First Goose ( Critique Please )

Bullfrog, you know what opinions are like, but you asked for it, so here' s mine:

First off, what are you trying to show with this pose? It's really not what one would expect for a piece. (I know, some purist is going to tell me that it's defending its nest site and a similar pose MIGHT be possible).

1. The head/neck juncture needs work. There shouldn't be a "bump" there. I suspect from the picture that your neck material was too small for the head you used. The bird looks a bit pencil necked.

2. Wing attach placement doesn't seem correct. The wing actually ties into the breast bone (wish bone) much farther up on the bird than you have it. This may be caused by the neck being too long and pulling the breast area out of position. If you look at a reference picture, you'll see the "black" neck feathers coming down to the crop in front and forming a sort of "scarf" that wedges over and on to the back of the bird. Because of this your bird looks a bit "sway backed.

3. The legs and feet look like they're broken. The knees are bent unnaturally forward and the feet/ ankle area appear to be stressed beyond what would be normal.

4. It seems you've done a good job on the wings from the picture, but I'd suggest you tuck the "elbows" in a bit. The scapular feathers usually fill any voids between the secondary feathers and the body coverts. You seem to have a wide gap there suggesting that the wing is dislocated from the birds body.

 

I think your general grooming is ok, I agree with George, anatomy issues. Look at pictures of a goose, and try to make your bird look like the real thing.

 

Here's mine, the chest doesn't look right maybe a little off balance or something. George hit it right on with the wings, legs, neck and head. I think in general gorrming is ok. Overall not bad for your first, keep it up. Geese are not easy just because of their size

 

Same as George said. Smooth that neck/head juncture with some clay.