Tuesday 15 February 2011

Murder on the dance floor



Why are are group of crows called a murder? Answers on a post card please.
It's harder than I thought catching the character of a crow. I have spent this afternoon making sketches from a few photos I took the other day. Also been flicking through books. I want my crows to look scruffy, like the ones portayed in Native American art, rather than like the sleek oriental birds sitting in Cherry blossom. I love the way their wing feather tips curl up at the ends like fingers, and their untidy neck feathers.


 There is Buddha Nature only when a swan is white, a crow is black, a human being is a human being. - Shunryu Suzuki Roshi


I used my calligraphy brushes loaded with cheap poster paint on lining wall paper to rough out some shapes. But the lines are too smooth, I want them to look more frayed. Not altogether successful, so more practice me thinks !