Kai the parrotlet

Say hello to Kai, a parrotlet who lives in San Jose.  A new patron saw my dog drawings at Bica Coffeehouse and commissioned this piece for his wife for Christmas.

Turns out that Kai's "mama" rescues these birds and has about 15!  This was actually my first drawing or painting of a domestic bird, but my practice on dogs and wild birds seems to have served me.  I was going to include here some meaning for the name "Kai", but when I searched on it, I found it exists in many, many languages with many different meanings.  So I'll have to go back to my patron and ask.

Whatever else Kai may be, he sure looks intelligent, doesn't he?  

8" x 10" Schmincke watercolor, Derwent watercolor pencil and Micron pen on watercolor paper.