Bird Portraits?

This spring I'm trying something new.
I've painted a few bird portraits in a new medium - acrylic on canvas board.

Green Jay (Cyanocorax luxuosus) from the Rio Grande Valley of southeastern Texas

I love the classic side-view portrait, but have always been intrigued by some of Jorge's photos which capture a front view.  Just about the only birds that actually have binocular vision (where they see what's in front of them using both eyes to create a forward-facing field of view) are the OWLS.  The rest of the birds have a wide field of view primarily to the side of the head, which is useful for detecting predators.  So, while a photograph may capture an instant where the bird is facing the camera - it is not actually focusing on you at that moment.

My choice of these two species was due to the intriguing patterns on the faces. The Green Jay is a bird of subtropical to tropical forests, where sun-dappled shade is common.  These colors and patterns work well to confuse and conceal the bird's actual features.  The pale blue feathers above and below the eye stand out from the black mask, and appear to be distinct feather tracts that at can be manipulated, perhaps in display.  

Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi) from the Andes of southern Ecuador

The pattern of light and dark on this antpitta's face is unique in the genus Grallaria - which is why it immediately caught the attention of ornithologists Robert Ridgely and John Moore, who discovered it very recently in the tropical humid Andes of southern Ecuador - in 1997!

I have often wanted to do a series of these photos (or paintings!) entitled "Here's looking at you" - but of course they aren't really looking at us at all.