Sketching Farm Animals - Maree

Sketching farm animals has always been a passion of mine. Each animal has it's own interesting character, like the Silky below - they are very calm and placid chickens, unable to fly, with pure, white silky-to-the-touch feathers. As I was sketching this hen, she would calmly survey me, moving one, gentle step at a time, seemingly keeping her pose as if she knew I was trying to capture her beauty.


"Silky Hen" pencil sketch and a touch of watercolour in Moleskine notebook

Kentucky was a Bantam rooster, cocky and sure of himself. I raised him straight from the egg as he was the runt of the chicks and actually didn't look like he was going to make it. With tender loving care and great spoiling going on (he was allowed full access to the house), he turned into the King of the farm yard, ruling his roost with an iron claw.

He had this peculiar habit of falling into a trance when you circled your finger in front of his face and that was how I managed to do this sketch. You could even turn him over on his side or back and he would just lay there, fascinated by the moving finger.

Sadly, Kentucky fell prey to a Genet because he refused to go into the chicken coop and insisted in sleeping in the Pin Oak just outside our bedroom window.


"Kentucky"