Hunter the Lorikeet

I can create a portrait of any type of pet. Hunter was a hand reared Lorikeet and had died when the family dog attacked him. I created this memorial portrait for Caitlin to remember him in better times. 
He was a cheeky little bugger so I wanted the portrait to reflect this and to be a colourful and lifelike memory.
 It always helps if you have a photo that shows something of your pet's personality as I can always enhance what is in the photo.
Here is the reference photo.

  A great pose but as usual with a photo everything has the same emphasis and Hunter and his expression is lost in the clutter.Because he is so colourful and I wanted his personality to shine I decided to simplify the portrait as much as possible. 

 Here is the acrylic underpainting. I have made him look at you more in the portrait than he was in the photo. I decided to have him on a branch rather than the upright of a lamp like in the photo.

Here I'm starting to come back in with Oil in his real colours.I started to do him section by section at first but then realised I needed to do the whole painting at once so I could compare the overall effect.I wanted to get his face first though!
 It's only rough here.I'd never painted a bird portrait before and I was having a ball!

Here he is 75% finished. I was going to have him feel like he was outdoors but that idea really restricted my choice of background colours and I felt he was just a blob surrounded by a pale whitish colour.
Back to the drawing board..Here he is finished. I wanted his portrait to be a cheery , colourful one of a ' cheeky little bugger '.

Looking for mischief!

Hunter

 40 x 50cms

 oil on gallery wrap canvas

 The portrait is more vibrant than this - around his beak should be white.

'It looks amazing. I'm very happy with the portrait.

Thank you so much'

 Caitlin