Realism
Feathers are the whole job on a bird like this. As one flat grey mass they just die. So I give every feather its own edge and its own shadow, and darken the ones around the neck to push the head forward. The eye and the beak carry the highlights, and everything else is built to lead back to them.
The upper arm curves in two directions, so I angled the head to sit with the muscle instead of wrapping around it. I left the top open into soft grey rather than putting a hard border on it, which is what lets it sit beside other work without a seam. Fine feather detail is the first thing to soften as a tattoo settles, so I push the contrast a bit harder than the fresh photo needs. The completed piece took 4 hours in one session. This was shot at the end of the session.
