Realism
I set this bird of prey on the shoulder and upper chest so the diving pose follows the body instead of sitting like a flat bird photograph. The wing and talon direction give the piece its movement. I used black and grey contrast to separate the feather groups while keeping the head and eye clear as the main point of focus.
This placement changes whenever the arm moves, so the silhouette had to read both from the front and from the side. Tiny feather marks alone would not hold the pose together. I kept stronger dark shapes underneath the fine texture so the bird still reads at a normal distance. The published image was taken when the piece was fresh, so it records the finished session rather than healed skin. I would want to see the exact bird reference, shoulder area and rough scale before saying how much detail another piece can carry.
