Portrait of "Spice" the Barred Rock

Today's Chicken Scratch Portrait is of "Spice," our Barred Rock hen.

(she wears her comb with panache, like a beret!)

Color Header!

Here's the new, fantabulous color edition of the Chicken Scratch blog header...

Chicken Dance! Oreo the Matador...

Oreo is coming on a bit too strong with his new love interest, a Silkie hen named Esmerelda. He can't help but show her his love dance, and unfortunately, he can't control his neediness, which makes his date run away!
We hope he can settle down a bit and quit scaring her away, so they can have some cute little Blue Silkie chicks...

Portrait of "Pepper" in full color

This Chicken Scratch is unlike the others, as it is not from life. So, it's not a true Scratch.
However, I am beginning a regular feature on the blog, wherein I paint a color sketch of one of the chickens here at Painted Acres. This is to highlight them, and also the notion that I paint chicken portraits in any media, which are available for commission any time (just email me at kris@krisbattles.com for details).
Portrait of "Pepper," sunbathing (mixed media, mainly acrylic, on illustration board):

Scratchin' and a Preenin'

Drawing Silkie chickens almost never gets tiring, because of the incredible variation in their tone and texture, which makes for interesting and challenging rendering, especially when drawing from life.

Drawing Runner Ducks, on the other hand, also never gets tiring, but for entirely different reasons. They're always moving, and their bills and necks provide difficult shapes to draw (especially when they're moving!).

Buddy (and Stella), A Study

Followed Buddy the Silkie rooster around the yard today, getting some quick drawings done of him.

I also managed to get a quick drawing of Stella done, minutes before a downpour made us scramble to get the chickens back in!

Color Scratch!

Today's Scratches are a bit of an attempt to do color-- at least a color outline-- using colored pencils.

I saw our Rhode Island Red, "Scarlet", dust bathing, looking like a big ball of feathers, so I did a quick line drawing and added a little tone to her:

Our Silkie hen, "Holly" was next, and she was a bit more difficult. She is a very light-toned Buff Silkie, and so it's hard to get the color right. I used three different pencils on her outlines...

Chicken Contours: Delaware Quick Draw

Using a Derwent Graphic 6B pencil today, on the usual Canson 50 lb. Sketch pad...

I think the pencil is a whole lot better than a 2B or HB at getting a wider range of line weight and value. And it's easier to do a gestural contour line with it, as your hand can glide more freely across the surface.
I will continue my search for the best combination of pencil and paper and, in the meantime, I hope my eye will grow sharper and my hand, quicker.

Buddy the Buff Silkie Rooster in Glorious Color!

Well, I figured I'd liven things up a bit by trying to use colored pencils when sketching the chickens today.

I chose to sketch Buddy because he's got great color (we think he looks like a glam rocker from the 80s!).

He doesn't stand very still, however, so I had to sketch a bit, and then walk around to the same angle I had on him before he'd move, and sketch a bit more. Move and sketch, move and sketch. I'm sure if he knew what I was doing, he'd pose for me. He's got quite an ego, you know...!

I also took a quick pencil to the dust bath hen pile that was going on at the edge of the yard. The ladies love to lounge in the dirt, especially on a nice day or after the sun comes out after the rain, like today.

It's fun to draw this subject, because the line and shape are so jumbled and visually interesting. It makes your hand move quickly, too, and you have to express more than you record, so to speak.

The Silkies of Painted Acres

Here are some scratches, er, sketches, of the Silkies we have running around on "Painted Acres" (it's what we like to call our little property out here in "Spotsyltucky."

Here's today's scratch-- one of our Runner Ducks, "Snow White" ("Snowy" usually) and "Oreo," our top rooster (thinks he's "cock of the walk"):

21 May 2014 Kiddie Pool!

 Splashing about the kiddie pool bath...

More scratching, of course...

Holly, our very poofy Buff Silkie, and the ducks, almost living to type:

An Idea, Hatched.

So I've got 15 chickens. And four ducks.
So I have to free range them everyday.
And I'm an artist. I should make it a habit to sketch more...
HEY, why don't I sketch them while they're free ranging, socializing, dust bathing, etc.?
AND SO, AN IDEA WAS HATCHED!
I would do a regular posting of my "Chicken Scratches," the daily sketches I do of my chickens and ducks, as we go through life together, winging it and putting it all on my bill...

My very first "chicken scratch," a life sketch attempt of our pullets while they were dust bathing...

A watercolor of a silkie for my wife on our 12th anniversary...

Did I mention we have duck? They're "runner" ducks. They stand upright and run rather than waddle.

 "Buddy," one of two of our Silkie roosters... (I should do a color sketch of him. He's buff and black and gold...quite a handsome dude).

"Pepper" and "Rainbow" 

Runner Ducks can sit funny as well as lie down like regular ducks... the chicken sketch is of "Penny," our little hatchling of six weeks ago, a Delaware.