Plenty of artsy things have happened since my last post (long ago in November!), but for now, I’ll share a drawing I finished earlier today. This is one of the two scratchboard drawings I’ve submitted to the International Society of Scratchboard Artists‘ 2015 exhibition. I’ll find out next month if my entries are accepted. Update: the drawing was accepted and has since traveled to Frederick MD and back.
This 5″ x 7″ illustration of a Tufted Titmouse is titled “Jackpot!” I ran across the reference photo in a Facebook group: The Great Backyard Bird Count, where members post their photos. It’s not that I don’t have plenty of my own reference photos, but this particular photo really caught my eye – the bird on the jar with a mealworm made for a great composition. I also knew the jar would be an interesting subject to scratch. The photographer, Heather Sinon, graciously allowed me to use her photo. Heather feeds birds at her place in CT and sets out jars of mealworms for them. The birder in me feels compelled to point out that we have a Titmouse species here in CA, but not the Tufted, ours is the Oak Titmouse.
I scanned the drawing a couple of times during the process, below are those scans, along with Heather’s photo (I cropped the background out), and 3 details of the final drawing.
This is the “all scratched” version, just before I added color.
Roughly 3X actual size
Roughly 3X actual size
Roughly 2.5X actual size
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