Today is my son Robin’s birthday so I painted this cheery parrot to print on a birthday card for him. I brought the card to his party tonight at Pier 23 in San Francisco, a waterfront “roadhouse pub” where we celebrated on their back deck right on the bay. It got pretty cold out there after the sun went down but their steamed mussels and clams were warm and delicious.
I originally downloaded the photo from MorgueFile.com (a great site for finding copyright-free images) when a student asked for a demo of bird painting and we did some planning for the painting.
Drawing the bird was fun and interesting. I’d never looked that closely at a parrot (or any bird) before and made so many discoveries, from his long, segmented “fingers” to his funny tongue and the varied shapes and colors of his feathers.
I have a friend with an Amazon parrot and I think it’s time for a visit and some sketching in person!
Jana Bouc, Artist 
7 replies on “Happy Birthday Parrot for Robin”
This parrot is a charmer. Sounds like a good time was had by all at the b-day party.
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What a fun parrot, Jana. Happy Birthday to Robin. And thanks for the photo ref link.
I can use all I can find.
annie
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This is just awesome! I love the SF waterfront…and the pubs…:)
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Ooops…I clicked before I added Happy Birthday to YOU…and Your Son…(after all, you were there)…My kids were born in SF….:) Loved the whole area!
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Cool painting! I’ll bet Robin was glad to have another one for his collection!
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It is wonderful and I love the pose you chose to use! I’m sure your son appreciated his card!
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Thanks everyone! It was fun to paint and he seemed to like the card I printed for him.
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