Birdy

This is my highly textured (art- brut) version of a large crow or raven, with a very large beak, perched on a tree branch staring at something off to the left of the canvas that the viewer cant see.

In the bird-world, after parrots, crows and ravens are generally considered the brainiest of birds.

Upon doing my research of crows and ravens, for this piece, I came across the following information (from wikipedia):

"Crows, and especially ravens, often feature in European legends or mythology as portents or harbingers of doom or death, because of their dark plumage, unnerving calls, and tendency to eat carrion. They are commonly thought to circle above scenes of death such as battles.

In occult circles, distinctions are sometimes made between crows and ravens. In mythology and folklore as a whole, crows tend to be symbolic more of the spiritual aspect of death, or the transition of the spirit into the afterlife, whereas ravens tend more often to be associated with the negative (physical) aspect of death. However, few if any individual mythologies or folklores make such a distinction, and there are ample exceptions.

Another reason for this distinction is that while crows are typically highly social animals, ravens don't seem to congregate in large numbers anywhere but a) near carrion where they meet seemingly by chance, or b) at cemeteries, where large numbers sometimes live together, even though carrion there is no more available (and probably less attainable) than any road or field. "

I'm not telling if my birdy is actually in a cemetary, or not, I'll leave that up to the viewer's imagination, but I will tell you how I created him.

First I laid down a lot of texture which is (spackle), and got a cracked effect so that it looks aged. Then I glazed over the texture with a light watery payne's gray *(blue-gray) color. Then I outlined the bird with black paint and used more of the (this time undiluted) payne's gray for the blue- black effect of the raven. Then I painted his beak the yellow ochre color and finally I painted the sides and bottom, which is a tree branch, but can only be viewed if looking at it from the bottom. His tail feathers also continue onto the sides & bottom of the canvas, and I signed the bottom (on the branch).

It is varnished for protection and enhancement of color. Diane G. Casey