Great Horned Owl in Cedar

I drew this owl reflective of how I see owls when I stumble upon them in the woods.  Stoically perched in an evergreen tree, the owl is silent without movement.   You can almost pass by an owl without noticing them. If you get lucky and notice one before it silently flies away, it is a beautiful and rare sight.  I wanted to catch this scene placed in the tranquil forests of Alaska focused on the spruce tree.

This piece was done only with watercolor pencil, using it dry for the foreground and subject, and then wetting the pencil tip for drawing the background.  I wanted the owl to partially blend with the grey, hazy sky of summer; partially blended with the patterns of greenery found in the cedar. 

Drawing the huge, almost human eyes of the Great Horned Owl is always fun with how the tiny feathers fan out on the face around them. These special feathers draw in the tiniest of sound to their small but powerful ears hidden under the feathers atop the head of the Great Horned Owl.