From Steve's Drawing Table:
"Watch It" Pen & Ink
This is my latest piece, done with black and yellow ink on bristol board, 16" by 16". I (and Scottie too) had been wanting to do something "Americana" and easily relatable, and this was it. I used a stock image of an eagle as my reference; I really wanted to capture its intense stare more than any other feature. I feel the USA is an incredible and unique country who has offered unsurpassed liberties to people of the world...and the freedoms people fought and died for need to be protected and preserved from those who would take them away and turn them into something else for their own means. This guy seems to be saying to them by his look, "Back off. I'm watching you."
The techniques I used on this were spattering ink on the beak with a toothbrush, and hatch lines throughout using a traditional metal pen nib and bottled ink. The spattering went on before the hatch lines so they wouldn't cover the hatch lines; I masked off all but the beak with paper for this step.