I think it’s a jay of some kind (based on the remnants of blue
feathers still on the skull). The bird had obviously been killed by a
cat or some other
small carnivore as it has to puncture wounds in it skull for a bite. I chose
this subject for the first project simply because I thought it would be a good
subject for pencil and at the time, pencil was the only technique I knew how
to do.
Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis) - Watercolor
This is a watercolor of the species that I do most of my research.
I’ve
spent so much time looking at them that I thought it was something I would
be able to do a good job of painting. This individual is a male
(you can tell by
the extra skin folds around the neck) and is actually one that I took home
and is now a pet. The actual size of the animal is about 25cm long
so this picture
is at about 200%.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) - Watercolor
This has always been one of my favorite birds. They are very abundant
where I grew up and can frequently be seen walking through ponds
while they hunt for
fish or frogs, which is the scene I was trying for with this painting.
I also wanted to get more practice with watercolors and this bird
seemed like a great
subject for that technique.