Painting an American Crow in PanPastel and Pastel Pencils
One of the goals I have for my pieces is to eventually get them all nestled into themed sets of notecards. I like to base my sets either on the type of animal or the habitat where they’re found. One set I’ve started to create will be an urban wildlife set and this American Crow will be perfect for it!
I decided do complete this crow in PanPastel with some pastel pencil on top for the details. I love using a paintbrush to apply my PanPastel — the paintbrushes don’t get eaten up by the paper like the Sofft Tools sometimes do and I like that I can apply especially thin layers of PanPastel. This helps me to create a very soft look by slowly building up the pastel instead of applying one flat layer.
One of the more challenging aspects of drawing or painting birds is mapping out the feathers and making them look realistic. Some feathers will have a shape that stands out and must be captured. Other feathers may be more downy and will almost resemble very soft hair. One of the things I like to do is to use a pastel pencil to map out the feather structure before I start blocking in colors with PanPastel. This helps to give me guidelines so I know where to apply colors, as well as where to create details once the base layers are done. One of the things that drew me to this crow was how its feathers and wing structure are showcased. Not only did it have these beautiful violets and blues showing up in the feathers, but even just seeing the wing structure is fascinating to me and very intricate. I wanted to show the beauty of this bird that folks seem to have very polarizing views about.
If you don’t know a lot about crows or corvids in general (which includes ravens, magpies, and jays), I would encourage you to visit this Science Alert page that has some fascinating information and videos featuring crows and other corvids. These animals are highly intelligent. They recognize people who are mean to them, they appear to have funerals for crows who have died, and they can solve complex puzzle. They are fascinating birds!
You can find my crow prints and cards available at the links below:
“Ever Watchful” Limited Edition Prints available in two sizes
Custom Set of 8 Cards (choose your cards after adding to your cart)
Custom Set of 16 Cards (choose your cards after adding to your cart)