On the spot

Onyx is moving along her perch. She’s bobbing, turning, giving me her front, back and side. It’s exhilarating, if also a bit uncomfortable, to draw on the spot. And yet, this is the kind of drawing that I love doing.

I choose a stick of vine charcoal, figuring it’s easier to capture the bird shapes in one fluid go. Sketching, listening, jotting notes, sketching. Talk about uncomfortable drawing! It’s hard. Frustrating. Not coming out well. I make myself keep going another 10 minutes.

As I draw, Onyx’s keeper is telling me about this curious bird. She likes to play tug of war and put things in a cup. She especially enjoys solving the puzzle game. And in quick order — a demonstration. Onyx alights next to a wooden puzzle board (recommended for 3 year olds), grasps a puzzle piece with her beak, and moves it aside to reveal the mealworm underneath. Her favorite.

My first sketches are always the worst. I expect that and adjust.

On the second pass, I use a pencil (Blackwing 603). Shoulders down. Smile. Begin again. I put down a few lines for the gesture. She moves. More gesture lines and a false start on my page. She moves again. Must catch the shape of the tail and how the wing feathers lay around her body. Did you know a bird will lay an egg in captivity if she bonds to a person? Onyx did just that this year.

Still uncomfortable drawing, I push on. But, this time when I look, the marks on my page mean something to me.

On my way out, I collect a couple soft feathers and put them in my pocket — evidence that Onyx is molting.

At home, my sketches bring me right back to the wildlife shelter, to Onyx's enclosure. In my mind’s eye, she is on that perch — moving about, stretching, vocalizing. It’s that Onyx that I hope comes through in the final portrait.

Here’s to our Animal Ambassador Onyx, an adult American crow, who inspires us to learn about our local wildlife and conservation.