Let me Fly Away - Owl Portrait

So I haven't done a pencil sketch in a while, and i can't remember ever doing one of an animal (ink yes, pencil no) so i took a photo i absolutely loved that I, myself, had taken at King Richards Faire (and couldn't believe I had managed to get!!!!) and decided to do it for fun (and a bit of a challenge - the blurred background for one, i was afraid it would blend in too much with the owl when translated into black and white)

I started it last night while watching the first Lord of the Rings movie....got the wings and a little bit of the fence background done and went to bed. I spent the rest of today, ALL day, working on it, with interruptions to make food and give the kid a bath and thats about it.

I used 3B, 5B, 7B, 8B and 9B pencils. I used kneaded erasors and a piece of paper towel to do this.

The pic in question is here if you're interested:
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