Once upon a time I planned to do a story that included as one of the characters the Thunderbird of Native American traditions. He was going to be a shape-changer who would take on the form of a man. But I never got so far as writing the story (yet). Instead, I started on this piece of artwork.
Unfortunately, I didn’t complete the picture either, and it has sat in this state for quite a long time (I’m not even going to try and figure out how many years). It saddens me that I haven’t finished it yet, because I really do like this piece. Doubly unfortunate is the fact that the paper has aged considerably (this photo of it has been image adjusted in Photoshop), making the paper both slightly yellowed and delicate. I suspect that I will instead complete it digitally, and keep the original in better protection now.
Even so, even in its incomplete state, I like the picture. It catches him in mid-transformation. The left side of the picture would have the arm as a wing, with feathers.
As you can see, the inks in the lower portion were so heavy that they reflected back the flash when I took the photo of the piece. I was definitely going for a very dark black there.
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