电子啄木鸟凯特 (Kate) 是我为自由开源文本编辑器 Kate Editor 设计的吉祥物。顾名思义，她是一只机器人啄木鸟。我之所以选择了啄木鸟，是因为程序员敲打键盘就好像啄木鸟敲打树干一样。

Kate Editor 官网：https://kate-editor.org/
吉祥物页面：https://kate-editor.org/mascot/

设计造型的时候我选择了使用尽可能写实的解剖学结构，因为那样比较有挑战性。我特别去研究了一下鸟类的翅膀结构，发现关节的位置 (尤其是当翅膀折叠起来的时候) 和自己从前的理解完全不一样。为了能做出一些卡通化的手势，我让她的飞羽可以如同手指一样反折。这个设计可能会成为我日后绘制鸟类角色的基本思路。

本图是我在 2021 年时重画的第二版设计，采取了比较符合我个人风格的画风绘制。2014 年的第一版设计则是比较抽象的、简笔画一般的风格，可能是因为当时我处在创作的低潮期，放不开手去画。

除了吉祥物外，我还为 Kate Editor 设计了一个新图标 (蓝底白羽啄木鸟)。使用了 Inkscape 绘制，是我大学毕业之后唯一一次重新拾起矢量绘图软件。不过画惯了可以随心所欲的位图，一下子换成矢量真的有点不太适应。

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.