Winter Barn owl II 14.5" x 8"

As the temperature outside the studio has been soaring over the last week or so ive found it increasingly difficult to concentrate and the lure of sunshine has frequently got the better of me meaning very little work has been accomplished.with several shows upcoming ive been taking a look at some older graphite pieces that for one reason or another have not sold and thinking about how i could improve them and show them once again.in the above example i had originally drawn the owl atop a celtic cross in an effort to make it a little different from several earlier barn owl pieces featuring more natural elements.for one reason or another its never really gelled with the public and so i decided to strip the drawing out of its frame and using a little blu-tac lifted the graphite from the cross and then carefully re-drew the elements as a fence post and where some of the earlier graphite lines from the cross were too strong to be erased i kept them in the composition as bramble stems.overall i think it has worked and i now prefer the more natural feel.i now find myself looking at other pieces that ive kept hold of in the studio that are already framed and therefore 'owe' me money that ive never been 100% happy about with the idea of possible further re-hashing of the images that obviously at some point i found interesting enough a concept to try and draw.