Ravens on Red Rock, acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 5″ Unfinished

“Needless to say, urgings by ravens
are ignored at one’s peril.”

― James D. Doss

I never see ravens as ominous. They are an iridescent, graceful presence soaring in the sky or perched on a branch close to me.
Nine separate species of ravens are found in the northern hemisphere. They are in the corvid family, along with jays and magpies. Ravens have huge, thick bills. (think Jimmy Durante!) Although they are often confused with crows they are much larger. Crows have a body length of  20″ with a 36″ wing span, while ravens measure 27″ with a 46″ wingspan. They’re sizeable! 

Ravens are very sociable creatures. They often talk to me. I’ve found that I can call them. They answer. Really!
(Well, not all the time.)

I spend a lot of time photographing ravens wherever I can find them. They are abundant but skittish.
The feathers in this unfinished painting still need work and the whole painting needs balancing in terms of light and color, but it’s been fun to work on. I hope to finish it soon.