Ring-necked Pheasant

[Laurene]

We have so many absolutely beautiful birds where I live in northeast Canada, from songbirds to raptors, but the male ring-necked pheasant is truly iconic.

I’m fortunate to have access to a taxidermy specimen of a ring-necked pheasant. For a long time I felt that because of it’s colourful plumage, it was a subject best left to other mediums, however it also makes a stunning graphite pencil subject. Pheasants hide in tall grasses, so I’ll include some grasses in my composition.

Procreate has given use an upgrade recently that includes many new brushes. There is a category dedicated to pencils which is worth exploring. I created this little chart in order to get a feel for each brush.

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Because I studied with Mike and was used to using Staedtler technical pencils on smooth papers like Conqueror, I find that these brushes give too rough of a texture. The ones that come closest to my preferences are the Scopus and the Waratah.

I like them both, but I have developed my own brush that works well for me ( see image above). I continue to tweak it, but so far, it gives me the tapered line that I love for fur, and if I turn my pencil about 45 degrees to the screen, it mimics the chisel point. It draws a darker line if I press harder, or I can layer my strokes to get a progressively darker area.

So, this drawing will be done in Procreate, using my LS Pencil Brush. The eraser and smudge tools are set to the Soft Airbrush, in the Airbrushing category of the Classic Library. I hardly use these last two tools, but they can come in handy at times. The canvas is 20” x 12” at 300 dpi. The grey shade I’m using is hexadecimal 464646, or just take a look at this screenshot below.

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Here is my first upload. The male pheasant’s face is complicated by the red flaps of skin on either side of their faces called wattles. This means that between the eye, the beak, the wattle, the short hair-like feathers on the top of the head and face, and the longer feathers on the neck, there are many textures to contend with in a small area. This is just a start.

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[Mike Sibley]

I'm really looking forward to this! We're surrounded by them - and Partridge. Beautiful birds when the males are in full plumage.

[Laurene]

Oh, it sounds just like where I am in Canada.

I’ve come up to partridges a couple of times. They were so well hidden, I never saw them until I was almost on top of them and they flew straight up in front of me. I remember once when I was trail riding and the horse was startled when it flushed a pair in an open field. I’ve actually never seen a pheasant in nature though, even though they’re quite plentiful here.

[Laurene]

There’s no way to get a perfect reference for drawing, especially when your subject is an animal. We can sketch from life, but you can’t finish a detailed drawing that way.

My taxidermy specimen must be at least 50 years old. The plumage is absolutely beautiful, but things like wattles are not preserved very well. I found I had to research head details online to supplement what I was seeing on my mounted pheasant. I thought you might like to see how I combined different references.

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I liked the head tilt on my pheasant, but details were lost. I was able to see details using online references, but the poses were boring profiles. I settled on something in between.

This is where I am so far.

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[Mike Sibley]

I don't like pointing this out but... your taxidermy pheasant is looking a little... what's the word I'm looking for?... dead.

But on the other hand, your drawing is so very much alive. I can't decide why, but I can almost tell what it's thinking. And your treatment of the feathers and wattle is so subtle yet effective.

[Laurene]

LOL! I thought he looked pretty good for being stuffed and mounted over 60 years ago!

Thank you for your encouragement Mike. I’m enjoying drawing this old boy!!

[Laurene]

I’ve completed the head now, and I’m working on the chest and belly. This is quite a bit easier than the head. The feather markings are distinctive, but their placement is a little irregular, and varies from one individual to another.

I’m still using the same pencil brush, but since these feathers have a very sleek appearance without much visible detail, I’m using the soft airbrush to lay in varying shades of grey on a layer below the dark feather markings. The above layer is set to Multiply mode and holds the dark markings which I draw with the pencil brush.

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The markings still need work. I’m going back and forth between the 2 layers.

[Laurene]

The chest and belly area are progressing. It’s not terribly precise work, but it’s a slow going. The feather markings can vary in placement, but they do have to follow the contours of the pheasant. They also vary slightly in value as the light catches the surface of the feather nearest to it, and as the shape of the pheasant faces the light, or turns away from it.

I’m trying not to obsess over small details because part of the bird will be hidden by grass. The grass will also push the pheasant back in the composition. This is where I am now.

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[Laurene]

I’m not posting a step-by-step description on this project because it’s really all about just drawing as I would with graphite pencils, and taking my time with it. As always though, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask.

I’m still using the same brushes I described in my first post, but I occasionally used the Flowing Hair brush in the Materials category of the Classic Library to add texture to the back and chest feathers. I did this on a layer above the feather layer, and set the mode to multiply. Because this is a digital medium, I found this to be the best method for adding texture.

I organized the drawing by sections, creating a new layer or layer group every time the feather texture changed. On a male pheasant there are many such changes. I would work similarly, in sections, if I were working with graphite pencils on paper.

I colour-coded the sections and numbered them (see below) just to show you what I mean.

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I left the wing feather section (#5) until last because it is the lightest area, and I wanted to establish my darks first. Anatomically though, when I look at my mounted pheasant, the wing is folded below and under the back feathers, so the wing layer (#5) is below the one for the back feathers (#4). You can reserve a blank layer for this, or just drag layer 5 below layer 4.

This is as far as I’ve gotten so far.

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I’m not concerned about the feet because in my composition, the pheasant will be crouching in tall grasses as they do in nature. That’s the plan, anyway!

[Laurene]

I’ve completed the wing section, and added that odd, hairy, cap of feathers on the lower back. Next comes that long elegant pheasant tail, and then I’ll move on to the grasses. Thanks as always for following along with me!

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