When I first saw this nuthatch photo I knew I had to make a nuthatch drawing. I absolutely loved his interesting pose and expression. The tree was interesting touch, and his colours were vibrant. I adore little birds, and as nuthatches are one of my favourite birds it was only natural that I needed to draw one.

Due to working so much lately at another job, I had decided to stop the larger drawings, unfortunately I just no longer had the time to dedicate to them. So 8×10 inches it was going to be from now on. However I knew he is only a little guy so I wouldn’t lose detail or character.

I really enjoyed my nuthatch drawing, drawing a small animal is really nice because it allows you to add all the details. There is so much to see. His eyes caused me a little bit of difficulty just because they looked a bit angry which is what I wanted to change. So I was working on the highlights in the eye. Eventually I was able to get them to a stage I was happy with. I used the coloured pencil titanium white and coloured pencil touch up for this. Another item I used for this drawing was the Zest it Coloured pencil blender. I am experimenting with this and have been using it more and more. Basically it blends the colours so the white of the paper doesn’t show through. It also allows you to add more colour layers. You also paint this on with a paint brush, like the other product.

Work in progress photos of my nuthatch drawing

Another aspect I struggled with my nuthatch drawing was the tree. I definitely need a lot more practice on trees and branches. Maybe a few studies will be needed. I just fine the amount of detail needed for this one was just a bit much. Looking back I should have made the tree more manageable. And maybe I will go back and work on this drawing a little more, but until then I am calling it finished.

Here is the completed nuthatch drawing. I hope you all like it. In the future I will do a series of small bird drawings. I would love to hear some suggestions of little birds you love.