Page 103 - The Westerner Magazine Halloween 2018

It’s extremely time consuming. I spend

about one hundred hours on each drawing.
I love the process, I love the detail that
produces a natural feathered look. It’s
challenging for me.

I’m very active in our community. I’m

active with the hospital. I’m active with
Young Life Ministries. My life is very busy.
This is what grounds me. I put my goggles
on, in the evening, and I work through the
hours and just forget about the world. It’s
my own form of medication and I love it.

Bruce: I’ve seen your drawings on
Facebook, which sparked my interest in
speaking with you. How do you make your
decision on what to draw?

Mike: I have every bird book and one is an original. I don’t make prints. I’m

ornithological journal that exists. I’ll find a looking for a market for my work. Galleries
picture of a bird that inspires me and then don’t really fit the bill because they are
sketch it out on tracing paper. On another looking for oil paintings. If my paintings
piece of paper I’ll begin to sketch out the don’t sell, my children will claim them. But
background. I put them together until I get I just have to continue to draw.
a vision of what I’m looking for. Once I
Bruce: How many do you do a year?
have that I do a master sketch.

Mike: I may do three to six.
Once I have that I’ll begin the drawing. I do
my drawing opposite to what most people Bruce: How long have you been drawing?
would. Most people would start from the
top and work down. I do the head last. Mike: About eighteen years. The piece I’m
Once I do the head and eyes my bird comes working on now is going to be one of the
to life. That’s my reward. The heart and best pieces I’ve done. The bird is sitting on a
large fence post with a good deal of barbed
soul of a bird of prey is their eyes. You
wire wrapped around the post. The bird is a
wonder what they see.
big prairie falcon sitting on top.
That’s the process I use. I’ll waste a lot of
paper. It takes a number of weeks to come
up with a final idea on what to draw. Every