The 6th-erythrina crista-galli, the cockscomb/cockspur coral tree

I met this tree in Melbourne:

Based on this photo, I drew this piece as one of my tree drawing series:

I’ve once seen a photo of a magpie hanging upside down on a T shirt or something.
I wanted add a cat to this drawing and decided to add the upside-down magpie as the counterpart of the cat.

At first I expected that I might get bored while drawing this one because it is a pretty simple design.
As it turned out, I found myself enjoying working on this piece so much thanks to the bark textures…I had not tried drawing this sort of textures before.
In the beginning this looked so difficult, but once I got the pattern of this texture, it was quite easy. I’ve even drawn some parts totally ignoring the reference photo.
I also enjoyed drawing the weeds on the bottom.
There are no outlines for these weeds…only shading except for the overlapping parts of weeds.

I’m going to use this frame & mat for this piece:

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Maki,

This is wonderful! I really like how the cat draws you into the tree as it walks on the branch.

Teri

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This is great Maki. I love it.

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@Maki
The magpie adds so much and i love that youvemade it upsidedown!

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The detail in the tree is amazing @Maki I love how you used the photo as reference but still made the tree your own, nice work matching the texture where the sign was! :clap: :smile:

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I do enjoy your work. It is so unusual and playful. Just brings a smile! The detail of the bark is fabulous!

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Hi, thank you so much for your kind words, Teri. Glad you like this piece! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :cat: :+1:

Hello Denise, thank you so much for your kind comment! I appreciate it! :wine_glass: :cat: :smiley:

Hello Araela, thank you so much for your lovely comment. Glad you like this idea! :smiley: :cat: :tada:

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Hi TheMustardSeesLife, thank you for your kind words. Yes, once you got the bark texture structure, you don’t need a reference to draw the hidden part. I was happy that I was able to do it so easily! :slight_smile: :+1: :cat:

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Hello June, thank you so much for your kind words. Glad you enjoy my works! I tend to draw something playful pretty often, which I guess is because of my personality. I also enjoy thinking about a stupid title for my artwork and for this particular drawing, I wonder if “upside-down magpie vs black cat, the fateful showdown on erythrina crista-galli” might be good. Does it sound stupid enough? :tada: :cat: :upside_down_face:

That is such a fun title! go for it!

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Maki, Matt just critiqued one of your tree pieces in case you have not noticed.

Teri

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Hi Teri, thank you for letting me know! I’ve added my own comment to the critique and reply to your comment. Thank you!!! :slight_smile: :cat: :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Maki.

I responded the following to the explanation you gave in the creating of the piece critiqued.

"What a blissful but solemn idea. It is true, the branches have a flowing feel, and you captured your inspiration on how to create this piece. Thanks for sharing the behind-the-scenes information, it truly opens our, the viewers, eyes to what we are experiencing through your artwork.

Look forward to the next piece with lots of cats!!

Teri

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