Sunday, March 14, 2010

Illustration Friday - Subterranean

The Elusive Subterranean Parakeet
watercolor and pen

I had a little observational inspiration for this week's word.  My husband, son and I  went to the Tyler Zoo on Saturday.  I had it in my head to keep my eyes open for a critter that might make a good subject for "subterranean" but it turned out to be the most unlikely candidate that I could have imagined.  In the " Wild Bird Walkabout" there was a little parakeet madly excavating a good sized hole under the edge of a rock.  Parakeets are known to hollow out trees and logs for their nests, but this may be the the first to choose a subterranean abode.  I think she knows that it will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, and that she won't have to worry about termite damage later on down the road. :)

Below is a short clip of video that I took of her while she was working.


12 comments:

  1. Amazing! I had no idea keets were diggers! Great little video and cute illo, too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great mix of textures and simple color palette.

    ReplyDelete
  3. wonderful illustration, I specially love the miner´s hat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sally this is awesome! What a fun illo and an amazingly clever bird!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh i love that you included a video of your inspiration! That's great! Love your painting. My keets just excavate their seed trays all over my floors.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your illustration.Thank-you for the video of the little parkeet working.I love the hat and shovel on your bird.
    ~Deb~

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great use of watercolor. Our students are doing a skeleton study currently with the same media. Wonderful study and inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's so cool!! I didn't know they dig holes in the ground. Great interpretation!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What? Parakeets digging holes? My world is turning upside-down! This is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  10. great great idea! amazing capture and very nice illo!

    ReplyDelete

I am a comment junkie. Let me know what you think.