I'm late sending out holiday cards stuck on what bird to paint. I remember a friend sent me a photo they saw online of a strawberry finch. A Saturday afternoon watching videos of these dramatic and unique finches resulted in this drawing. I used a little permanent gouache for the bird's striking spots.
gouache
American Redstart
This was a satisfying pencil drawing and then I decided to try a gouache stain over parts of it. I immediately regretted it but kept going in the hopes of salvaging the sketch. It's a sketch in a sketchbook. The point is to allow room for mistakes.
