I like that I found a bird to match this background so well. He’s an odd shaped bird.

Love this creature. So funny looking he belongs in a Dr. Suess book. I especially like the details I was able to get in the bill itself. My life goal might be to see this bird in real life. Eurasian zoos, here I come.

I tried to duplicate my technique with the Puffbird here. Although I think the tail worked out, I got lost somewhere in the shoulder area. The Puffbird can kick the Canary’s ass anyday.

…singing in the dead of night,
take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life
you were only waiting for this moment to arrive.
Black bird fly…
Black bird fly…
into the light of the dark black night.

OK. Confession time. I drew this one LATE at night after a night out. I purposefully searched for a bird with an easy profile that I could crank out before I passed out. I feel like a cheater for enjoying this bird so much.

Their beaks are crossed over so they can tweeze open hard nuts and seeds like a little birdy crowbar. Fulcrum power.

Uck. I drew this bird on the plane ride back from Cancun, after an hour long delay that would make us miss our last BART train home… So I was distracted drawing this bird and it shows. His face is cute, but I got lost in the wing and back section. Ah well. They can’t all be beauty queens.

So stately for such an ugly creature. Bald, yet wearing a big pouf of a collar.

I am thrilled with how this technique worked. It looks almost like an etching of a mechanical wind-up bird toy.
I am drawing most of these birds off of the “Wildlife Fact Files” my dad got for me as a child, (Thanks, Dad) so I am learning little random factoids about the birds as I draw. Fun fact about this bird: the Germans call them “lazy birds” because they sit completely motionless for long periods of time waiting for prey such as insects.