Golden-headed Manakin
I flew in so many different directions in my mind's eye with ideas for the bird theme before settling on this one. Coming across various photos of the golden-headed manakin, however, I just knew I had to do my own imagined tween-aged version of this fuzzy lil' creature. Cute, isn't he?
My initial idea, actually, was to show a family-tree (depicting it as a feather instead) with "Family Flock" for the title below. Coloured circles would have shown the heads of various bizarre looking birds, like the Royal Spoonbill, Shoebill Stork, Potoo, and the Secretary Bird, among others. With time winding down though, necessity as the mother of invention took over and... voila.
So, let's see what the rest of you did. Come join me now in some of our very own bird watching... and do pass the cucumber sandwiches whilst at it. The weather is lovely and the picnic cloth is laid, but for the sake of our feathered friends, we'll skip the curried chicken, shall we? :)
Oh Michael,
ReplyDeleteThis little guy is so adorable. I smiled as soon as I opened your post this morning. I keep scrolling up to see him again. Love the colouring, the markings and the cute beak. Just lovely. Thanks again for allowing us to stretch our skills.
I'm up with the birds this morning!!
Blessings,
Janis
Haha, yes, I see that! Early. Thank you so much. i ahve to say, I 'm pleasantly suprised with just how well this turned out. I looked at about 8 different photos and even had to make up the tail from that angle as the only other full tail shot I had was from behind at a different angle. Anyway, it came out well, must say! (Don't usually say that about my pieces as I always want to perfect it but this one actually feels truly completed! )
DeleteOh, and yes, the beak was what first drew me to this little bird. So cute... especially when they are younger and the bottom beak is longer than the top one. Thus why I consider this a "tween" bird, as it were, as I made the top loner but not hooked as it gets when the bird has reached full maturation . :)
DeleteVery cute manakin, your family tree idea sounded fun! Thanks for hosting! Don't forget to post the themes for next week on...
ReplyDeleteooh thanks for reminder. will do! :)
DeleteI have them all figured out, so jsut need to post. Thanks for your compliment too.
DeleteOMG Michael, we are obviously color-ordinated in our bird thoughts today! I was all over the page regarding which delightful feathered friend to choose for this post - you know I have an awesome folio of bird photos I've viewed in incredible places and it was hard to choose - and here, like you I picked black and gold! Your sweet manakan is very different from the penguin, and I admit to not knowing it as I've not been to that part of South America, both are gorgeous in their striking colors. . . . . . . you did a wonderful piece here, it looks so cuddly - whereas a big penguin might prefer a hug!
ReplyDeleteYes, cucumber sandwiches will be perfect here also - in the 90's and humid - with a tall glass of icy elderberry cordial alongside. At least Antarctica was cool. Cheers!
Mary -
Haha, as I said on your post, Mary, an elderberry iced cordial soudns divine! Yes, I love how we were kind of on the same page there but with your being from a cold (very) place and mine tropical. :) So, now you will have to go to Trinidad or such to see one of these fine creatures. I enjoyed studying up on them as I collected about 8 different shots from which to then create my own angle and version.
DeleteThank you for your lovely comment.
He is SO adorable! Nice choice, Michael. I also liked the 'family tree' idea...maybe one you could do at a later date?
ReplyDeleteTime got away from me so I only managed a rough pencil sketch for my entry today.
P.S. - So sorry I haven't responded to your question about my parents' time in Malaya yet...it's been an incredibly busy week and, when I visited my Mum on the weekend, I grilled her more on the places they lived and the years they were there. I promise to detail it all in a comment very soon. Wouldn't it be cool if my parents and yours lived in Malaya or Singapore at the same time even though they probably didn't cross paths?
Cheers,
Serena :)
My guess is they knew of each other at least! It was a pretty small, or at least, interconnected ex-pat community there. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts on Cameron Highlands which my mother truly considered "Home" more than anywhere else. She utterly loved Malaya and that part.
