Birbfest 2025, so far

Decided to tackle the annual Birbfest art challenge this year. I love birds, and it seemed like a fantastic way to stretch myself a bit in drawing this year. I don’t know that I’ll draw every single bird this month – it’s my busy season at the yarn shop, and also I’m just slower in general this time of year, but so far I’ve managed 5 birds (will likely draw today’s later this afternoon).

The Lady Ross’s Turaco – the big blue one – was a challenge, especially in trying to nail the vibrant color of the bird in my reference photo. The Piping Plover looked, at face value, pretty easy – but my initial sketch looked terrible until I added the paint and the paint job really saved that one. The Lazuli Bunting, Red Kite, and Crimson Topaz Hummingbird (the latter two I finished today) were kind of delightful all-around to do, though I should have looked at my reference photo a bit more closely when I started in on the hummingbird paint because I made a bit of an error capturing his lower body that’s a bit hidden in the back tail area. I had drawn in a bit of a shape for it, and then… just painted it like it was part of the feathers. Oops. Oh well.

Overall, I think the Bunting is my favorite so far.