CRE8365 Day 13 - Western Scrub Jay in Derwent Inktense

Today's submission is another bird, the Western Scrub Jay, a common bird that lives around us, they are related to the Blue Jay with similar coloring, size and behavior. They are raucous birds, flashy, you often hear them then see a flash of blue as they zip through the air from one tree to the next.

I drew this for my mother in law, a fine artist in her own right, I am making a series of our local birds to send to her in Dallas, a bit of a late Christmas present, I know she will enjoy them.

I drew/painted this using Derwent Inktense pencils and Derwent Inktense blocks, I broke out my "good" paper, Canson XL Series watercolor, 140 lb, 9"x12" (cut in half). I have to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE using this paper, the previous birds I created for Christmas was done on heavy cardstock, it worked just fine, but I feel like I have graduated to the big time with this watercolor paper, the pigment didn't immediately soak in, I was able to move it around without damaging the paper, I was even able to lift some of the pigment from the paper. I was also able to really wet the paper with water and do some subtle shading.

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