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Description
Anthochaera Carunculata (common name: red wattlebird)

Whoa. A painting of a red wattlebird for my ID. I can't believe I stalled three years to start this (four if you count the time I simply changed the date on the previous ID), but once I did make a start, boy I've never had so much fun with those feather textures, and even that is a massive understatement I got so into this painting, it took less than a day from start to finish. Actually about half a day really.

Everyone, go home and draw birds. Not anyone on the planet draws enough birds. Feathers, they are /AWESOME/ to work with, way better than fur or scales because it's like something of a mix between the two. If you have a tablet, put your tablet settings on Size jitter -> Pen Pressure and Opacity jitter -> Pen pressure, grab a couple vastly different colours, and just colour it in like a very glossy fur pelt. Then go in with your magnifying glass and paint in some selective details to make the individual feathers stand out. It's VERY therapeutic.

And birds have such lovely lines and aerodynamic cleanness that earthbound quadrupeds like wolves and cats can't hope to compete with. Birds are graceful, majestic, and totally underrated D:

Normally I'd give this a background. I usually even end up spending more time on the background than I do on the foreground xD. But for a change of pace, I decided I wanted to focus totally on the foreground this time, and I think a background would have ruined this painting anyway - I was aiming for that minimalist approach, like the paintings of birds in ancient Chinese works of art, or like the scientific illustrations in a bird watcher's field guide. I think I pulled it off.

In any case, I'm really, really happy with this work. It's my favourite bird I've ever drawn. :3 *is proud*

Description
Anthochaera Carunculata (common name: red wattlebird)

Whoa. A painting of a red wattlebird for my ID. I can't believe I stalled three years to start this (four if you count the time I simply changed the date on the previous ID), but once I did make a start, boy I've never had so much fun with those feather textures, and even that is a massive understatement I got so into this painting, it took less than a day from start to finish. Actually about half a day really.

Everyone, go home and draw birds. Not anyone on the planet draws enough birds. Feathers, they are /AWESOME/ to work with, way better than fur or scales because it's like something of a mix between the two. If you have a tablet, put your tablet settings on Size jitter -> Pen Pressure and Opacity jitter -> Pen pressure, grab a couple vastly different colours, and just colour it in like a very glossy fur pelt. Then go in with your magnifying glass and paint in some selective details to make the individual feathers stand out. It's VERY therapeutic.

And birds have such lovely lines and aerodynamic cleanness that earthbound quadrupeds like wolves and cats can't hope to compete with. Birds are graceful, majestic, and totally underrated D:

Normally I'd give this a background. I usually even end up spending more time on the background than I do on the foreground xD. But for a change of pace, I decided I wanted to focus totally on the foreground this time, and I think a background would have ruined this painting anyway - I was aiming for that minimalist approach, like the paintings of birds in ancient Chinese works of art, or like the scientific illustrations in a bird watcher's field guide. I think I pulled it off.

In any case, I'm really, really happy with this work. It's my favourite bird I've ever drawn. :3 *is proud*