Megan O’Connor 🍁
LightNews LightNews
banner
meganoconnorart.ca
Megan O’Connor 🍁
@meganoconnorart.ca
1.6K followers 790 following 850 posts
I draw wildlife with coloured pencils using my own photos and observations as a reference (unless otherwise stated). Toronto, Canada.

https://meganoconnorart.ca
Posts Replies Media Videos
meganoconnorart.ca
This year I’m donating a small drawing to @paeartforacause to support an art program to help people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The challenge for me is that it has to be 5x7 inches, which is smaller than I’m used to! Attempt #2 underway …

#postcardartexhibit26
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a brown rabbit on a white background.
January 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
We woke up to a cold, snowy day. The schools and universities are closed, and there is the perpetual sound of snow shovels. I’ve been clearing a path for our dog …
A woman in a hat and coat faces the camera with a snow-covered dog looking off to the side. A black and white dog stands in the snow under a cedar tree.
January 15, 2026 at 6:37 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
It seemed a fitting start to January to draw a blue jay with feathers puffed out against the cold. I tend to think of jays as active and loud, but this one was quiet, conserving energy, perhaps, on a very cold morning in Toronto. Coloured pencil on cotton paper. #birds #SciArt
Coloured pencil drawing of a blue and white bird perched on a dead tree.
January 12, 2026 at 7:07 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I decided to make my first drawing of 2026 a blue jay — specifically, one who cheered me by puffing out feathers to keep warm. I love it when birds do that. It’s like giving a duvet a good shake. For now, though, I’m working on the tree; the feathers can wait :)
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a bird in a grey tree covered in yellow moss.
January 5, 2026 at 7:47 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I finished this drawing today: a hermit thrush. It’s one of my favourite local birds: they are a bit shy and sound like flutes in the trees. #Birds #SciArt
Coloured pencil drawing of a small brown and white bird with dark spots on the chest, perched on the branch of a conifer.
December 15, 2025 at 6:19 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I was hoping to see an owl this morning but instead I found this little swamp sparrow — not uncommon in Toronto in general, but more so mid-winter. I met, accidentally, some people who were doing a bird count, so was able to show them where to find it — my tiny contribution to science 😏
Small brown and grey bird with a rusty brown cap, perched on a stalk of dead grass with snow in the background.
December 14, 2025 at 4:52 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I prefer to draw in natural light but today the heavy grey sky is making it tough! Hermit thrushes may look “brown and spotty” from a distance, but there are many subtle shades, and I don’t want to miss that.
#Birds #SciArt
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a small brown bird with a rusty tail perched on the branch of a conifer that has lost much of its bark.
December 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
“The Visitor”. I want the title to be ambiguous. Whenever I see coyotes in the ravine I feel an invisible membrane of territory.

Coloured pencil on cotton paper. #SciArt
Coloured pencil drawing of the upper body of a healthy coyote looking directly at the viewer, with snowy woods in the background.
November 30, 2025 at 7:12 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
The little snow flurry outside my window is adding realism to my current work in progress :) I photographed this coyote last winter and am finally attempting her portrait. #SciArt
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a grey and rust-coloured canid against a background of snowy woods. The face is towards the viewer.
November 27, 2025 at 8:39 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I began this drawing as a simple sketch to test some paper (a new batch of Fabriano Artistico 300lb). The red crest was such a treat to draw after using so many greys! I see and/or hear red-bellied woodpeckers almost every day, but it never gets boring :)

I’m happy with the paper. #SciArt #Birds
Coloured pencil drawing of a small black and white bird with a red crest perched on an old snow-covered electricity pole, with a grey sky behind.
November 23, 2025 at 7:07 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I saw my first sandhill crane today — in fact, I saw over 50 of them, but not before hearing the most uncanny, stirring sound. Sadly, they were too high to photograph well, but it was a thrill nonetheless and not what I expect to encounter in a Toronto ravine :) #birds
Photograph of 9 large birds with long necks flying overhead in a white sky.
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Ever since seeing this tree full of cedar waxwings (this morning, in a Toronto ravine) I’ve had Burl Ives singing “The Lollipop Tree” stuck in my head!
Ten brown and yellow birds sitting in a tree without leaves against a snowy background.
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Work in progress: a red-tailed hawk in coloured pencil. I spent ages shuffling paper cut-out leaves to decide on the composition, but won’t know if it worked until the end. Right now it’s at the “might work” stage :) #birds #SciArt
A graphite pencil sketch of a large bird on a branch surrounded by leaves. An unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a large brown, white, and rust-coloured bird perched on a branch surrounded by yellow maple leaves.
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I still get excited about the first snowfall of the year — only now I run outside with a camera instead of a toboggan. I found some chatty juncos this morning :)

