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windfalcon In reply to nanccakes [2014-06-02 19:14:43 +0000 UTC]

Hahahah this avatar!  I love it.

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windfalcon In reply to NonieR [2014-04-13 12:29:30 +0000 UTC]

I could see that, however the client specifically requested a pose like this, with an 'angelic' feel :3 if you take a look through my gallery, you'll see many of my birds are in flight at rather unusual angles.

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NonieR In reply to windfalcon [2014-04-15 19:27:43 +0000 UTC]

Sorry if I was unclear; I KNOW your other pictures are all at great dynamic angles--dynamic even when the birds are at rest. You've probably been doing that perfectly since your cradle, you brilliant artist!

I was pert' well just saying "Huh," the way I would for any other odd visual illusion, because the combination of the wing angle (entirely realistic) AND the fact that it's on the same H/V access as the frame (entirely reasonable) just happen to create the odd illusion of static immobility in this one case.

I'm not good at leaving comments about every picture I love--which may be just as well, or you'd have banned me just because you got tired of my gushing for pages and pages about my favorite pics like, oh, Radiance and Voice of Autumn Light (my favorite) and Coyote Feather and Balance (both its beauty and its intricacy) and Thesis - Gyrfalcon (whose alignment with the DIAGONAL axes of the painting works perfectly) and Conbadge Jet (I love the clean lines and the believable shades of brown and all), and, well, almost ALL of your Gryphons, and and and....

Your verbose fan,

--Nonir

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windfalcon In reply to NonieR [2014-04-19 14:33:15 +0000 UTC]

No worries! I didn't find the comment offensive or upsetting! I agree that the horizontal-vertical composition does create a bit of a static appearance, but that simply in this case, it was deliberate and requested by the client

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windfalcon In reply to Aquaridragon [2014-04-13 01:34:35 +0000 UTC]

I wish I could say it was easy, but it took a lot of studying to be able to get this just right.  I think I referenced about 50 different birds just to get the right feel for this one.

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Aquaridragon In reply to windfalcon [2014-04-13 02:03:34 +0000 UTC]

Thats a lot of dedication! I meant with your brushstrokes, just a few simple strokes to get those wonderful feathers and plumage. :3

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windfalcon In reply to bonefish [2014-04-13 01:33:34 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!  That's one of the distinguishing markings of a red-tail, along with the brown 'belly band'.  No matter how pale the hawk, red-tails will always have at least a hint of dark on the underside of the wings and at least a few 'freckles' on the belly (at least for eastern red-tails - I think there are exceptions to the belly-band 'rule' for midwestern birds).

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bonefish In reply to windfalcon [2014-04-14 03:00:37 +0000 UTC]

Yep! That's one of the things I toss into the "Swainson's vs. RTHA" bit I sometimes give during raptor talks: RTHAs always have the brown leading wing edges, whereas Swainson's (except for dark morphs and some heavily mottled intermediates) have a lighter, creamy leading edge. It can still be tough to tell those two apart in flight, but the wing edge helps.

I'm on the West Coast, and most of the RTHAs I've seen out here follow the belly band/freckle rule too. I think, as you pointed out, that some of the most extreme, light-colored subspecies of RTHA may break the rule: check out this lovely Krider's RTHA! Got to love how frustratingly variable RTHA colors can be.

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