"Owls"

I am posting a couple of pages that I have done lately for a Round Robin Journal swap, for Paper Traders yahoo group. Below is the "Owls" I did for Marion's book Deep Sea of Poetry, and then the "Chooks" I did for Jenene's book Backyard Chook Shed.

I have been busy lately trying to catch up on some Round Robin Art Journals. There was a bit of a mailing mix-up, and the journals got stuck over the Christmas package overload. Anyway, I received three to work on, and to get done quickly. I have finished the second one which is for Marion. (The first was Jenene's chook shed.)
I chose to do the pages with these beautiful pictures from an old childrens educational book. The images are gorgeous, but had absolutely no color. They were just rather flat, so I spent some time chalking them oh so carefully. The eyes are a rich gold color, and the feathers are several tones of browns. The beak is a grey and brown mix, and the branch is a sage and grey mix. It was a lot of fun to see these birds come to life.
The background of the page was also a ton of fun to do. My mom taught me how, by taking white gesso, and brushing it on with a prickly paint brush. It was fun how the bristles make the cool stroke look. Then when it was all done and completely dry, I distress inked the edges, to give it that old look.
Then I added the birds and the fun owl poem.