A tad overdue...

The shed is a great blind for birdwatching! I did these sketches back in February and meant to get them up sooner...been a BIT distracted...

This was the quick sketch, just the basic shapes of this goldfinch in winter attire...my favorite HB mechanical pencil works great for these sketches.

I decided a slightly more dynamic pose would be nice, so I waited till the bird turned its head and re-drew!

I added larger shapes first in color...

...and continued to develop the details.  I got out the goauche to add a few fine white feathers and the sparkle in his eye.

You can see it's been a while since I did him!  I meant to post the progression sooner...I see I added the finished piece shortly after I painted it!