White-breasted Nuthatch

musket

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I cheated a little on this little guy. The real birds have almond shaped eyelids. I opened them to round, more like a titmouse's eyes, because he looks cuter that way. Artistic liberty. My only songbird, and one of only two pieces with driftwood (the other was a classroom saw whet owl). The color of the burl is more accurate in the profile shot. This one didn't fight me like all the others--it practically composed itself.

Rollie, 2001
Tupelo
Acrylics
Driftwood
Thuya Burl

Rollie1.JPG


RollieSide.JPG
 
Beautiful work Musket. And that piece of driftwood is absolutely perfect to complement the bird.
 
I had never seen it, and I did not know this species.
it is an extraordinarily beautiful work.
and the look, the character, always shine through and this too is lovable, it's all fantastic, he and the accommodation is perfect too.
 
Fricken superb! Maybe my favorite aesthetically. I love that it's on this driftwood and the burl. This is a gorgeous piece.
 
One of my favorite birds! This is outstanding, musket. ❤️ I love your piece of driftwood. The posture is perfect, and that open eye doesn't bother me in the least. Great job!
 
Beautiful work. It sits perfectly on the driftwood. I like what you did with the eyes!
 
Absolutely beautiful! We see these often on our feeders. You did a wonderful job.
 
Beautiful. I love the way it's sitting on the branch. Just lovely!
 
Thanks. I wanted to do a red-breasted too but ran outta time. I really like those little guys. My faves. They are fearless. You can get within six inches of them and they will blithely ignore you.
 
Musket

This is beautifully accomplished. Nuthatches are such inquisitive little birds and I always think it is funny how they like to travel upside down on the tree in search of insects I suppose.
Such a beautiful piece of work. A true work of art !!!

John
 
This is just lovely !
Cheers,
Patricia
 
Thanks again, everybody.

It was nice, for a change, to use only three elements, bird, support and base, and only four materials. Unfortunately, pieces like this, regardless of how satisfactory, aren't easy to sell for enough money to recompense the labor. I was a working artist, I knew I would never be prolific, and had to get max value for each piece.

I deliberately made the base thinner in the front than in the back, to assist, as I usually did with realistic pieces (not like the hummingbird-lapidary pieces), in trying to create the impression that movement was about to happen. The base is also wider at the back than the front. You will almost never see this kind of asymmetrical base in a bird carving, but without it, the bird would have looked static. Alas, you don't get compensated for whatever thought goes into a piece, only for the piece itself.

And so I did no more seemingly simple songbirds, though I hoped to do so down the road.
 
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This is so lovely! This is one of my favorite species of bird, and you've done him justice. Well done!
 
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