WIP Eagle Owl

Oops, I forgot to take a photo of last week’s update, so you get this week instead…..it is a busy week! The Day at The Oasis is this Sat, I will be attending and having a table for “meet the Artist”, LOL! Will be face and hand painting, so if you are going, please stop by my table! We went to Sierra Vista, took some bird photos, which I have posted on my Facebook Artist Page, please feel free to peruse at your pleasure! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arlene-Powers-Art/23414012357  It was nice to get out of the heat, had a little rain, and greatly enjoyed all the beautiful birds in the area. So without further ado, here is the update…..catch ya next week!

Eagle Owl WIP

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Burrowing Owl……….Cont….

Here is today’s update on the burrowing owl………I know TWO updates in one week! Just trying to get one in while there is time! Life around here is subject to immediate changes, so always be prepared. I hear splashing in the other room! That means it is bath-time for the birds! If one starts bathing, pretty soon it is a BATHFEST! So guess who gets to clean up afterwards! Sounds like I had better grab the mop! Later!

GHO Baby WIP – Voila!

GHO Baby WIP – Voila!.

GHO Baby WIP Winding Down

Halloween is almost here, but this little guy needs to stop looking like a ghost, so just for you, I started the eyes!

He is starting to look like an owl now. Almost hear that little beak clacking. Let’s try adding the eye color and working the fuzzy feathers a little more and see what happens with this guy!

My goodness, he looks like he sees a mouse! Aaargh, hope there is not a mouse under my chair. Kitties, help! Where are the darn cats when you need them! Probably off taking a nap somewhere. Isn’t that just like a cat…have you ever noticed that when a cat enters a room full of people, he makes a beeline for THE one person in the room who is allergic to cats, then proceeds to rub all over the hapless victim. If there is not an allergic person available, the cat will zero in on the one person who dislikes cats, and will start purring and demanding to be petted by that particular person. They totally crack me up, LOL! Meanwhile, back at the painting, just some adjustments in shadow to shape the critter, and a few final color touches and this one will be ready to sign! Since the parrots still have the recent modeling contract negotiations fresh in their memories, think I will work on a drawing of a raven. Have been wanting to do another Black and white charcoal, so think a raven could work out well…….as long as there is no communication between the parrots and the raven, don’t need another strike on my hands this soon!

 

Onward and Forward – New WIP

Well, hope everyone survived that WIP intact. As the title says, Onward and forward……..This piece is going to be a watercolor/watercolor pencil piece, so don’t panic when you see the watercolor – looking kind of ragged, we will use the watercolor pencils to give the fluff its final touch up. So as we discussed in the Birdie Final, this new one is a Baby Great Horned Owl who came into Liberty Wildlife this last Orphan Care Season, and is now all grown up and back in the wild. Since your Artist/Blogger is sometimes lazy, we will call it a GHO. Hey, I didn’t come up with this, it is an official term. Bet ya didn’t know Ha Ha is Harris Hawk. Just some more bird trivia for you. So we start out as usual by drawing the GHO, then transferring it to the watercolor paper. BIG change here, since we will be using watercolor pencil, the paper of choice is Arches 140lb Hot Press paper. It has a much smoother nap and will handle the pencils much better than Cold Press paper. This time we will be laying in the darks first. Oh, you want to see…..kind of demanding, aren’t you????

This was done Tuesday at Candy’s, and I did not know if she was ready for all of us, so I snuck over there without you. BTW, the bandages are all gone, there is no scarring, so maybe we can go back next week, if you all can be nice to the Kitty! My BIG concern was what Candy would do for a Halloween costume, since the badges have all been removed, but not to worry, Candy says she has her broom………that is a direct quote, I did not make it up.

As you can see here we have the ghost of a baby GHO……No, really we have the dark darks laid in. Now to start adding some medium tones……

Yes, I forgot to take a photo, so you have the medium tones and the background in. You really are very lucky that I remembered to take photos for Birdie’s WIP. It is really easy to get carried away with painting and forget you are there…….even when you guys are noisy and disruptive! Now don’t forget, we have just put the base in, there is still a TON of work to do with the W/C pencils.

Can’t have all these discussions without talking a little about the volunteer stuff. As many of you know, I volunteer at Liberty Wildlife. It is a native wildlife rehabilitation center which has a fabulous education program. I volunteer on Thursday in Medical Services. My first job there was feeding orphaned baby birds. Since that was a seasonal job, I signed up for medical services, so I could be there year ’round. This has to be one of the volunteer jobs with the biggest emotional roller coaster! A wildlife release has to be one of the highest emotional moments, and the death of a sick injured creature has to be one of the lowest, with many points in between. Though we take in all native wildlife, about 95% of our patients are birds. Good thing I am a bird lover, huh!
So are all the other volunteers. It is amazing to see what these wonderful people will do to rescue a critter! They put in untold hours cleaning, feeding, transporting, and taking care of these injured animals. Liberty is always in need of good volunteers, so if you don’t have anything to do on Thursday – come join us!!! Yes, they will let you bring snacks!

See ya next Blog!