Artist's commentary
Kate the Cyber Woodpecker
Kate the Woodpecker is the mascot I designed for Kate, a free and open source advanced text editor. She is a woodpecker because the species resembles how programmers knocking the keys on their keyboards. This is the second version of the mascot created in 2021.
Kate Editor website: https://kate-editor.org/
Mascot page: https://kate-editor.org/mascot/
This was probably the first time I drew a bird with an attempt to reflect correct bird anatomy. I studied the wings of real birds, and found out that the joints are completely different to what I used to think, especially when the wings are folded. As a compromise of being able to perform cartoonish gestures like human hands, I allow her flight feathers to flex backward. This version of Kate has become a reference design for my birds since. I think it struck a nice balance between realistic and appealing.
The older first version below was created in 2014, during low point when I struggled to draw anything. I didn’t use my typical style to draw the first version, and instead attempted to do it in a more abstract, simple coloring style.
I also designed a new icon for Kate using Inkscape. It was the first time I created vector art since I graduated from college. It was not easy for a raster artist like me to draw vector art, but I think the result turned out all right.