“So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings

open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks

of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone.”

~ Mary Oliver

Once again, I need to thank Paint My Photo, in this case photographer Peter G Pav, for a king-sized dose of inspiration:

Majestic.  Right?   We love to vacation in areas these guys frequent, and every time I have been lucky enough to see a heron in real life, I’m always momentarily stunned by their grace and ethereal beauty.   So it seemed like the perfect choice for the letter H, and PMP once again provided the perfect image.

Here is my rendering, this time in Polychromos, helio turquoise in my 7×7″ Stonehenge cream sketchbook.

Once again, this took me a little  over an hour, and so went over budget time-wise, but it being the end of the workday, what a perfect way to wind down and focus on what is ‘above’.

I think, of all the creatures I’ve drawn so far (and you’ve pretty much seen them all here), I like birds the best.   Maybe water birds, even better.    There is nothing better, to me, than vacationing on the water, in a quiet part of the world, with lots of wildlife around.   Well, add a full moon, and a fireplace, and we’ve reached the pinnacle.

Tomorrow, I’m taking a little departure from the alphabet for a special occasion, but I’ll be drawing another creature with wings.   Looking forward to it!    See you soon.