April 8 – Draw a Bird Day

nPostednon April 8, 2014

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InnMemory of Dorie Cooper n

nThenorigin of this day is at once heartwarming and tragic, happy andnsad.

In 1943, a little girl named Dorie Cooper lived innEngland with her family. Her uncle had been injured in World War II,nand Dorie went to the hospital with her mother to visit him.

nDorie’snuncle was down in the dumps. He had lost his leg, and his life wouldnnever be the same again.

nDorientried to think how to cheer him up. She asked her uncle to draw her anbird, and she ended up laughing with him at the finished drawing. Shenassured him that she would definitely put this bird picture on hernbedroom wall.

nSomehow,nthat attempt to draw a bird had lifted the wounded veteran’s spirits.nOther wounded soldiers had gotten into the exchange, too, and hadnteased Dorie’s uncle about his artistic endeavor, and had forgottenntheir own troubles for a minute or two. n

nThennext few times Dorie visited, several of the soldiers showed offntheir own skills at drawing birds – and it became a thing. Therenwere drawing contests, and the walls of the hospital ward werencovered with bird pictures within a few months.
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nTragically,nDorie was killed – hit by a car – when she was just ten yearsnold. So many soldiers, nurses, and doctors sent bird drawings to hernfuneral, her coffin was covered with them. And every year on DorienCooper’s birthday – April 8 – these nurses and doctors wouldnremember her with Draw a Bird Day.

nOfncourse, such things tend to spread. Now people all over the worldnhonor Dorie’s memory, and some submit their bird drawings to a Draw a Bird Day website.
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nYouncan have fun drawing all sorts of birds. It really helps to look atnactual birds and how they move and fly, and it’s even more helpfulnfor beginners to draw birds from photographs or drawings. Try doing anstep-by-step tutorial such as this You Tube lesson or this partially-animated website.

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