Red Tail Hawk 5 WIP

Well here is today's update on my hawk which is slowly coming along because I have been watching golf on tv and reading a Jefferson Bass book. 
I keep adding more layers of pencil and frankly am amazed that the mat board just continues to take them.  When I think the feather work gets too dark I hit it with a bit of white pastel and work it all over again.  Since this one is being a bit tedious for me I as I often do in these slumps I start to read and study a lot and look at other people's work and techniques (thank God for WetCanvas).  Also I am finally getting into the summer time routine, porch in the morning (getting lesser each day) and then board yourself up in the afternoon as it is HOT HOT HOT.
So reading about I get all these new ideas and start to try other techniques and just had to start a wolf head portrait piece that I already did in oil, but am now going to try to do it in acrylic.  I will try to work on that a bit more tomorrow hoping to find a rhythm and then post it along explaining what I am trying to do technique-wise.  Dabbing a bit with some additives, again something I was pretty ignorant about, but learning they can do a lot of things to make life easier with acrylics.
Also I have been invited and started posting on two Facebook groups, Wildlife Art and Wildlife Bird pages and boy are there ever some excellent artists on those pages.  It is incredible what they can do with brush or drawing.  They sure do serve as an inspiration of what we all wish we could do. 
Thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a great week.

Comments

Mellowood Gallery said…
This is looking fabulous! There are a couple of coloured pencil artists in my area who do fabulous work too. Here is a link to one's FB page - https://www.facebook.com/GuyHobbsWildlife?fref=ts. I thought you might like to have a look.
June 23, 2015 at 11:59 AM
Jane said…
Sounds like you are keeping yourself very busy ! The hawk is coming along stunningly, the feathers you have created so far are so real, and the background is gorgeous !
June 24, 2015 at 4:11 AM
Jane said…
Oh I forgot about the eye...WOW ! :-)))
June 24, 2015 at 4:12 AM
Nancy Goldman said…
Sorry that I haven't visited for awhile but life has been crazy. This is really amazing and I love that you are combining pastels and colored pencil. I really couldn't tell what the medium was when I first looked at it. You do amazing paintings of our feathered and furry friends.
June 30, 2015 at 11:26 AM
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