Not one of my favorites, but great fun to examine the wrinkles on his head & neck. I think I drew this one at 1am, so if it seems a bit rushed, it is.
Andean Condor
bird
Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon is one of my favorites. I love the profile, the stateliness of his brow.
Plus, it’s a California bird and I am a proud coast-hugger. My state is the best, therefore all our animals are also the best. Well, at the very least, they are the most diverse in our nation. This is true: California is a biological “hot-spot” of diversity, because we have so many different climates and eco-systems. So our state has, if not the BEST of every kind of animal, then at least more kinds of animals than yours does. My state is awesome. Not that yours isn’t great, too. But mine is clearly better. At least bio-diversically, it is. (Yup, that’s totally a word. And I did not just make it up. OK, maybe a little, I did.)
Unfortunately, the scan makes the falcon look very faded. He’s in graphite, which doesn’t scan well. It always looks too, well, grey. And he looks more worried than noble. ergh.
Bald Eagle head only
I drew both bald eagles on the same day, penance for a skipped day.
Like the other one, I tried to choose a source photo that wasn’t a calm, composed bird sitting regally on a branch – nothing like the birds we see topping our flag-poles, or on our money. I wanted a bird with the kind of fire and rage that might have inspired the original bird-as-emblem-pickers to chose this one over the many other gorgeous birds in this nation. He’s coming to get you, so watch yourself!
Bald Eagle in flight
I had been avoiding drawing a bald eagle, because it is THE bird that symbolizes America, and I didn’t want it to look stiff. I wanted to draw a bird that looked like a bird, not an icon. So, when National Geographic did a spread on eagles, I found a few images that were really dramatic and had great movement. I love the upward sweep of the right wing, whip-like.
I did this bird and another bald eagle in the same night.
Painted Stork
Hey, old man bird.
Colored pencil on this one. The background is pretty busy, and this one didn’t work as well as others with the re-purposed drawing. But it’s OK. I think his wary eye saves it. Like he’s wondering why that skeleton man is going to touch him. Oh no, skeleton man. You will not touch me.
Emu
Cousin to the ostrich, and a wonderfully awkward bird. Why fly, when you can kick your enemies with those big feet?
Australian White Ibis
What a fun beak for drawing! I used brush-tip marker pens for this one. They offer lovely control and range of movement.
Atlantic Puffin
Puffins are such adorable birds. I almost didn’t want to draw one because I knew there was no way it was NOT going to be cutesy. And I didn’t want it to be too cute, like cartoon character cute. But the puffin is basically built to be a cartoon, even more so than the penguin.
Don’t you just want to pat his little head? But don’t. Seriously. Don’t do it. They smell like fish, and those beaks are big and pointy.
Carrion Crow
The crow is one of my favorite birds. I suppose that’s no surprise, given how gothly I was in high school and college. In those years, saying “I like crows” would have been unnecessary. It seemed a given.
But crows retain their appeal. They (and their cousin, the raven) are just so darned clever. There’s a real intelligence there that I just don’t see in the vacant eyes of other common city birds: the pigeon and seagull. (Well, common to my city. When you live this close to the water, seagulls are basically obnoxious, loud pigeons.)
I’m proud of how this one came out. I think the pen & ink was a wise choice of medium. The scratchy quality of the pen nib really added texture. I also lined-up the wide-open mouth of the crow with a red patch on this re-purposed paper. So it worked out that I didn’t need to add coloring to his mouth. Nice.
claire meyler 