Friday, January 11, 2013

WHO modeled yesterday?

Great Horned Owl, 12" x 9" Charcoal Pencil on Paper
WHO, WHO indeed!

There've been many models in the weekly portrait drawing sessions over the years. We've drawn and painted people of all kinds and from all over the world. Yesterday, though, was a rare opportunity. A woman who runs a wildlife rehab sat for the class. She brought with her a great horned owl, which sat fairly patiently, tethered to the woman's gauntleted arm. This was a wonderful opportunity to combine my love of the natural world and drawing! Drawing a live wild animal is - of course - challenging. The owl's head frequently swiveled around, and halfway through the session the owl hacked up an owl pellet. If you're going to draw live animals you learn to deal with the challenges. But to see the fine textures and patterns in the owl's plumage and hear the soft, resonate hoot of the owl was amazing! The charcoal pencil drawing shown at the top of this post is my effort from last evening. Hope you enjoy!

After all, how often do you get a wild beast to "pose" for it's portrait?

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

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