How Birds Fly: inside and out - Week 4 Update

 Overview:

While the house sparrow holds a special place in my heart from my childhood, I do find this species to have ties to the concept of birds flying overall (let me explain.) The house sparrow is something often overlooked similarly to the general consensus that most birds do in fact fly. Rarely you will see someone point out a house sparrow in excitement just like you will rarely have someone point out to you that a bird is flying. While the house sparrow can be found in most areas around the globe they originated in the Middle East, reaching the world though mainly deliberate interactions but also through boat. These hearty creatures usually do not migrate (except to field occasionally to get the best seed.)

 

Painting:

In continuing to work on my painting depicting the flight of the house sparrow, I have been separating the major aspects of the sparrow’s flight including take off, the upstroke and the downstroke. After researching the various mechanics, I was amazed at just how many parts are incorporated. With that knowledge, I realized a bird’s flight cannot be depicted in one image, and while I decided on three, more could have easily been added. As I work, I have been showing my research by depicting the different forces such as drag, gravity, lift and thrust along with a depiction of the labored flight that the house sparrow takes. I feel unsure about my use of color and think I will continue on and cover the pen markings along with building up the color in a more deliberate way. All in all, this has become an experimental piece which I hope will become layered and representative regarding its depictions of the scientific terms we have learned along the way.