Macaw

Just so folks know I'm still plugging away at my art. This was done from a photo of a macaw on Painting Friends (a Friday challenge) who was sitting on a bare branch, probably at a zoo. My daughter and son-in-law had seen wild macaws in Costa Rica on their honeymoon, so I used a tree from one of their photos so the bird would look more at home. There appeared to be moss on the branches in the photo and I liked that look. Didn't do much blending on the macaw--just some dry brush scumbling--but used a colorless marker on the leaves, making them look a bit smoother to enhance the difference in texture from the macaw's roughness. I think I'll go back in and erase the tip of his beak--he's looking pretty dangerous! (Although, when you think about it, they don't get their beaks clipped in the wild...)
Colored pencil, about 7x8".