Northern cardinal

Northern cardinal is the state bird of Virginia.

I have seen them around
Red and black
Strong contrast

Looking out the window one day
A few of them playing on the redbud tree in our front yard

Time to play with paper, try to find the bird in it

The first version
with wings
(They traveled to New York and Ohio)

A few weeks later,
Looking at them again
I am not happy
Still “complicated”
So
I simplify it
The head itself is enough to say “Northern Cardinal”, I think
The rest should be simple

A few small studies

A long tail
Legs or no legs?
(2 skinny legs come from parts of the paper that form the wings in the first version)

For now I keep the legs
They lift the bird up and make it lighter.

Here is a rough diagram,
A little gift for you
I hope you will come up with your own variations