This is great. I love it. I feel it is looking straight at me. Just lovely.
Lovely! He looks nice and fluffy and the eye is well done!
Patricia.
Thank you. Still trying to get the hang of doing the background.
This is nice male downy woodpecker. I really like birds as the subject matter. I saw you comment that you are trying to work on backgrounds. Something I’ve learned is that pastels like (need) to be layered as much as other media. With light backgrounds like this, I’d suggest starting with a layer of white pastel (or light gray) and then layer the color over it. You might even find to repeat that again (another layer white, another layer color) is good. This process helps to blend the layers so the line work of the “coloring” is not so noticeable. Hope this helps.
Another possibility is to try pan pastels which are great for blended backgrounds.
Terri Robichon
Thanks Terri! I appreciate the feedback! I went over the background again this morning and used yellow, green and a little blue. I darkened it quite a bit. I’m amazed at how it popped the picture!
Those are great tips, Terri!
Brenda
Very nice! I’d love to see another photo with your darkened background! The textures you achieved are really lovely.
Brenda
My picture never comes out like my drawings. But I like this better than the lighter one!
I love it! The darker value in the background really accentuates the bird!
Brenda
So glad the tips were helpful.
Terri Robichon
I liked the first one, but the revised version is much more intense. You did a great job on this by pushing your values darker. Thanks for sharing!
Patricia
Nice attention to detail and textures, the feathers are amazing! 
