I've enjoyed learning Houdini over the last 6 weeks. I attended a course that focuses on simulation and animation, and decided to add an "artistic" angle to the last assignment.
This chicken is my first model in ZBrush (it's the only part of the scene that is non procedural).
I built this scene to study KineFX, The feather workflow, MaterialX, Vellum, MPM, Copernicus and Pyro. I also experimented with CHOPs, TOPs, APEX, and Otis (but unfortunately didn't manage to build anything sucessful with those yet).
There are so many opportunities for improvement (strange UV shading, bad feather groom/interactions), but overall I am extremely happy I was able to pull this off after only 6 weeks of learning.

I'd love to hear your POV, notes on how to enhance this to make portfolio-worthy.
Thanks,
Eyas