green-headed tanager – Ella's Place

Posted on July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week: Birds of Brazil

This week’s drawing of the week is my Birds from Brazil guide, created as a celebration of the up-coming Rio 2016 Olympics.

My illustrated guide features six Brazilian bird illustrations; blue nuthatch, anaripe manakin, toucan, Brazilian tanager, chestnut-backed tanager and green-headed tanager.

All the drawings are created with watercolour and black pen – you know, my trademark illustration style. You can buy the print of these Brazilian beauties at my Not On The High Street shop click here to see it.

Posted on June 7, 2016June 6, 2016 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week: The Green-headed Tanager

I’m currently working on a birds from brazil illustration series to coincide with this years Olympics. While researching this topic I kept coming across images of the green-headed tanager.

This small, colourful bird can be found in the Atlantic forest in south-eastern Brazil and far eastern Paraguay.

The creature measures an average of 13.5cm. Its preferred habitat is humid forests but there have been sightings in orchards and parks; apparently its flashy blue-green coloration camouflages well among the foliage.

As this bird is so colourful and full of character it was tremendous fun to draw. It was great to break out the brighter colours in my watercolour box. Plus, I couldn’t resist creating lots of sketches to capture the quirky, playful nature of this vibrant little critter.