#birds #wildlifephotography
A snowy background and a small grey and white bird perched on a snow-covered plant.
November 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
“Maybe if I pretend to be asleep she’ll go away.”

Eastern screech owl, 700 mm, close crop.

#Birds #WildlifePhotography
Small grey and brown owl sitting in a tree. The owl’s eyes are mostly shut, but not entirely.
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 AM
meganoconnorart.ca
“Before the Storm”. Coloured pencil and oil pastel on watercolour paper. While I didn’t want to pet this hyena, or get any closer, he did intrigue me, and the artist in me was captivated by the textures of fur and muzzle. #SciArt
Coloured pencil drawing of the profile of an orange and tan mammal with dark spots and a dark muzzle, stretching out his neck and pricking his ears forward.
November 1, 2025 at 5:50 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Progress is slow, but I want to make individual hairs stand out (not all of them!) because this hyena’s energy seemed to live in his fur. #SciArt #Drawing
Unfinished colour pencil drawing of the profile of an orange and dark-spotted mammal with a dark muzzle and forward-pricking ears.
October 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
I’m trying a new (to me) combination of coloured pencil and oil pastel for this spotted hyena — because I want a heavy, stormy background. I hadn’t been planning to draw a hyena, but this one at the zoo caught at my imagination with his intense energy! #wildlifeart
Unfinished drawing of the profile of an orange and brown mammal with a closed mouth and ears pricking forward. The background is a dark, mottled grey.
October 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Posting an old drawing (almost a year old!) because it’s International Snow Leopard Day.

I drew this based on photos I took at the Toronto Zoo of the snow leopard cubs; am hoping to see them again soon!
Coloured pencil drawing of a large white and brown-spotted mammal in the cat family. Only the face and shoulders appear from behind a wire fence.
October 23, 2025 at 5:49 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Feeling seen.

Red-tailed Hawk. Photo taken by me today in a Toronto ravine. #Birds
Photograph of a red-tailed hawk looking toward the camera. The bird is large, brown and white, with a rust-coloured tail and yellow talons, standing on a branch in the woods.
October 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
“Written in Stone”. Coloured pencil on cotton paper. This is the third and last of my “Time Flies” series of drawings based on statues and birds I saw in Oxford, England last spring. #Birds
Coloured pencil drawing of a stone statue of a man holding an open book with a blue, black, and white bird perched on his arm.
October 20, 2025 at 7:42 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Work in progress: “Written in Stone”, the last of my three statue drawings. #BirdArt
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a stone-carved man holding a stone book, with a living black, blue, and white bird perched on the man’s arm.
October 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
“The Petty King” is finished. Coloured pencil on hot pressed paper. The bird is a goldcrest, whose Latin name is regulus regulus :) #birds #birdart
Coloured pencil drawing of the stone statue of a dog with a crown-shaped collar and an uplifted paw. A small brown and yellow bird with an orange crest is perched on the paw.
October 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
“The Last Day of Summer”, coloured pencil and watercolour, based on the last hummingbird I saw of the season — a young ruby-throated — before they all migrated. #Birds #WildlifeArt
Coloured pencil drawing of a small green and white bird with its wings forward as it hovers over wild plants and grasses.
October 2, 2025 at 6:33 PM
meganoconnorart.ca
Work in progress. I decided to use watercolour for the grasses and pencils for the hummingbird and larger plants — to get the coolness of an early morning in late summer. #Birds
Unfinished coloured pencil drawing of a small green and white bird with a long bill, flying over the tops of grasses and flowers.
September 29, 2025 at 8:25 PM