Editorial Illustration // Bald Eagle Couple in Watercolour

Earlier this year I was asked to illustrate a pair of Bald Eagles for Jekyll Island magazine, 31-81's upcoming fall/winter 2019 issue. It was lovely to learn that bald eagles mate for life, and that they have a breeding pair on the island itself. After looking at a number of photo references, I ended up with two possible sketches for the illustration. 

 The second sketch was chosen to take to completion - and here it is, this one was a treat to work on.

Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

Fluffy, Fat, Festive little Robins

Happy 2017! Things have been quiet on the blog lately - oops! I haven't been able to share much for the last few months as most things aren't due to be published until later THIS year! Hopefully I can share more soon.

Here are some fat little festive robins I did for fun over the holidays :) 

www.amyholliday.co.uk

Sketchbook // Bird drawings: Street Pigeons

Drawing exercise - freehand, quick, loose, no erasing - some turn out fine but others not so much, but that's OK. Here is a handful of the better studies from life and some from photos. I love drawing birds!

Throwback Thursday: Lovebirds

Here is a zoom-in on a pair of bright and happy love birds from 2011. Mrs Lovebird (on the left) was part of a private commission, and Mr Lovebird (on the right) was just for fun. I still have the original painting for Mr Lovebird, which is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Tattoo: A Phoenix Risen!

A few weeks ago I accepted a commission to illustrate a phoenix in the style of my crow series from 2011,(see here). It is to be part of quite a large tattoo including the two crows which will spread over the back and up towards the shoulders. A mythological creature was a fun challenge!

 

After finishing the requesting colour-scheme, I then painted my own, more fiery version....this one is much more my style!

Edit: You can now purchase the red/orange phoenix as a fine art print in my Etsy shop here

Images are copyright Amy Holliday. Please do not use without permission. 

New Bird Nests Illustrations // A Sneak-Peak at some details...

I can't share the full illustration with you all just yet - so for now, here are some crops of a bird-nest-related project I have just finished...

More Flamingos!

 More "'mingos", just some personal work. I played around with some grouping - some of them pair up nicely, and some even look at home in a three. What is it with me and birds? They're just so full of energy and life, it makes them a lot of fun to illustrate. Flamingos have a contrasting mix of both grace and vitality about them that makes them very interesting birds.

Flamingos!

I'm working on some flamingos! I really love their knees, so I want to make sure they stand out...more to come!

Art is (C) Amy Holliday, please do not use without my permission

British Birds - Song Thrush and Blue Tit

 Another two birds for the British birds series...the song thrush singing its little heart out and the tiny, agile blue tit. I was really nervous about getting the song bird's patterned crest right, and then I was nervous about painting the whole of the blue tit because of its many markings and various colours - but now I think the blue tit is my favourite so far. (You can click the images for a bigger view)

Are there any British-native birds you would like to see? Let me know!

I wanted to see how the designs looked next to one another, so here are the four of them together so far:

British Birds - Greenfinch

This is actually the second version of this greenfinch...I wasn't happy with the first one so I started from scratch!

British Birds - Bullfinch

 The first to be finished in a series of "British birds" - more to come!
This bullfinch took me about 6 hours to do altogether, which was longer than I anticipated, the rowan berries ate up lots of that time.

Chickens! - The Hens

 I've been working on some chicken designs lately - here are the hens. I have a rooster in the works too but its taking a while to get right! I think I'll be adding a bit more to these before I will be happy to call them finished, but here they are for now!

Peacock three

 I managed to get another peacock painted today, my favourite out of the sketches. He took around 4 hours altogether. I had to tape another piece of paper to my sketchbook to fit all of his tail on, oopsie! I need to finish the other half of it so he has his lady friend next to him in the sunlight! I have always loved peacocks...their colours are memorising, and that sound they make, aau-ahhh!  

Peacocks!

 The first two of some very experimental painting with the peas...with a very abstract approach to their tails. I've been meaning to paint peacocks for so long now so it feels good to finally do it! I saw the first one as a complete disaster at first and I'm still not totally ok with it...but it seems worthy enough to post. The second is more true to what I'm going for! (click for a bigger view)

Catablu Macaw (Parrot number five)

(Another addition to the avairy!) This one was actually one of my first experiments in my sketchbook. Looking at it again, I think it might be worthy to post here...not happy with the paint but it has energy! Apparently a "catablu" is a "catalina" and "blue and gold" mix. I had no idea there were so many names given to all colour variations and breeds of macaw! I love them more than ever now!

Catalina Macaw (Parrot number four)

The Magpies and the Muffin

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! Here are a pair of magpies I painted for my Dad. 

Military Macaw (Parrot number three)

A green "military" macaw this time, not sure if I like this one as much as the others so far.

Blue and Gold Macaw (Parrot number two)

I actually coloured the rest of my parrot drawings straight in my sketchbook, but they kind of lacked the...sparkle...the first one had, so I'm now transferring them all onto watercolour paper, like the first, before re-painting them. I have finally learned the value of decent paper!

Wild Scarlet Macaw Appeared!

The first to be completed in my series of macaws. I had a bit of a paper experiment with this one and actually printed the drawing onto better quality paper before painting it. Let me know what you think! More macaws to come soon!