Some Days Chicken, Some Days Sparrow Feathers

This past week I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting my artwork ready to hang at the Art House LV Gallery for the collaboration show "Fur, Feathers and Fins".  I don't think I had one fish or reptile on display, but I sure had plenty of Feathers represented on my wall.

Both of these sparrow pieces made their public debut at the show and I couldn't be more pleased at how they looked hanging there among the whole display.  I find myself more and more opting for my color pencils and ignoring my paintbrushes.
This little grouping of sparrows that I call "Early Morning Flock Talk" is drawn in color pencil and measures about 6 x 15 I think.  When I started drawing this, I already had the frame and that is the reason for the long narrow size.  I didn't really consider how I was going to make matted prints of it though.  I usually steer clear of odd sizes when painting on canvases or matting my drawings.  It just isn't very cost effective to have to have framing specially made.   It turns out it has been a popular piece and so I had to figure out a way to make this long and narrow drawing into a more standard size such as 5 x 7 or 8 x 10.

So, today I turned to Photoshop for a little help.  I downloaded some grass and wildflower pictures from my new favoritest website ever-Pngtree.com.  I lengthened this size of the fence posts and then just layered the grass and flowers in front of my drawing.  This gives both height and depth to my drawing.





So here is the final result.  I think this will be a print that I will sell often and the image will look great on other merchandise.

My second sparrow piece is one I call "Online Dating" and features both a male and female sparrow sitting on a clothesline surrounded by wooden clothespins.  In my final drawing of the piece I have light blue background that I colored in and I decided to add a butterfly and two yellow and green stripped wash rags to the pins.
As a child we never owned a clothes dryer.  One of my household chores was to hang the laundry out on the line.  I don't have memories of beautiful butterflies floating overhead but rather giant horseflies dive bombing me as I struggled to hang the wet laundry and secure it on the clothesline.  This drawing is 8 x 10 and I have it matted to 11 x 14.  So it is a nice size.


I did decided to take the composition and change it up a bit digitally.  I extended the clothesline and added a couple more clothespins.  A bright digital background and I think my little love birds really pop now.













One more piece that I worked on this week still focused on birds but not sparrows.  I started with a sketch of a rooster that is probably classified a zentangle.  Primarily in blue, teal and purple ink, this guy is not only colorful but has an air of superiority to him.  Much like the for real breathing variety.

I knew right away that I was going to have to draw him a cute chicky girlfriend.  Since they both were separate sketches, I had to turn to Photoshop to create a romantic scene.  What says romance more than a field of beautiful wildflowers?  I suppose if I had thought it through, I would have them wings outstretched and running towards each other. (Maybe this should be my next masterpiece).

I love adding a dropped shadow behind both the rooster and the hen.  This gives a more 3-D appearance and they actually seem to be resting above the surface of the background image.

I'm just having so much fun combining my artwork with digital modifications.  Gosh...I LOVE my job!







As a grouping, these chickens sure make an adorable trio that would look great in any room and go with any country or farm decor.






All of these images are available as glossy matted prints on my Etsy Shop and are in a variety of sizes.  You should just hop on over they and take a look.  Julie Townsend Studio- Etsy Shop