In 1830, with watercolors, pastels, pen & ink, and gouache, John James Audubon set out to paint every bird in America. Eighteen years later, his monumental effort resulted in the massive tome, Birds of America consisting of 435 lifesize, hand-colored prints. In 2010, an original 4-volume edition of Birds of America fetched $11.5 million at Sotheby’s, the record for the most expensive printed book sold at auction.

In 2012, illustrator, Edgar Allan Slothman set out with an Apple computer to reinterpret Audubon’s Birds of America in his own simplified, graphic style.

For every print, I look for ways to break it down in some way. Often it is with geometric simplification or repeat patterns. For some, I create an entirely new color palette pushing beyond from the original as far as I can go. But in all, I stay very close to Audubon’s original composition—the core of these amazing ornithological visual stories.”

Edgar Allan Slothman is the pop art persona of American award-winning ad agency creative director, Don Carter. Mr. Carter has also illustrated seven children’s books and created two interstitial series for Disney Junior. Inspired by Andy Warhol and Charley Harper, a life-long love of birds and art come together in Edgar Allan Slothman’s Birds of America 2.0 series.

Don is also creative director with Adams & Knight, an integrated marketing and communications firm based in Avon, Connecticut. He lives in New England with his wife, two children, a black dog named Sunny and a parakeet who likes to bite.