Sustained Investigation #2

Artist Statement:

For this project, I continued working with the question: "How can I show different species of birds in different habitats?" I am working with backyard birds and native Maine birds. I chose the Blue Jay for this one, because they are very vibrant and pretty birds. I was also able to do some research, and found out a little about Blue Jays and what they symbolize. Originally, I was going to a painting of the blue jays on a slab of wood. Partway through it, however, I decided that I didn't want to paint and switched to drawing.

The materials I used for this art project were ink pen, colored pencils, and graphite pencils. I used all of the materials on drawing paper. (In the original version I was using wood and gouache).

I first looked at my Bird mind map, to give me an idea of what type of bird I was going to focus on this time. I decided on a Blue Jay, which I researched about on a piece of paper (featured above). After I had done this, I developed some very rough sketches to get a feel for the design and positioning of the birds (also featured above). Then, I began painting the background of my scenery, on a wood block. I had started to paint the birds, but lost interest in the medium and moved to pens and pencils. I made more sketches, and drew out the birds on a piece of drawing paper in pen. I then added colored pencils, and after touching up some details, finished my artwork.