GYRFALCON

 

I was fortunate to be able to draw this bird from life. One of the benefits of any artist is that they need only a few items to be able to capture something of interest - in this case, just a pencil and my sketchbook. This sketch shown here is of  a grey morph bird, (I was lucky enough to see 3 in Iceland). This and other studies led to a number of paintings of these rather handsome birds, none of which really captured what I wanted to say about them - but I'll keep trying! Size is about 5 x 7 inches.

ATLANTIC PUFFIN, PART 2

 

Here is the finished Puffin portrait. Mostly it was a case of darkening the plumage until I was happy with the tones, then I could set about completing the head. I wanted a faint lighter outline around the top of the head so carefully darkened the area above the eye then used the same black to darken the chin. Then on to the cheeks and the lores, which look pure white but are actually a very pale grey (this grey is much more prevalent on younger birds). When I felt that the tones around the head were about right, I started on the bill using layers of an orangish-red for the most part with a brighter orange on the gape and that just about finished the painting. I'll live with it for a few days to see if I need to do anything more but for now, I'm satisfied that I have captured the bird in the way that I wanted. Size is 8 x 10 inches, acrylic on canvas panel.

ATLANTIC PUFFIN, PART 1

 

I first saw Puffins many years ago back in the UK when I was still a child and apart from the sketches and small watercolor I did, I haven't painted one since! Well, deciding to do something different for a change, I started on this new painting. The initial working drawing went through many stages as I struggled to get the pose and composition I was looking for. It had to be something that made sense to me artistically - I have included it here.

Eventually I arrived at a design that I could live with then that was transferred onto a rather heavily gessoed canvas panel. This panel had been sanded between coats so that the final surface was a lot smoother than usual but still had a bit of tooth. A blackish-brown acrylic wash was then laid on heavily behind the bird then lightened on the lower right. When dry, I began adding paint sparingly feeling my way in, almost as if I was painting a watercolor. Once some of details came together (such as the eye), I could step back and see how it looked so far. Okay for now but still quite a lot to do!

WADER SKETCHING ALONG THE SHORE

 

While visiting the Eastern Shore not too long ago, I came across quite a few groups of waders and managed some sketches of them. I am not all that familiar with Marbled Godwits but still did some reasonably decent studies of them, one of which is shown above. The smallish party of them were feeding quite close to the road so was able to work from the car.

Willets were seen all along the beach and being a little more approachable, I did more studies of them. I tried to capture some different poses and some weak sunlight on the birds created an interesting interplay of light and shadows.

This bird was actively preening for some time which allowed me to first finish an initial drawing, then I could fill in the details with watercolor trying to capture the rather subtle plumage of these birds. It is only in flight that the black and white feathers are seen and are quite a contrast from the rather drab look of these birds. I think I need to do some oil studies of them which would allow me to more accurately paint the many variations of warm greys around the head, neck and back - as well as doing a better job of capturing the foaming surf they are so often seen in.

WINTER MARSH

 

The marsh in winter always has a special appeal to me, difficult to explain why exactly but this feeling is more intense during dawn and dusk. I expected to find a small party of Black Duck but none were seen although the deep croak of a Great Blue Heron resonated across the reedy expanse as one flew overhead. In the end, I still came home satisfied that I had seen something different and rewarding. It was this that I later translated into the painting shown here. Size is 11 x 7.5 inches, watercolor on Arches paper.

SKETCHBOOK STUDIES

 

Some sketchbook bird studies that I didn't get around to posting. This female Boat-tailed Grackle was sketched when we drove down to South Carolina a while ago and seen while birdwatching along the coast. There was quite a large flock of them feeding on the leftovers from shucked oyster shells so I moved closer to get a better look at them. I was able to stand quite close by as birds dropped down to feed for awhile then moved on as others came in. I really enjoyed all the displaying, calling and posing between the males while the females were more concerned to quickly grab what they could. Interesting to note that the males were far less concerned about me than the females were.

This Horned Grebe in winter plumage was diving just off the access road next to Little Tom's Cove at Chincoteague NWR so I parked up for a while to get some sketching done. Fortunately it stayed around the same area for some time - enough to get most of this small study done.

The European Eagle Owl sketched here was being rehabilitated at Kadoori Farm in Hong Kong and was done in Jan, 1984 when I still lived there. Although there wasn't a lot of light, I did have quite a bit of time alone with the bird so along with the smaller sketches, I was able to do a slightly larger watercolor study of the bird as it sat looking at me.

Another quick (and unfinished) study of a female Red-flanked Bluetail also painted when I was in Hong Kong. Most of this one was done in the field while a little more detail was added when I got home. I still have a lot more sketchbook studies that I'll get around to posting once I have finished off my latest commission.

DOWNY WOODPECKER

 

I enjoyed drawing the female Downy so much, I thought that I would do a male but this time in watercolor. Using some of the reference gathered at the lake a week or so ago, I carefully drew out then painted this bird using an underside view. I have some sketches done of this bird as well so will post them later. Size is 12 x 9 inches, watercolor on Grumbacher paper.