Ah, finally, I have an update to post. I have been neglecting this piece, and got back to it tonight. It feels good to be working on it again. I’m doing something new…and that’s always a little scary. I can only hope it will work in the long run, but so far, I’m feeling ok with it. The new something? A whitened background. I’m using steel wool to create a somewhat softened, lightened background for this nuthatch. The bird and the bark of the tree will be in crisp detail, the background, a soft, woodsy atmosphere. Will it work? I hope so. The steel wool clears off ink a whole lot faster than my X-Acto knife, so it’s felt a bit out of control, but yet, I’m enjoying the process. It’s looking messy right now, and it’s in such an ugly stage! More tweaking will come along later. It’s after midnight and it’s time for me to let it rest.

C&C welcome. Thank you for looking!

Thanks so much, Federico!

Thank you, Jon.

Just a little more progress on this. I’m mostly working on the detail of the tree bark at the moment. As for the small twigs I’ve put into the background, I’m not sure if I’ll keep them or not. They’re just roughly in place and would need more work if I keep them there. Just going to let it rest overnight and think about it. Your thoughts are welcome on this.

Thanks for looking!