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Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Red Screech Owl ~ WIP 1



I don't normally paint wildlife but a few months ago I saw some amazing photos of various owls taken by photographer Steve Haas of Michigan and obtained his permission to use some of these same photos as references. This is the beginning of my first attempt at a red screech owl and I hope I can do this bird justice in watercolor.

I've chosen to keep the owl fairly realistic, at least for this version. I want the colors to be as close to accurate as I can make them. I may get more creative with the background, though.

8 comments:

Feathers said...

Looks like a great start! You may get a little more excited about wildlife after doing something like this. :-) Keep up the good work!

maggie said...

Billie, I've been checking out your work..looks wonderful. I wanted to ask you about using imagekind.com...how has it been for you??

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Anita! You may be right about the wildlife. I will say, painting feathers is not the easiest thing I've ever tried. Fur can be tricky but feathers? omg...

Billie Crain said...

Maggie, Imagekind has not turned out to be a very successful sales venue for me. I have sold greetings cards(which they no longer offer)and a few prints but I mainly use it for my own purposes. The quality of their prints is wonderful so I order from my own gallery for resale.

Dee said...

I love your owl. Every since I was a little girl, I have always been fascinated by owls. They are so beautiful and mysterious. It's my absolute favorite bird. I've been looking through your earlier posts, too. I love your art.
beneaththeelmtree.blogspot.

Billie Crain said...

Thanks Dee and welcome to my blog.:) I love owls, too. Their huge intense eyes and the way their heads turn almost 360° makes them seem unreal. I'm also drawn to anything nocturnal being rather nocturnal myself.

Blogger and Mom said...

beautiful

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Steph.:)