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Shiny Designs...on the Brighter Side of Life.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Red Tailed Hawk Drawing

I haven't done enough drawing lately and was feeling the lack. So, here's a Red Tailed Hawk on gray paper. I think it's Canson but it was in a stack of miscellaneous paper with no marks or labels so that's a guess. This hawk is actually a warm toned bird in shades of brown, golds and cremes so my choice of cool colored pencils makes it look much starker.

I sketched the bird lightly with a fine point pencil, then used four Prismacolor colored pencils for the body and beak: Black, White, Indigo and Warm Gray 50%. Two more colors were added to enhance the eyes: Light Umber and Goldenrod.

This was a relatively fast study and, for what it's worth, fast for me means around 30 to 45 minutes. Overall, I'm pleased with it but, as usual, there's room for improvement.

Working with the pencils on the colored paper did start me thinking about using watercolor to tone and drawing on that. SO, I've got a couple of those lined up to experiment with. Let's see where that goes!

On a painting note, a new cardinal is available at Etsy. I think he looks festive, so he's a Christmas Cardinal with the name "Waiting."



"Waiting"
Christmas Cardinal
5 x 7 Original Watercolor Painting

9 comments:

kazumiwannabe said...

Wonderful, both! The cardinal is lovely, great colors, and I love how you did the hawk, very in character!

Ann said...

That hawk is terrific! I really like how you used the toned paper and kept the drawing minimal, with just those eyes in a contrasting color - well done!

June said...

That's a fantastic hawk! I love the cardinal, too. I got some colored pencils, too, but have never managed to use them much. I think you have captured the cardinal's male boldness and the size of his bill very nicely.
Thanks for finding the Three Stones citation for me. That's where it I saw it--in the Robert Genn Artist's newsletter! Thanks so much for spotting this for me! June

Trish said...

i love birds and your drawing and painting of the hawk and cardinal are lovely. thank you for sharing them with us.

Timaree said...

I think they are both wonderful. Glad you mentioned the speed of your "fast" drawing. That sounds more like my kind of fast (I might be a tad slower). The hawk looks great in the colors you chose and your watercolor birds never look alone on the page with your great backgrounds.

Aarti Harish said...

Very beautiful....!!!

The Victorious place said...

The hawk looks good but I really love the bright color and look of this Cardnial. I am happy I stopped by for a treat.
I love the green bettle. I like bugs to. My favorite is the praying mantis.

MD said...

Your bird paintings are beautiful. So fresh and free. love them.
MD

tlwest said...

I really am partial to that cardinal- beautiful color and I like the name :)