BIRD STUDIES IN GRAPHITE

 

I'm not sure if I posted these drawings before so here are two larger ones I did. I have always liked the look of Snowy Owls especially the younger more heavily marked females like the one shown here. I have managed a few paintings of them over the years but nothing that large. Most have been watercolors but I really want to do justice to this bird so will have to work up something more serious.

Another one of my favorite birds is the Gyrfalcon and I am happy to say I have seen both these and Snowy Owls in the wild. The two studies shown in this drawing are of the same bird as it sat at rest in front of my when I visited a raptor breeding center many years ago. Such impressive birds and another species I can't get enough of. I have a large painting or two planned for these birds too so will have to get busy! Both are graphite on Arches paper, size 22 x 15 in (56 x 38 cm).

THE ANGRY SEA II

 

This is the second in what will be a series of sea and wave paintings. I'm still using a vertical format here but as I do more, I'm sure this will change. As with the first one, the subject is a rough and turbulent sea with a foamy middle and foreground. I worked on these two areas quite a lot trying to make them interesting and suggesting moving water without taking away from the breaking wave at the top. I was also thinking of adding a gull flying fast in the offshore wind but couldn't find a place for it - perhaps in the next one. Size is 10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas.

MORNING SKY STUDY

 

It has become something of a ritual these past few years for me to rise before dawn in the hope of observing any interesting cloud formations. In a book that I am recently reading, it appears that Turner did the same thing - his luminous skies are something to behold! Anyway, on this morning, there was almost total cloud cover except for a soft line just above the horizon where the sun created orangish-red lines across the sky. This I felt I had to capture if only because it was something different from what I usually see when looking out. My easel was already set up so I worked quickly trying to get down as much as I could before the sky changed too much. I meant to add a little more landscape to the bottom of the work but ran out of room! If I do a larger version, I can readjust that. Size is 8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas.

WINTER MARSH V

 

I began working on this painting of the evening marsh some years ago. My sketchbook has a few studies that I did of the subject but nothing much came of them. This is often the case and a idea can remain in my mind for quite some time until finally becoming reality - in this case expressed in a painting. I spent a bit more time on this one especially working on the grass as I wanted to capture the receding marsh grasses and textures, also on the water which leads the eye into the mid-distance and then on to the distant water. I'm relieved that this one came to fruition and hopefully this will lead to a greater range of evening paintings. Size is 10 x 8 inches (25x20cm), oil on canvas.

MARSH EVENING STUDY

 

In this study, I have returned to the nearby marsh but am now looking across the expanse of grasses to a distant treeline. This angle is much lower down and no water is visible although it is there hidden by the taller marsh grasses and cattails. The setting sun has finally broken through the heavy clouds creating a starburst pattern and illuminating a central pathway over the marsh - a rare effect but one that I was hoping for. A little later on, this was even more extreme and I may try to capture how that looked too. I have done a few small studies of the marsh from this side but this one is so far the closest to what I had hoped to capture. All there so far seem to be somewhat of an experiment - trying to capture the correct tones between the sky and the marsh. Oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.