C. Harper Birds

I was doing some online research today, googling for images of barn swallows, and i came across a picture that i had to really look at to figure out what it was. And then i was all, "Cool!" It was an illustration by Charley Harper. Then of course i had to google him, and i found all these incredible bird prints he did.

He was a country boy in Ohio and was a keen observer of the wildlife around him. Although his illustrations are highly stylized, he manages to capture some key essence of the animal he is depicting, whether a characteristic head movement, or flying style, or the a the merest indication of its habitat. [barn swallows, heath hen, cactus wren]