Painting birds

I am doing birds as my next challenge. I looked for bird photos with really simple feathers but with vibrant complementary colors. I love how birds look when they're painted, they look so retro or vintage like those pages from old books I've seen in school libraries.

For my first set of birds, I chose a Robin and a Blue Jay. It wasn't easy as I thought. The feathers and color transitions were tricky. I realize though they could vary and there's no need to be so precise. I still need to work on the proportions. Drawing really kills me each time. I like the coloring process more but sometimes, I need a rough outline to guide me where to apply the colors.

I am quite happy that it turned out well, not as perfect as I'd imagined though. I'm thinking how I can use them for other things that I can sell on Etsy. Cards, tags, journal covers, digital patterns. Hmmm.

I did further tries in putting these drawings together with calligraphy text, seeing how they look in a thank you card or similar artwork.