Can anyone recommend a good heraldic artist?

[Cardinal]

I don't have anybody to compare with, but I have been completely satisfied with Harold Cannon.

Good communication and collaboration, and a keen artistic eye.

Harold's work is top notch.

Best,
Cardinal

[BadenochWolf]

BadenochWolf, you have some interesting preferences there. While I am sure you have good reason to prefer your odd colour choices, the mockingbird is a different kettle of fish.
The challenge will be to get it drawn so that it is readily recognisable. Harold (or some other artist) might succeed in this, but it is not a foregone conclusion.
As you say, bleu celeste is a colour associated with air force service. It was originally merely a mediæval oddity, but it has featured in grants from the College of Arms since the First World War, as well as in Royal Air Force unit badges.
Your use of the word slipped with regard to the torse and mantling is strange to me. A torse is usually blazoned as being of (metal) and (colour) – thus or and sanguine. Mantling will have the colour on the outside, and be lined with the metal: sanguine lined or.
I would be most interested in seeing the final product.
Regards,
Mike

You're right, I had my torse and mantling worked out wrong. That's what happens when you reply too fast. I think in the case of the birds we have an issue caused by dissimilarity of scale. Others are considering shrinking the arms to postage-stamp size, at which point a mockingbird would just look like any gray bird. However, I was thinking of the opposite: arms used as a personal banner. In either case, a mockingbird proper is something I do not wish to leave off my arms. The gray color alludes to my maternal line, and the bird itself is a canting badge of my (paternal) last name.