What you see is not what you have to have!

Sunday I  will be able to get back to my magpie pendant but I wanted to share how my final design comes about.  I both stitch and paint birds a lot.  They are my favorite subject in fact.  I start by looking at as many images as I can and look for something in each image  that appeals to me.  I do start with a few guidelines

1.  I want my bird doing something.  It has to be more than botanically correct.  I want it to be  eating flying etc. anything to give it a little personality.

2.  Except for owls, I avoid straight on views of a bird head.  Always want it side view or 3/4 view.. even better at a tilt.







3.  I make sure my birds most identifiable feature is seen... color, markings, etc. Of course with magpies it is the black and white.

4.Be aware of their feet... They look awkward without feet and feet can add to the balance and activity.

5.  The bird and pose has to fit my space...With buttons it is a circle which is sometimes a real challenge.  With CQ it was usually a square or triangle.

I do not hesitate to crop off a body part such as ears or tail to make an image fit. BUT  the important thing is to make the eye think that it is still there..

A magpie has an extraordinarily long tail and in this image someone has just shortened the tail and it looks funny.  

 By the time I actually do a rough sketch my magpie on the disc it is a composite of bits and pieces of all the images I looked at.











Below is a tip from 2012 on ways to modify an image to fit your space.  It so happens I use this tip all the time mostly for button painting..  some times a subject does not suit itself to a round button shape and sometime changing an image makes it more interesting... Here are two examples... A rooster in full strut  is not conducive to a small circular shape but if I make a copy and a reverse copy and cut them up I can fiddle with position. By lowering the tail and reversing the head, it is much better for a round shape..

 The same is true for a quail in this position...a strong diagonal which heads right off the block or button.   By reversing the head, it is more interesting composition.

If you liked playing with paper dolls this tip is right up your alley...  

Every cloud has a silver lining!

I love proverbs..... I have samplers all over and some date back to the sixties... I have them taped to refrigerator, walls etc.. and can find one to brighten every day and find a purpose to lift me up  when I'm down..
The other day the proverb most apt was:

and that is what I was thinking as I watched the pigs tearing up everything just outside the window where I work...  It was bad enough they were creating a horrible mess but did they have to do it right under my nose?

But the proverb for today is:

 

Magpies have always been my favorite bird.. even  living in Alaska. We had them here at the farm for years nesting everywhere and their antics brought me great joy.  Then about 4 years ago the ravens moved in and drove the magpies away.  But the pigs rooting through the snow and frozen ground must have unearthed lots of dead bugs, grubs and worms because the magpies were here en masse this morning working over the mess the pigs made....and they did it right under my nose!!!   What a treat for me.

Many trees in the garden still have the remains of magpie nests...they are very large with woody twigs and the entrance was on  the under side.  This one in an old apple tree was used by a squirrel for its stash of winter food after the magpies left.   One year the magpies built a nest in a hawthorn tree right  at my eye level near the sheep pen and I got to watch all the activity in and out.  I posted when the young fledged.

No pigs for several days now...