This class was so fun!  I've always loved how beautiful owls are and how expressive they look in art.  The inspiration part of the class got me so excited!

The inking with brushes part was definitely my favorite, so that is what I chose to explore more with my final project.  It was nice being able to watercolor over my inked lines and textures.  

I painted the feather traditionally with ink and watercolor as well since I have stepped away from most digital art.  There is something about feeling the paper and using my supplies and having my work in physical form that is so pleasing to me.  

I tried to think of something I could use for the sgraffito section, but I don't have any sort of wax crayons and didn't want to deal with the mess and smudging of oil pastels.  I will revisit that section if I ever get wax crayons that aren't the water soluble ones.  

I struggled a bit with the purple barn owl, but I liked how it turned out in the end.  I think I should have gone much heavier with my colored pencil lines before starting the watercolor, but I was too excited to get painting.  I think I will play around with adding colored pencil on top now to define things a bit more and add some extra contrast. 

For my final project, I used permanent India ink to paint a horned owl I photographed last year at my local zoo.  His feathers had SOO many gorgeous textures so I was able to use all of the ink textures we practiced for this class into the final piece.  I went on top with watercolor after it was dry, but I almost think I liked it better black and white.  

Thanks for the fun class, the abundance of inspiration, and the techniques and tools to help us bring our owl illustrations to life!