This morning when Randy saw this, he told me he thought I had definitely "stepped up my game" from my last post. I had intended to try Mr. Yellowlegs in colored pencil, but after scrapping three pages, decided it was just time to move on to a new bird. Sorry, Yellowlegs, you have lost out to a much more colorful bird, the male Montezuma Quail, which is here in Prismacolor pencils on 8.5x11 sketch paper.
My bird book says that this rare bird, which is only found in Mexico, parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, is "very secretive and difficult to see." I think this must be true, because the one and only time we have seen one was when it was slowly crossing a dirt road up in the Chiricahua mountains near Portal. Key word: SLOWLY. It was like a slow-motion fat little balloon inching its way across the road and on into the rocky grasses along the side. When Randy spotted it, he darn near skidded to a sudden stop, and we got out of the car slowly and quietly so we could watch it. It's a big thing to see one of these. People at our little B&B were excited when we told them. Some people visit the Chiricahuas JUST to try to spot a Montezuma Quail. Ahh, the birding world. It's got its quirks, but it is a fun world, nonetheless.
I dig it. It reminds me of an icon; is it a mexican icon? I can't remember, not being of the iconic persuasion. It's the most stylized piece I think I've seen of yours. Great out-in-the-wilds-skidding-to-a-stop UFO (UWO?) story.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back in your groove.
Those feathers are mesmerizing. And what an interesting expression on it's face. Do you ever make prints of these?
ReplyDeleteOops. I should have left off that apostrophe. Damn.
ReplyDelete