Home > Illustration > Wildlife > Birds > Flightless Birds > Ostrich

Ostrich

Ostrich line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Ostrich full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Ostrich was completed on 11/08/2008. It is based on a photo by Nick Brown. I noticed some time ago there weren't a whole lot of Ostrich drawings out there. Seeing as it is a very iconic animal of Africa I figured it would make a nice complimentary piece to the rest of my African animals. It was fairly difficult, as the feathers are black which is very time consuming to draw in ink.

Information about the Ostrich:

The Ostrich is a large flightless bird found in Africa. At one time it was also found in the Middle East too. It is the only living species of the family Struthionidae and the genus Struthio. While this bird cannot fly, it is extremely fast and can run at speeds approaching 50 miles an hour, which is the fastest land speed of any bird. The Ostrich is also the largest living species of bird and also lays the largest egg of any bird species. While there is no truth to the myth that when frightened or threaten the Ostrich will stick it's head in the sand, it will lay flat on the ground, or run. If it can do neither it will attack with a dangerous and deadly kick from it's massive and powerful legs.