A new commission, and my next project

I have been commissioned by the same woman who is buying "Apache" for her father, to do her red tailed hawk "Onyx".  I will be meeting with her next month to complete the sale of Apache, and to set up a day for a photo shoot for Onyx.  I'm looking forward to doing this bird for her.  She informed me that in her wedding last year, this hawk flew their wedding rings down the isle to them and did an awesome job.  I thought about doing a regular portrait of her, and then seeing if she would be interested in a drawing of this bird flying down the aisle with the wedding rings... what do you think... I think it would be a wonderful keepsake for them.

I am also planning on doing this bird in the near future.... I know, I know, but I think he/she deserves a portrait just as the majestic hawk does.  All of God's creatures are beautiful in their own way, and this turkey buzzard is no different.  They have a very real purpose, and do a very good job of it... taking care of those poor unfortunate ones killed by vehicles everyday on our busy highways.  They are important to our ecosystem, and it would be a disgrace for any animal killed by man or nature not to serve a purpose of the living, otherwise they would have died in vein.  I will call this drawing "Black Majesty".

This pose was struck just for me as I inched a little closer a little at a time trying to get a good shot.  I was told in no uncertain terms that "I was close enough!"  So, I snapped my photo and left it be.  It was standing on the edge of the parking lot at a busy shopping center all by itself... and not moving much.  This is quite uncommon for this bird as they stay in groups, and are rarely seen alone, but to be among all this commotion and staying quite still, I can only assume that somehow this bird may be injured in some way and unable to fly.  Considering all the power lines overhead, I wonder if it flew into one and is now unable to fly away.  Hopefully it will recover from whatever it's plight and fly back to where it is supposed to be.  But, I will enjoy drawing this bird for my own collection.