Rijksmuseum

Four Studies of Cockatoos

Date

c. 1650 - c. 1719

Medium

charcoal stick, paper, watercolor (paint), chalk

Institution

Rijksmuseum

However difficult it would have been to capture birds in flight, Jan Weenix will have made studies of them in the wild. Exotic specimens, such as these different species of cockatoos, however, would probably been drawn in menageries and aviaries. In this drawing the artist used a stick of charcoal soaked in oil. This provides a more intensely black tone than ordinary black chalk, making it ideal for introducing dark accents in feathers.

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