American Kestrel!

Kestrel in Charcoal, 8.8.15

Here’s my drawing for Draw-a-Bird-Day, the first one I’ve done!  (For those not in the know, it falls on the 8th of each month – more info at Create Art Everyday).  I ended up settling on the American Kestrel as my subject.  Apologies for the quality of the image – I will try to scan this in a couple days when I have access to a scanner.

I never really draw birds, so there’s challenge #1 for me.  I also decided to try drawing in charcoal today, which I’ve also never really done, so, challenge #2.  I bought some Derwent tinted charcoal pencils a few months ago, and those are what I used in this picture.

I’m really unfamiliar with some of the techniques used for charcoal drawing so this was kind of an experiment & learning process (although I obviously have a lot more to learn).  I do like the charcoal, though, it’s just a bit tricky for me to get any sort of detail!  Overall, I’m pretty ok with this drawing, especially as a first attempt with charcoal.