Go Ahead, Take a Stab at it

So the other day I saw the most beautiful, inspiring photo.  It was a series of twigs, side by side, each with a blue bird atop.  It was most improbable, decidedly Photoshopped, and delightfully blissful.  I loved it!  I thought, "Well, golly, I'm going to take a stab at painting something like that!" 

I set about sketching it out, adding details, inking it, painting it, and inking it one more time.

Uh-oh, somehow I managed to draw a couple of sweet little birds that looked less inspiring of zen and bliss, and more inspiring of, um, dinner...shish kebab, shall we say?  My kid would say, "Fail, mom!  Serious fail!"

Well, I figured at this point I had to do something to make it look less barbaric, so I thought, "Birds only sing when they're happy, right?"  So I added some notes to clearly show anyone who took a gander at this painting that the birds were, indeed, quite happy to be pierced with a stick lounging atop the highest branch.

Thinking I might have just pulled this one off.  Whew!  And, note to self, think it through a little more thoroughly before taking a "stab" at things.