Very Rare Flame colored Tanager digitally Painted

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi folks; This very rare Flame colored Tanager was last seen at Madera Kubo B&B, Madera Canyon, Arizona where I was very lucky to see & photograph it.
This is a very simple digital oil painting using Photoshop CC Oil Paint filter. I took it first into Oil Paint, gave it a very light oil painting over all, then took it back, Qm'd the bird and orange, then took it back and applied more oil painting to QM's bird & orange. CC's always very much appreciated. Thanks for looking .... Gus

[Nancy Bell]

Congrats on seeing the Flame-colored Tanager! I like how the oranges are repeated in the tanager and the orange half. Collectively they create the focus of the image. The texture is especially impressive in the orange fruit. I'm not sure about the pinks in the bkgd foliage on the right. They seem to pull my eye away; and that may be partially because the tanager is also looking that way.

[Anita Bower]

I know very little about birds, but this one is a beauty. You must have been happy to photograph it.
The oil paint filter works nicely on the bird. The colors of the bird are stunning.
I think adding canvas to the top and cropping from the bottom eliminating to end of the branch, would give the bird's gaze somewhere to go, and would make the branch arc through the entire image. I like that the orange and bird are the same colors, but as they are here, they demand equal attention. Is there a way to darken the orange or make the effect on it less so as to make the orange less prominent?
What about lightening and brightening the back feathers of the bird? I think there are some nice colors and patterns there that I can't see. I agree with Nancy about the pinks on the right. I think this image can be improved to make this gorgeous bird shine.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Gus, congrats on seeing and photographing this cool bird! I like the treatment in general, but I think the bird and orange are a bit "in your face". I think that could be lessened by toning down the saturation of the red/orange colors. I agree with the comment about the crop, the bird seems very close to the top of frame to me.