Artist Michelle Mitchell
I took the reference photo of this Red-Tailed Hawk near the drive-in in Buena Vista.  It seems like most of the time they fly as soon as I pick up the camera but this one was so intent on watching for prey that it stayed for several photos.  I start a painting with layers of soft pastels and then begin applying details with pastel pencils.  The feathers are made up of base layers with details carefully added on top to give the feathers depth.  This painting took just over 90 hours to complete.