Thesis Paintings - Bald Eagle and Griffon Vulture

Here is the seventh out of ten paintings, the bald eagle:



...and the eighth of ten paintings, the griffon vulture:



Previously posted paintings:

Mongolian Eagle Hunters
Barn Owl - Mousers
Harpy Eagle - Overlooking Tikal
Saker Falcon - Desert Hunters
Red-tailed Hawk - Farmland Guard
Peregrine Falcon - Duck Hawk

Upcoming paintings (in the following order):

Lanner Falcon - Eye of Horus
Gyrfalcon - Bird of Kings

Bald Eagle - Thesis Progress 2

I'm about 75% done with the bald eagle thesis painting. I'm looking forward to painting that salmon! Fish are another subject I haven't had much experience with.



I love the Pacific Northwest. It's such a beautiful area.

Bald Eagle - Thesis Progress 1

The first progress of the bald eagle painting. I am working quickly because I need to have this and three others due in less than two weeks!



Bald eagle feathers are so beautiful and fun to paint. There is an interesting variation between reddish brown to nearly blue.

Bald Eagle - Thesis Sketch

Here is the sketch for thesis painting #7, which is the bald eagle. In the Northwest Coast of the United States, the image of the bald eagle was carved on poles, masks, and other items by native tribes. Since fish was a staple food of the people of the coast, they respected the eagle's ability to catch fish.

Here I show the bald eagle overlooking the coast with a salmon, an important fish of the region. Although bald eagles are not one of my favorite raptors (too often portrayed in art, often painfully kitschy), they are quite beautiful. In my painting, it will be perched on a western white pine, a common tree of the area.



The next paintings will be (though perhaps not in this order):

Gyrfalcon in European Falconry
Lanner Falcon as the God Horus
Griffin Vulture as the Goddess Nekhbet