Caoimhe • 10 • Dublin
8-11 Category • 2026I have always loved drawing animals, especially birds. For this competition, I didn’t want to just draw a normal picture on a flat piece of paper. I wanted to focus entirely on the birds and their shapes, patterns and Size. I chose three very different Irish birds, a Kestrel, a Kingfisher, and a Redpoll. For the Kestrel, I wanted to show that it is a hunter. It is the biggest bird in my collection. I spent a long time drawing the black spots on its orange wings to make them look like real feathers. I drew it standing tall and looking back, watching for prey. The Kingfisher was my favourite one to colour. I used my brightest blue and orange to show how they flash when they fly by the river. It has a long, sharp beak which I outlined carefully in black. The Redpoll is the smallest bird of the three. I made sure to draw the special red patch on the top of its head, which is where it gets its name. I used scribbly red marks on its chest to make the feathers look soft and fluffy, like it is puffing up to stay warm. My biggest artistic choice was to cut the birds out. This was tricky, especially around the claws and the branches. I left a small white edge around them to make them look like stickers. I like this because it means the birds aren't stuck in one background. I can move them around, just like real birds flying from tree to Tree
