Well this little guy deserves a drumroll at least as he is arguably the most famous Australian export of all.
I speak of course of the 'Budgie' or more properly the budgerigar. This pint sized cutie has captured the hearts of old ladies everywhere and it cheers you up to hear one say "Who's a pretty boy then?" I have heard it use more colourful language but then that reflects on the owner not the budgie.
While I can argue that a caged bird is a depressing sight, budgies have brought joy and companionship to so many people and I can't begrudge them that. In the wild, I have seen flocks of many hundreds whirring across the sky, usually this green colour with some blues. Domestication and breeding have produced a bird at least twice as large as the wild type and in many shades of the original colours.
There is a story that when asked the Aboriginal name of the bird the tribesmen replied 'Budgerigar' and this supposedly meant "good to eat". This may be apocryphal but I don't know. The writing is from the song 'Don't fence me in' by Cole Porter and really expresses how I feel about the idea of keeping caged birds (wait a sec until I get my soapbox).
The budgie has lent it's name to a diminutive pop singer from Australia Kylie Minogue who has been dubbed "The Singing Budgie" and to a particular brand of very skimpy mens swimming trunks known as "Budgie smugglers" I leave that one to your imagination!
I speak of course of the 'Budgie' or more properly the budgerigar. This pint sized cutie has captured the hearts of old ladies everywhere and it cheers you up to hear one say "Who's a pretty boy then?" I have heard it use more colourful language but then that reflects on the owner not the budgie.
While I can argue that a caged bird is a depressing sight, budgies have brought joy and companionship to so many people and I can't begrudge them that. In the wild, I have seen flocks of many hundreds whirring across the sky, usually this green colour with some blues. Domestication and breeding have produced a bird at least twice as large as the wild type and in many shades of the original colours.
There is a story that when asked the Aboriginal name of the bird the tribesmen replied 'Budgerigar' and this supposedly meant "good to eat". This may be apocryphal but I don't know. The writing is from the song 'Don't fence me in' by Cole Porter and really expresses how I feel about the idea of keeping caged birds (wait a sec until I get my soapbox).
The budgie has lent it's name to a diminutive pop singer from Australia Kylie Minogue who has been dubbed "The Singing Budgie" and to a particular brand of very skimpy mens swimming trunks known as "Budgie smugglers" I leave that one to your imagination!
Mindig volt hullámos papagájunk.Én a kéket szeretem nagyon.
ReplyDeleteAwwww. I love the snub head on him. So lovely and simple, and you've been so productive since i last visited. Now for my question ... do you have to plan these pictures out in advance and try a few versions, since the paper is so hard to paint on? How do you get them down to their essentials?
ReplyDeleteThanks Gay. Well...contrary to the whole spirit of etegami (see DosankoDebbie's last post on "imperfect') the nitpicking Virgoan within me makes me try to make things perfect! I do a drawing first and then lightly sketch it out on the postcard, from then on I TRY to be a little bit spontaneous. I find if I don't do this I tend to make gestural marks rather than the slow deliberate, delicate marks the paper requires of you.I rationalize this by saying that I am not trying to copy the traditional Japanese style and I have evolved my own style!:) Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteWell - I am relieved, because I have to pre-draw things lots of times! I like your deliberate lines. I think there may be an over emphasis on spontaneity at times - it's nice for some things, but a considered line is also lovely.
ReplyDeletelol You know--my Grandmother and I once had the privilege of sharing our lives with a parakeet named Pretty Boy. He used to call me Beautiful Beth when I would enter the room.
ReplyDeleteThis picture looks just like him!!! lol