DrawWithMike.net

I have always been fascinated by owls and I’m slowly working my way through some of the species found in Canada. The great grey owl is one of Canada’s most iconic species.

Known as the Phantom of the North, it is much more likely to see you before you will ever see it. It is the world’s largest owl in total length, but not in weight. Most of its size is due to its feathers, not to its actual body size.

Although I appreciate a well thought out portrait, I wanted to try to tell a bit of a story in my drawing, without showing an actual hunting scene. I love to research my subjects, so these are the elements that helped me shape my composition.

• Their main prey are rodents and they hunt by waiting, watching and listening

• Because of this, they often hunt from a low perch, like a stump, often at a forest’s edge

• They have those iconic large facial discs that help them locate sounds, but I decided to break with tradition and show my owl in profile, targeting the sound of prey.

• Like many owls they are nocturnal, but they are also crepuscular meaning they hunt at dawn and dusk. That means no sharp highlights or shadows, just a very subtle lighting.

I’m trying to create a mood from all of this information, rather than a complex composition. I’m also trying to use lighting and arrows to my advantage to help with the story but I’m still working out some of the details.

Graphite pencil on Mellotex. 14” x 10”
All comments and critiques are welcome.

Hi Lorene - Is there a reason we cannot view your file? It says we do not have permission:(. Would love to see it!

Oh interesting. I can see my comment and now I can see your drawing. Though before I commented I coudl not see it.

Hi Mouse1015. Thanks for taking a look. I should have a bit of an update soon, although those owl feathers are pretty slow going!

Slowly working my way down the head. I'm adjusting as I go, lifting some lighter areas with Blu-Tack and darkening others. The back of the head is still not turning away the way I'd like but part of the stump will be showing behind the owl's head and I think that I'll adjust the values more once the stump is drawn. I'm still only using 2B, HB, and 2E.

All comments and critiques are welcome.

Mouse1015 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 2:47 am Hi Lorene - Is there a reason we cannot view your file? It says we do not have permission:(. Would love to see it!

If that happens again, check to make sure you're logged in. That's the usual reason for the lack of permission.

And I'm surprised to see a mouse so happily exposed in this owl thread

I'm really enjoying watching this owl emerge. I love the way the eye is undoubtedly the focus of the drawing - and the interesting composition too. I remember a famous cartoonist saying that he always threw out the first idea he had... because it would invariably have already been done. I get that feeling from this - it's a particularly natural pose, and not one deliberately designed to show all the features.

Hi my old friend Laurene! This is developing nicely - and aren't those striations in the feathers an absolute bitch? But you are handling them very well!

oops!

Mike Sibley wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:54 pm I get that feeling from this - it's a particularly natural pose, and not one deliberately designed to show all the features.

I'm sorry to hear that your headaches are back Mike. I remember how difficult they were for you.

And thanks for those words of encouragement. I went through so many iterations not only of the overall composition but especially of the pose for the owl! I'ts difficult to purposely choose a pose that deliberately ignores an animal's iconic characteristics, but this time I wanted to focus on the owl's behaviour. I'm not showing how I plan to use the stump yet because I'm still fiddling with it.