Let's draw the Eagle!
The best way to draw the eagle is to take a family trip to a reserve and observe real live
eagles. (To find a reserve near you, serf the web, key words bald eagle) and follow these steps:

Step 1. Study your subject, the bald eagle. Identify physical characteristics of the eagle. Simplify the eagle into basic geometric shapes in your eye's mind . This technique will take away difficult details that will be added later in your drawing.
                           Body- oval
                           Head-oval (notice the proportions are different)
                           Upper-legs- ovals
                           Tail- triangle
                           Beak- triangle
                           Bottom wing tip- triangle
                           Wing portion next to body- rectangles
                            Upper wing tip- over-lapped rectangle


Step 2: Study your subject, the bald eagle. Build up the details in stages, blending the lines to create realistic values, but keep crisp lines to separate feathers, add more simple shapes.
                           Notice the wing feathers are created with slanted lines coming to a point.
                            The oval of the head is more refined at this stage. Zig zag lines create feather
                           details.
                           The edge of the triangle of the tail feathers are irregular.






Step 3: Study your subject, the bald eagle. Draw more lines. Lines to separate wing feathers, and
body feathers. Notice details of the beak, the eye.
                             How many layers of feathers make up the wing?
                                                        Look at the tiny feathers that
                                                        make up the bald head! They are
                                                        layered. The means one is on top
                                                        of the other.

  


Step 4: Now you are ready for the art element value, blend your lines to create depth.
            Don't forget the feet, the bright yellow feet!
            The lower part of the leg has no feathers. They are scaley.  





                  
Pat will teach You How to draw Wildlife in a few easy steps!
The American Bald Eagle- No longer a vanishing majesty!
Our National Bird, the bald eagle has winged its way back from the edge of extinction, thanks to the outlawing of the pesticide DDT in 1972 and to protections povided by the Endangered Species Act. the nations's landmark conservation law. The bird, all Americans recognize, stamped on the presidential seal of the United States, has made a strong comeback!
Facts:
Body of an Eagle:  30 to 35 inches long from the bill to the tip of the tail.
                            weigh 8 - 13 pounds, wingspread of approx. 7 ft.
The Head: is large and covered with white feathers. The Eagle has large
                eyes that are located on either side of its head. Eagles have great
                eyesight.
Feet and Legs: The feet are bright yellow. Eagles seize and kill their prey
                       with the long, curved talons on their feet. The lower part of
                       the bald eagle's legs is bare.
Feathers and Wings: The body and long wing feathers are dark brown.
                                The bald eagle is not really bald. It looks bald
                                because its head is covered with white feathers. The
                                tail is also white.
Learn the facts about the animal, draw the animal and then share your artwork and send a digital photograph of it to Painting With Pat for exhibit on our Kidz Gallery!
Scan your artwork or take a digital photograph of your artwork.
Electronic files can be sent to connect@paintingwithpat.org




No Longer Endangered!
American Bald Eagle
You did it !!
Let's Draw a Screech Owl!
Step 1: Start out with geometric shapes!
Step 2: Add detail lines, ...still very simple.
Draw the eyes as circles, beak as a triangle.
Step 3: Study your subject, began to add more realistic details of the feathers.
Step 4: Add the element of art, value to create depth within the feathers and to give the overall drawing a 3d quality.
The Eastern Screech-Owl is found in nearly every habitat throughout the Eastern United States and Southern Canada. It is common in urban as well as rural areas and readily nests in nest boxes. In the wild it will nest in hollow trees.
The characteristic description of the screech-owl is :
  • small in stature (only 6 - 10 inches)
  • feathered ear tufts
  • color varies in different regions: gray, brownish gray or reddish brown
  • wingspan is (19 - 24 inches)
  • weight is (4.27 - 8.61 ounces)
  • male and female are alike in plumage
  • the female is usually larger than the male in size

The screech-owl's diet consists fo a variety of items:
  • small rodents
  • insects
  • lizards
  • small snakes
  • small birds

