Another freezing and windy day - so late afternoon, I took myself off to the end of my garden for another relaxing play.
I have been clearing out my craft shed/studio and filled up boxes and boxes and bags and bags of arty crafty things, and toys and clothes (now that I have lost a stone and a half in wieight - pause for applause LOL.)
And whilst clearing out shelves of books - I dare not say how many - I got distracted whilst deciding whether or not to send my hard back book of English Birds to Dr Barnardo's charity shop.
This is the result - both birds are exactly the same size even though the Bull Finch might look bigger!
A male Red Backed Shrike - only a little bit of his back is red -the rest is coloured as above. They are found in Norfolk, where I live. I was rather pleased with his shiny eye and beak which I glossed before matt sealing the rest of his head and neck.
And this is a male Bull Finch. I managed to get his colouring 'spot on' after several layers of painting and shading. He too is seen in many british gardens, especially if you put out nut feeders. Again he has the most wonderful glossy eye which really looks like he's looking at you - and a great shiny beak. Sadly the females of the bird species are remarkably dull - the opposite in the human species of course.
I can't decide whether to mount each one on a circle of polymer clay to turn them into pendants - or to make and paint a collection of them to mount and frame.
