Whoa! Amazing! Love the colors.
I love the shading for the background. Very soft gradation.
Kingfisher finished today! I had some issues
With some blending, but overall I’m happy with it. It’s on Bristol vellum paper so some paper tooth is showing. I also could not get rid of a smudge so I turned it into a fly away feather.
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WOW - I think you did great and love the creative solution of the fly-away feather. I immediately understood that’s what it was, until I read that you were fixing a smudge.
Terri Robichon
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Hi Sonia -
Yes it’s crazy how expensive the Luminance colored pencils are. I’d have a hard time justifying that purchase when I also have two full sets of colored pencils already.
Terri Robichon
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Hello Sonia @Meme5 , I really love your rendition, feathers look soft. The “fly away feather” is a nice touch. If you have ever owned birds, you will realize that is more real than you think. Owned a Blue abd Gold Macaw for a while and fly away feathers were always around.
Lenet
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Hi all, I’m finally back in town and finished the second of the 3 Little Birds. Here is my Blue Jay. I didn’t have soft pan pastels so I used the sticks and blender sponge. My first ever use of any pastels (even if just on the background). I may have to invest in some. I kinda like them.
Wore out a white color pencil on this Pastelmat. It was only the second drawing I used these Polychromos pencils on.
Lenet
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Hi Lenet -
Really well done!!! I too like the pastels. But then I almost always like anything having to do with art (except for acrylic and oil paints which I still really struggle with - but I will eventually learn to love them too).
You did really well with the texture of the feathers. The highlight in the eye is great and so is the beak and texture on the branch. You’d never guess that you are new to this media. The only thing I would suggest that you look at is the “glow” on the left side of the bird because the background colors stop a little short of the bird. That is something that Matt comments on frequently, so I have become very aware of it. I only make the comment because you are usually open to comments to improve.
Looking forward to seeing your third bird.
Terri Robichon
Thank you for your kind comment. I can relate to the fly away feathers. My mother loved canaries. When in Mexico, she raised them and sold some. She had 2 humongous cages and several small ones. Guess who’d help sweep up and help clean the cages and bird seed on a daily basis. 40-50 canaries and their beautiful but loud singing. Nope, I personally will never ever own birds thank you very much. 
You did really good on the whole blue jay with the polychromos as well as the pastels background!
That’s the last bird in the set for me to do. I’m afraid I’ll be tempted to do the whole thing in soft pastels. I’m actually kind of nervous about pastelmat/polychromos combination and the excessive wear on the pencils. I shall see what my will decides when the time comes.
Thanks Sonia @Meme5 , I did use a good bit of white pencil, my drawing is 8x10, and the point kept breaking. The rest wore about average for the pastelmat.
Not too bad on wear otherwise, but will somewhat depend on how you apply the color.
Lenet.
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Thanks Terri @robichon , I see a little of the glow still. Not being familiar with the pastels, i started with a little yellow around the bird outline. I had a really bad halo around the whole bird, but my transfer was a little too light so I was afraid to get too close with the pastels. I did go back after completing the bird and got most of the halo removed, but looking back at it maybe I should have added more blue on the left side instead of the white, but was trying to blend what was there without getting too much additional dust on the finished bird. Thanks for your welcomed advice. I saw it, tried to fix it, but didn’t want to sacrifice what I did on the bird to do much more on the background. I’ll have a better plan though next time.
Thanks,
Lenet
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Sonia - The colored pencils on the Pastelmat are a sweet combination. You need to give it a try.
Terri Robichon
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Hi Lenet -
Glad you know my comments are always well-intended, as I’m personally always open to all kinds of feedback. Just another thought on the subject. I don’t know if you have pastel pencils, but some close adjustments with a gentle hand with the pencils may have been a solution to the fix. More precision and control with those.
Terri Robichon
I think the Kingfisher is next for me. I finished the Bluejay earlier this evening. I did the hummingbird a while back, but I think I’ll redo as I’ve better black paper now. I don’t have Luminence pencils so I’ll have to see what I’ll use.
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Hello @janed , your blue jay is well very done. Really love the attentio. To detail.
Lenet
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I finally finished the 3 Little Birds. Here is the humming bird. I do love the Luminance pencils.
Working on black paper is really a different experience.
Lenet
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Wow! The details and colors are great and vivid! Nicely done! I will be finishing my bluejay then work on my white rose with water mixable oil. Then on whichever thread we start here
Beautiful bluejay! The back feathers are soft and fluffy, I love it!
I made started my bluejay on yellow pastelmat because my light gray is too big and couldn’t make myself cut a chunk out. So I used a 9x 7.5 pastelmat pad paper
It’s beautiful! I like how you captured the fuzziness and those small hairs sticking out of feather are so realistic and loose.
I completed my kingfisher today too, shared it in another post.