I ended up going with the Raven Paradox. I couldn’t resist including a leucistic feather (not all ravens are black).
1 min read
01
Jul
Valley Quail’s Airfoil
I had the delightful experience of seeing a beautiful quail family in Santa Cruz while traveling for work. The daddy quail sat atop a bush while mommy and chicks foraged below. Finding the right curve for the top knot was a challenge – Mathstodon suggestions led me down a few paths and ended at a […
1 min read
28
Feb
An Improbability of Crested Puffins
A collective noun for puffins is an improbability! I live in Oregon with these beautiful Tufted Puffins (also known as crested). It’s pretty probable that improbable things will happen – just look at the perfection of these little birds.
1 min read
25
Sep
White-Breasted Nuthatch
These birds are often called “upside-down birds,” but maybe they just have no regard for orientation. I enjoyed playing with Boy’s surfaces, Möbius strips, cross-caps, and various Klein bottles for this piece (thanks math Twitter for responding to non-orientable surface requests). I decided on a fig
1 min read
04
May
Indigo Bunting
Indigo buntings are majestically beautiful birds. I had a hard time deciding the direction to go in doodling this one, so I dug up a lot of fun facts: A group of indigo buntings is called a sacrifice, mural, or decoration. Their indigo color comes from the structure within their feathers rather than
1 min read
25
Apr
World Penguin Day
I found out that it is World Penguin Day, so I did a quick sketch – enjoy! If you are a maker and want to make a penguin game – try Hex-a-Huddle
20
Apr
Microcosm Oystercatchers
Here is another bird in the series – Microcosm Oystercatchers. These are one of my favorite birds. I often see them in the black basalt cobbles on the coast with their fluorescent beaks. I had a hard time with where I wanted to go with this piece initially and went back to gaskets (something I […]
1 min read
16
Apr
Pacific Lune
Another bird in the series! This one is a little luney. The lunes of Alhazen have the same area as the triangle. Note: Image was updated from the original post to fix an error
1 min read
10
Mar
Great Horned Owl
All of the great horned owls that have sat with me for hours of my life came to mind. I really struggled with what math piece I wanted to do here. I went with lift. I used multiple images, including my own in composing this. The vortices off the back of the owl are inspired […]
1 min read