Bird in Cage

#1

I started this as a warm up sketch this morning, and I like the way it’s going so I want to finish it. I had a pet cockatiel years ago that used to go sideways like this sometimes (that’s a door in the bg, if it’s not clear). Though I didn’t have any particular kind of bird in mind when getting this far I do plan to use reference the rest of the way.

So far I’ve mostly been painting this with a hard round standard brush with pressure set to opacity, though I did use one set to size for some of the initial blocking.

Anyways, I’m hoping I can get some good critiques here.

#2

Goog start, it liike good as far as color and comp goes. My only thought was the birds eye seems very mammal. I don’t think they have pupils like that. Also having it lolok towards the camera may make it come to life a bit more.

#3

Eye should be black, lags are way too high + too fat and cockatiels are usually in white/grey/yellow combination + red cheeks.
Since this is a “warm up sketch” you’ll fix that with no problem.
Keep it up

#4

I’m sorry, I would love to give this a decent critique, but the part of my brain that gushes “BIRDY!” has fused all those neurons together in joy.

Um. Please keep going with this? >.>

#5

Hi everyone, thanks for the help. Zyrinx, wo0lF, I guess I never really noticed it before, but a lot of birds have dark eyes like that. Also, wo0lF, thanks for the tips on the anatomy. TrenchcoatPixie, I’ll admit I don’t have a very good track record for finishing my personal work, but this one feels different - like it’s coming together well and pushing me forward. I’m definitely going to complete this one.

 Here's a new WIP on the painting. I've been using the reference fairly heavily on this for the proportions, color patterns, and feather patterns. I also didn't think the previous background had enough contrast against the gray feathers, so I changed the colors around to fix the problem. Overall composition is still pretty much the same though.
 
 Some of the reference I've been using so far:
 Most of the colors, proportions and head -- [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/CockatielImage2.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/CockatielImage2.jpg)
 Feather pattern on wings -- [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2471916888_3da29a8b4e.jpg?v=0](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2471916888_3da29a8b4e.jpg?v=0)
 Speckles to some extent and wings - [http://www.cockatiel-mad.co.uk/cockatiel%20new%20010.jpg](http://www.cockatiel-mad.co.uk/cockatiel%20new%20010.jpg)
 
 There have been some others as well, but I'm having trouble finding their URLs.
 
 Ok, so here it is (image links to larger version):
 [[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v394/rrimgeaper2/art/bird_in_cage_wip2_web.jpg[/img]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v394/rrimgeaper2/art/bird_in_cage_wip2.jpg)
 
 I think where I want to go next with this is to add in the missing part of the wing that I've just barely started sketching in. After that, I need to get some better lighting on the background, and work on getting the plastic and metal to look more like their materials.
#6

Wow alot better! I like how he’s looking at the camera and the eye makes him look alot less like a muppet. I feel you on the hard time finishing projects thing, but since this has some personal feeling behind it that may help push ya thru. Keep it up can’t wait for more updates!

#7

Not much of an update, but I have done some more work on this. I ended up deciding against having paint on the inside of the cage since it would probably be a bad idea in real life - wouldn’t want the bird to get sick from nibbling at it. So now it’s plastic.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v394/rrimgeaper2/art/pw042_BirdInCage_wip3.jpg[/img]
#8

So it’s been a while since I’ve done any real work on this project, but it’s not dead. I finally did some more work on it tonight. I extended the wings and added more detail to them. I’mal also working on making the metal parts of the cage look more metallic. I’m still messing around with the background colors. I plan to eventually make the walls look painted or like wallpaper, and the floor to look like carpet.

#9

The first variant you made for me is better, because his head and tail are not cropped. I see no reason doing this, especialy with his feathers on head. The stick which he sits on attracts too much attention to my taste, so I would make it vertical. Don’t know if you find this helpful… :cool: Those are 2 my variants. I tried to crop the tail more not to be in-the-between croping to avoid this uncertain feel about it. And the second variant without cropping. If you crop feathers on his head, he looses hiw resmblance with parrot. This is my opinion.

#10

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