Work in progress

Work In Progress

I know, it has been a while since I have posted anything new.  Sorry.  

Last posting I said I would try and show you some of my work.  Well, I got it in my head that I wanted to do a new colored pencil drawing of some kind of animal. While going through my reference pictures I came across a stack of photos I had taken when I was working for a bird breeder here in Florida. 

Art work doesn't always pay all the bills so, there have been lots of times that I took on other work and I try to take jobs that I am very good at or that I really enjoy.

I like animals and birds are my favorite and they are smarter than people give them credit.  I have about about 12 years of experience working with breeders of exotic animals and birds. 

There was this Cockatoo that came to the farm because his owners for some reason couldn't keep him anymore.  Probably the noise.  Cockatoos scream very loudly twice a day, morning and evening.  "Calling their flock."  Anyway, this guy was very sulky and sad.  I made it a point to take some extra time with him each day and after about three months he started talking to me.  

First words were "step up".  Step up is the first thing that you want to teach a companion bird and this boy knew what it meant.  He would reach his foot through the cage and try to step up on my hand.  Well, I ended up buying him and taking him home and for days tried to guess what his name had been.  Then one day as I was testing name on him he says "hello Sundance" like he figured out what I was doing.  His name was Sundance.    He talked like crazy and I found out he knew more cuss word than me.  

I was only able to keep him for three years because I moved to an area where the neighbors would not put up with his twice daily screaming.  So, he went back to the farm and was able to be introduced to a female and they accepted each other as mates.  He is happy.   

Colored Pencils

One of my favorite mediums to work in are colored pencils because of the detail that I can achieve. Prismacolor are what I use.  I like a soft waxy lead that I keep very sharp and blend the colors between layers with a very hard (6h or 8h) drawing pencil.

This is a drawing of a Macaw.

Next post will have the finished picture.  Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures but the battery needs to be replaced in my camera and I am taking these with my phone, emailing them to myself, downloading to my photo program to edit and watermark.