Featured Art: The Falcon
Created in August 2009
Done in colored pencil
9" x 12"
This is a photograph of the drawing.
I finished this falcon after my freshman year of high school. I was 15 years old at the time and about to enter my sophomore year. This piece took over three months to complete and was completed by August of 2009.
The process began when I found the photo on page 72 of a nature photography book at my art studio. The book is called "Wildlife of North America" by Thomas A. Lewis and it is made up of hundreds of wildlife photographs by a dozen photographers or more. (Copyright 1998 Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc.)
Using the photo as a reference, I sketched the image into my sketch book. Once I was satisfied with it, I transferred it using black carbon paper onto a tan colored paper.
Then, using Prismacolor colored pencils, I started to color the falcon. The sharp points of the pencils made it easy to obtain the tiny details in the falcon's feathers. I used what is known as a burnishing effect with the colored pencils. This means I pushed down very hard to create as much pigment as possible (without breaking the pencil, of course!) I love using this technique because the finished look appears to have been a painting. I often get asked if this was done in paint and I politely smile and explain the pencil burnishing technique.
Using the photo as a reference, I sketched the image into my sketch book. Once I was satisfied with it, I transferred it using black carbon paper onto a tan colored paper.
Then, using Prismacolor colored pencils, I started to color the falcon. The sharp points of the pencils made it easy to obtain the tiny details in the falcon's feathers. I used what is known as a burnishing effect with the colored pencils. This means I pushed down very hard to create as much pigment as possible (without breaking the pencil, of course!) I love using this technique because the finished look appears to have been a painting. I often get asked if this was done in paint and I politely smile and explain the pencil burnishing technique.
This was definitely one of the most challenging pieces I've made due to the amount of details within the feathers. I absolutely loved the coloring around his eye and his beak. That was the most enjoyable part to draw for me. I also enjoy how the background is a simple blurred green, so it would not distract your focus from the bird itself.
Here are a few photos of the piece as a work in progress. You can see that I did the hardest part last- the feathers! They were very time consuming and it was rather difficult to keep track of which feathers I finished on the photo. So I made a colored copy of the photo that I could write on to keep track of which feathers I had completed on my picture.
This is a photo of the original sketch that I made in my sketch book. I then transferred it by tracing it over black carbon paper onto a tan colored paper. You can see that I started to color in the feathers a bright pink to help me keep track of which ones I finished on the tan paper.
This is a photo copy of the image from the book that I used as a reference. You can see that I outlined the feathers in a bright pink to help me see them better. Then I colored them in with a purple pencil as I completed them on the tan paper to help me keep track of what I did and did not color yet. All of those feathers can make your head spin! So, I highly recommend this technique to keep yourself organized!
Here are two more photos of what the falcon looked liked in progress! You can see that I saved those challenging feathers for last!
I hope you enjoyed this featured art work! If you would like to see more posts featuring my other art pieces please leave a comment below! Don't forget to take a look at my Etsy shop:
Thank you!
Artistically Yours,
Brianna
A.K.A. Beach Bird
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