DeleteThank you for your comment and so glad you did end up adding to your stroy illustratively. It was very fun too. so glad I got mine done in the end, even if different to inital idea. I def might do the other one for a later theme. We shall see. Just glad this Manakin version came out as well as it did. Surprised me too, actually. ha.
So sorry for the lateness of my response, Michael. I grilled Mum on the weekend to be sure I got the timelines right.
DeleteMum first lived in Port Dickson in 1949, at 14 years of age, as her father was stationed there. That's where she first met my Dad. Then Mum's family moved to Taiping in 1952 where she and Dad lost touch for a while apart from letters.
Mum's Dad also spend time in Butterworth Malay/Federation regiment.
Mum's family would spend their holidays in the Cameron Highlands and two of her brothers and one sister went to the boarding school there also. My Dad spent a couple of weeks in the Cameron Highlands while recuperating from foot surgery...that would have been around 1954. Dad served, at different times, in the 13th/15th Hussars and then the 15th/19th Hussars. He was an arms instructor and jungle scout for the British Army.
Mum and Dad married in 1955 in Port Dickson and honeymooned in Penang. Dad was also stationed in Epoh for a time.
Due to Dad's foot injury, he was sent back to England and was demobbed in 1956 but reenlisted in 1957...then it was back to Epoh, Malaya, mid to late 1959. I was around 6 months old. Dad's foot injury became too serious so he was sent back to England yet again in 1960 and was demobbed for the second time due to injury. That was where they stayed until immigrating to Australia in 1963.
They never actually lived in Singapore but did pass through in-transit. My Aunt did spend time in Singapore as her RAAF hubby was stationed there.
I am keen to see if any of it ties in with your Mum's timeline in Malaya?
Have a great week! :)
your little manakin IS very cute :) Love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've left you an email too. :) Thanks for your interest in our art challenge.
DeleteYour bird is so charming that it seems real.
ReplyDeleteSuch striking colors too. 'Bird' is a wonderful theme as it does inspire many possibilities.
Completely, and that was my hope too, Tammie. Thank you.
DeleteWhat an adorable little fuzzy...want to hold him in my hand. You have such great ideas...I love the way your brain works.
ReplyDeleteAww blush! Thank you, Wanda.
Deletethis seems all at once rough and soft, just perfect, the gold and black color is wonderful!
ReplyDeletehave a lovely day.
Wow, thank you, Lissa. Glad you liked it so! :)
DeleteSo fuzzy and sweet, very nice.
ReplyDelete:D
DeleteMichael...what an adorable bird! I love how it turned out! You HAVE to do more birds in this style!!
ReplyDeleteHa, funny you say that, but I am actually thinking of doing a series of small 4x6 cards of these with other lil birds too. I think it could sell quite well as both cards and little prints for small frames for little desks, nooks and such. :)
Deleteyour family flock idea is great, hopefully you find the time to do that one day :) your tiny fluffy bird turned out very cute :) I really wanted to finish something for this theme but ran out of time :/ no cucumber sandwiches for me, would spend the whole day with the hiccups and they are loud :p
ReplyDeleteHam oh dear, Jennifer. Well, we had cheese and tomato too, you know. aCtualyl Alexandra can't digest the cucumber seeds so avoids them too. Great to have you here this week. Thank you.
DeleteLearned something new today. I wouldn't have known what a manakin was until seeing your oh so cute drawing, then looking up more on the good old internet!
ReplyDeleteMe too. :) thank you Jolene. I really had to imagine the tail as there were no images I could find of one at the right angle I needed but think the piece came out quite well anyway. :)
DeleteMichael, I love birds and your manakin is absolutely beautiful. What striking colors. And I love all the fuzzyness you've captured. It reminds me of one of those Beanie Babies in that it looks like it would fit right in the palm of your hand. And that eye............
ReplyDeleteJust looking back now to start commenting and I don't know how I managed to link myself up twice. I would delete one if I could!
DeleteNo worries, taken care of now. thank you.
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