Speaking of Ostriches....

Yes, speaking of ostriches I had a look around in the Science Library for image of ostriches that I could study to improve how I portrayed Dromornis. They have quite a few books on Ostriches because they are farmed for their meat leather and feathers where the climate allows. They also do the same for emus and rheas. Hence there are plenty of photos and drawings of their anatomy and skinned carcasses which are very useful. In the image above I sketched a drawing of an ostrich skeleton and layered muscles on it that I found on a separate drawing. Really they are quite similar to chickens. Pay close attention to the next chicken you are eating. I'm always systematically stripping back the muscles on my drumsticks. :-)



This here is a sketching I made of a photo which was one of a sequence of photos showing the slaughter and butchering of a male ostrich. After it was dispatched that hung it upside down and skinned it. Then they removed the the viscera and cut it in half. In this sketch the viscera has been removed. I am really not completely happy with this one, I may go back to the library and do it again. Next time I will label all the muscles up for future reference. It might be a good idea to know what I am drawing. Above the ostrich carcass you can see two face which are my crude attempts to draw elves. I am doing a spot of roleplaying, which is like a communal story, on My Space. You'll find it on Rose Feather Hailweb's profile under the blog entry called "Travels." I am working on drawing her characters and I'm starting on Rose. You can see my attempts on my My Space profile which is called "Reswob" of course.



This here is a 15 minute sketch I did when I should have been studying for the exams. I really hated Environmental Geology. I think it was just a subject put in place for the mining company's public image. It was all about making the right political noises rather than protecting the environment from acid mine drainage. I was not motivated to study at all and I barely passed; probably because I was looking at ostriches like this one. I found this image at www.kenyaology.com I hope they don't mind because it's hard to find ostriches in Tasmania. :-)I was looking for a view from the rear in particular because I wanted to get an impression on how the legs fit onto the body. This is easier to see on the ostrich because the thighs and the underside of the bird are virtually featherless. This is a Somali Ostrich (Struthio camelus molybdophanes) which is distinguished from other ostrich subspecies (there are five) by its blue neck and legs. It also tends to roam about in pairs or alone rather than flocks as other ostriches do. It inhabits Kenya and it may be a separate species, isolated from the others by the Great Rift Valley.

Meditations on the Dromornis stirtoni wing

As I mentioned before Dromornis may have had features that served to intimidate a foe and avoid combat that could be seriously damaging. I happened across the fact that the cassowary (Casuarius sp.) has five bare quills on it's vestigial wings. These were once the primary feathers. I also noticed the very conspicuous wings of the ostrich (Struthio camelus). The female is all brown but the male is black with white plumage on his wings and his tail. I was looking at the skeletons of ostriches, rheas and emus. It turns out that the wings of the rhea are the largest, but those of the ostrich look the most impressive due the colour and nature of the plumage which seems to look more fluffy. (The rhea is brown all over). The ostrich also seems to hold out its wings more to the side, perhaps because the African climate is so hot. Anyhow the emu has the most vestigial wings of all. They are the shortest and I think they are comparable in length to those of the cassowary; after all they do have a common ancestor. It seems that these dromornthids had wings similar to those of the emu and perhaps the cassowary. Here I was experimenting with adding quills to the wings of Dromornis. I have an image of these birds threatening each other with them; rattling them to make an intimidating sound as they screech at each other. Maybe, to look more impressive, they had black and white bands on them.

Amongst the wings you can see how I am playing around with the general form of the animal, especially the head. Really, you have to make an utter mess of things if you really want to learn how to draw any subject.