I drew this Australian magpie for a local art show recently. I love drawing birds, they have so much personality!
It’s charcoal on paper, about 12” x 12” / 30cm x 30cm.
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Absolutely stunning! I love the way the bird has more intricate strokes and the background is blended. It makes the bird stand out more. There is so much personality and detail in the eye too.
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Nice job, I never would have guessed Magpie, sure different than the ones we have in parts of Canada.
Was it a juried show, if so, what was the feedback?
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Beautiful!
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Wonderful style, I love how it’s positioned on the page, nice balance.
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I heard you calling my name…
This is heartbreakingly lovely.
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Gorgeous! How did you manage to get those high-contrast shadings in the bird’s body? Hard to believe it’s charcoal. Amazing!
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Thanks everybody!
Yes, the Australian magpie is a completely different species. But also clever and lots of personality, you can make friends with them, but they can get aggressive if you upset them in breeding season.
I didn’t get feedback on this drawing, but a painting I entered won a prize, which was exciting! (haven’t posted it yet, I’ll make another post)
Thanks! The more high-contrast bits are with a sharp charcoal pencil, I was careful to only blend in specific areas with a pointed blending tool.
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Just wonderful. He’s got such personality in that stare.
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So much going on with just a monochrome color scheme. He looks like his personality at the moment is I-can’t-wait-until-Friday.
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It is very nice. When i work with charcoal i always have stains
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Oh yum, charcoal on paper. That is one stunning eye! Coupled with the head angle and body stance… that bird has a lot going on upstairs. They’re part of the corvid family, right?
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I love this drawing!
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Really gorgeous drawing! It’s incredible what you were able to achieve such a variety of textures with just charcoal.
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wow, wow, wow!
this is SO impressive!
I recently tried to sketch a little magpie (or maybe it was a blackbird) for an ATC and it was so HARD!!
I do not do that well with birds so far, so I especially admire yours!
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So lifelike! Beautiful job. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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This is stunning! The details and shading and everything. The eye is amazing.
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Woah! I might have taken this for a photo! It’s so lifelike! Truly beautiful work.
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ooOOOooo-gah! oooOOOooo-gah! Your super duper craft is one of this week’s Featured Projects! Woohoo!
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What a beautiful bird! The composition is stunning; the face draws you in, but the beak and body have such great movement. I can just imagine him/her flying off of the artwork at any moment. The detail you put into this is amazing.
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