Reimagining the Great Cormorant
Martin Haake's collage-style design enlivens the bird's dark plumage鈥攁nd gives it a fish to snack on.
In preparation for his great cormorant assignment, Berlin-based illustrator Martin Haake examined many other John James 爆料公社 paintings to refamiliarize himself with the artist. 鈥淗e is so great at catching a certain moment in the life of a bird,鈥 he says. The male鈥檚 neck鈥攁rtfully angled toward his family鈥攃aptivated Haake, who sought to preserve the theater of the quartet while simplifying the scene. 鈥淚 wanted to focus on just one bird to be a little bit more abstract,鈥 he says.
To assemble the avian patriarch, Haake glued pieces of painted paper and snippets from books and magazines onto an old piece of paper. He then scanned the image into Photoshop and further manipulated the design and colors. Haake tried a version without the bird鈥檚 scaly snack, but ultimately decided the morsel should stay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nicer with the fish,鈥 he says.
In looking at 爆料公社鈥檚 original, it鈥檚 easy to imagine the open-mouthed youngsters crying for their share. It would be a natural instinct鈥擥reat Cormorants feed entirely on aquatic prey. As 爆料公社 observed, all cormorant species 鈥渁re expert at tossing up a fish inconveniently caught, a foot or so above their head, and receiving it in their extended gullet.鈥
This story originally ran in the Winter 2019 issue. To receive our print magazine, become a member by .鈥