I drew the blue jay some time back, same image as in one of the lessons, using a grid, drawing carefully, meausring. Overall body shape was good, especially the head, but I wasn’t thinking about the shape of the bird, the spine, the centerline. Plus the colors…ugh. Chalk it up as a useful experiment.
So then I did this kingfisher. I thought carefully about the spine, thought of the various feather patches as little capes, and where should they hang on both sides. This isn’t perfect, but I’m actually fairly happy with it. It was drawn entirely freehand, and with minimal measuring. Best result I’ve ever had for such a drawing. As for the coloring, I still have much to master with colored pencil technique, but I have it under much better control than the blue jay. I especially mangled the background on the previous drawing. This one isn’t inspiring, but it isn’t garish.
