First project of 2018 completed, this handsome Kestrel sunning himself on a perch. A fairly straight forward piece, but one which still proved to be a bit of a challenge. A bird which has a lot of variety in it’s texture, from the short and compact feathers around the head, to the smooth layers over the back and wings, through to the softer and more textured tail and wing feathers. Getting the balance between the texture, tone and pattern was the challenge on this one, but I think I managed it OK.