The conservation status is widespread and common.
The Screech-owl is not on the endangered list.
Meet 'Squeaky'!
Pat found Squeaky on the side of the road injured and brought him home with her to take care of his injuries. He had a broken wing and an injured eye, but, Squeaky soon recovered and was released back to the wild in 2007!
Squeaky did not go far. Pat hears him calling from time to time. She can recognize him by his squeaky, sharp, WHOoooooooooooo!
Lilly is a striped skunk. Her home is at the Nashville Zoo in Nashville, TN. She is our animal ambassador when we visit the Nashville Zoo for our drawing classes, 'Portraits of the Wild'.
Lilly is a member of the Mustelid Family, a group that includes weasels, martins, and badgers and are found throughout almost all of North America.Skunks are adaptable to a variety of habitats; open, scrub, wooded and suburban developed habitats. Skunks den in cavities such as woodchuck burrows, hollow logs, brush piles, stone walls and under buildings. A den is usually used for brief periods because of the skunk's nomadic tendency. Generally skunks are solitary animals except when raising young or sharing a den during cold periods of winter. A skunk's only defense is a noxious odor that can be 'fired' from either  of two independently operating anal glands. Lilly was given to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere as a baby, (kit), when her mother was killed on the highway. Lilly's scent glands has been removed. She will never be able to go back to the wild. Skunks are generally gentle and non-aggressive creatures. Because of the skunk's adaptability to changing habitats, Lilly's wild cousins are not on the endangered species list.
Click Here to adopt Squeaky!
Click Here to adopt Lilly!
Step 1
Start with geometric shape
Step 2
Add ovals for the long body
Step 3
Add fore limbs and hind using simple line and shapes.
How many legs does a preying mantis have?
Step 4
More legs!
Create detail characteristics that make a preying mantis look like a preying mantis!
Life is all around us.
Above our heads, walking with us and under our feet!
Open your eyes and get to know some of your neighbors!
Drawing large animals is a little more challenging. The best way to observe a Tiger is to take a family trip to the zoo! Sit and watch their behaviors, really look at the colors that make up their coat, and look into those beautiful eyes!
Tigers are the largest of all wild cats and are renowned for their power and strength. There were once eight subspecies, but three became extinct during the 20th century. Over the last hundred years, hunting and forest destruction have reduced overall tiger populations from hundreds of thousands to perhaps, 3,000 to 5,000. Tigers are hunted as trophies and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
All five remaining tiger subspecies are critically endangered, and many protection programs are in place.
The tiger's stripes differ from one animal to another, kinda like human fingerprints, no two are the same!
When drawing an animal like the, Tiger, I always start with the eyes. Geometric circle for the head, vertical line indicating center of the face which crosses with an horizontal line for the eye placement, then start building the drawing from there!
Look for the lines in your subject. Look for species characteristic, 'learn to see'!
This little fellow, we drew at the Nashville Zoo in a class back in 2007! The zoo animal handler brought the Quaker Parrot out for the class to observe.
Step 1
Start out with simple geometric shapes
Step 2
Go over your shapes with colored pencils.
Step 3
Erase the pencil lines and begin to build up color layers.
Step 4
Observe your animal and add details, small lines for feathers, value for  shadows and depth, and don't forget his feet! Scales on the feet and legs!
Many Quakers have beem simply set free in the environment, for reasons unknown, except maybe the owner got tired of their pet. The Quakers have taken over native bird's habitats and thrived. And they have become a nuisance and a threat to native birds.
The beautiful Scarlet Macaw !
This beautiful bird was another live animal subject from the Nashville Zoo!
The kids had a blast! Seeing the bird up-close, learning to see the colors and shapes that made up the bird, 'WOW' what an experience!

Sadly though, this beautiful bird's existence is threatened also due to, forest destruction, feathers are highly in demand, birds are captured for pets, people moving in, and pushing the Macaws out!
Step 1
Basic Shapes
Step 2
Begin to add color with a colored pencil to indicate feather colors.
Step 3
Fill in feathers.
Add dark and light values to indicate shadow and depth within the feathers
Step 4
Add facial details
More feathers with lines, More color and remember to flow your lines to create the illusion of the soft flowing feathers!
Blue Tongue Skink
was another class I taught at the Nashville Zoo!
Beautiful little fellow!
This drawing is created in pastels!