So, I'm taking a bit longer break than I thought from the bird woman painting.  I'm working out in my mind how I want to proceed.  But in the meantime, I worked out a sketch the other day that I decided I would try to paint with oils.  But I can't buy the canvas for it until this weekend, at the earliest. 

However, while I was digging through the canvases and wood panels I already have and happened upon an 8x10 wood panel that I had covered in a coat of blue months ago.  It occurred to me that I could do an acrylic version of this sketch, a more realistic owl, and then move on to the oil version.

So tonight, I sat down and got started on it:

At the top of the picture is the sketch I made and below is the first layer of paint for the tree branches.  I also wrapped the branches around onto the sides.  Here's what it looks like on one side:


There is at least a branch or two that wraps around the entire wood panel - top, bottom, and sides.  I love how it looks when hanging up.  :)  This owl, as I mentioned above, will be a more realistic owl than the usual owls I paint.  I'm looking forward to doing the even bigger version in oils.  Fun!  However, next comes finishing the tree and shading it.  Woof.  That'll be a challenge, but I'm excited and psyched to do it!