Scarlet Macaw

This is another parrot, a scarlet macaw, 12"x9", that I have included in the wildlife portion of my display. It was my first feathered creature, so it was a learning piece. I had not used the reds in colored pencils much until I worked on this piece. The red feathers did not come out as brilliantly as I had planned. The ground, a green colorfix primer on gessoed masonite, was dark -- if I were to do it over again -- I would put down white prior to working with the reds -- and they would be much more brilliant. The reference for this image can be found in the monthly challenges at the Pet Portrait and Wildlife Forum, http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/forum, which I plan to talk more about in my next Mentor and Guides series post on Wednesday.

I am busy with personal paperwork and working on framing today. Hope to be back to the drawing board tomorrow.

More Wildlife

Here is another piece I have done for my wildlife category. The pose is from a photo in the reference liabrary from wet canvas.com, the cyper living for artists website. However, since I currently live with a female blue and gold macaw - a rescue, fell for a sob story, didn't know the cage was so big, came into my life two years ago birdie - named Juaque (though a female), I have put her head, especially the eyes in the piece. It is 12 x 9 inches, colored pencil on Ampersand pastelboard. This piece is called: "Hello".