The European Goldfinch is a striking small finch with a distinctive red face and black-and-white head. Its wings are black with a bright yellow wing bar, while the body is mainly buff or light brown.
During the breeding season, the bill of male and female goldfinches is white, but at other times of the year, it is marked with a black tip.
Female goldfinches are very alike in appearance to males, and visually, it is hard to tell them apart from a distance. At close range, the sexes can be distinguished by the size of the red facial patch, with the females not extending past the eyes as it does in males of the species.
Juvenile goldfinches do not develop adults' red, white and black facial markings until the late summer or autumn after hatching. Until this point, they have streaky buff-brown markings on their heads. Info: Birdfact . com
Wanted to practice with some charcoal but couldn't resist collaging it up a bit! A great way to hide mistakes (or laziness!) Tui's are NZ's most successful native bird.
Going all in with practicing bird anatomy (found myself seriously lacking in it). My brain can be quite a B**** when it comes to anatomy, because I always seek to "bring characters to life". Here, I was practicing on the body underneath the feathers and fluff... And end up using the shape of a chicken as a reference... XD
Just working on my figure drawing skills. I wanted to draw a girl sitting down, but I didn't want her to be alone, soo...that's where the bird comes in! :)
There is always a helping hand available in Meadowshire Woods in this composite image from Meadowshire Studio. A local fairy assists a fledgling bird in it's first flight.
A moody, very busy day. I did an ink wash of the beach today, but I'm posting the last piece I drew in the studio instead. I miss the studio and friends there.
