ARTHUR BISHOP
Well-known member
Great peregrine sketches John
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JTMB's Bird Art (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter JTMB
- Start date
timwootton
Well-known member
I woudn't wory about the eggs at this stage, John - they can be left for quite a while and remain viable. Fingers crossed.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
In fact I have to suggest that you get that video down on paper or canvas! Next to impossible I know. But you can't help but see it and want to portray the flight in some way.
Oddly enough I was in front of our local peregrine patch early this morning, City Hall in Philadelphia. But no sight of the bird while I waited for the bus.
I neglected to comment on the nuthatch et al. sketches. I particularly like the sense of fluidity and spontaneity in the nuthatch.
JTMB
Well-known member
Thanks Gaby, Arthur, Tim and Ken!
Yes, Ken, I agree - I'll give it a go over time. Sketching from the live birds will of course take priority when the weather is conducive...which in fact it is today. Other than a big of a breeze - well, ok, maybe more like a not-too-strong wind - it was a gorgeous day to go to the falls and sketch. Which I did...
The female looks bored already with the prospect of a continued few weeks of incubation - she alternated between looking around rather aimlessly and nodding off for minutes at a time.
Another observer believes there are three eggs at present, not four, so I'll assume that three is correct unless verified to be different than that. The female was incubating the whole time I was there (about 10:10 to 11:30), so didn't get any look at the eggs at all. So I sketched the female on the scrape, as best I could with her eyes open. It was nice to have the luxury of time to sketch her - obviously not the typical 'blink your eye and they're gone' scenario that so challenges us with live birds as models. However, even when she was 'still' she really wasn't for very long. She alternated between eyes closed for a power nap, eyes open and looking around, and a variety of head angles that changed fairly quickly. So I tried to do the direct front-on view without screwiing up the foreshortening too badly. I'll hopefully have plenty more days to practice this until it gets harder when the youngsters are hatched and don't need quite as much constant attention from the parents.
The observers for the past years have told me that food transfers (mid-air spectacles) often happen in mid-afternoon, so I'm going to try to get down there not only in the morning, but also in the afternoon. The light on the subject is better in the afternoon as well.
This is in the 15 x 11 sketchbook in graphite.
Yes, Ken, I agree - I'll give it a go over time. Sketching from the live birds will of course take priority when the weather is conducive...which in fact it is today. Other than a big of a breeze - well, ok, maybe more like a not-too-strong wind - it was a gorgeous day to go to the falls and sketch. Which I did...
The female looks bored already with the prospect of a continued few weeks of incubation - she alternated between looking around rather aimlessly and nodding off for minutes at a time.
Another observer believes there are three eggs at present, not four, so I'll assume that three is correct unless verified to be different than that. The female was incubating the whole time I was there (about 10:10 to 11:30), so didn't get any look at the eggs at all. So I sketched the female on the scrape, as best I could with her eyes open. It was nice to have the luxury of time to sketch her - obviously not the typical 'blink your eye and they're gone' scenario that so challenges us with live birds as models. However, even when she was 'still' she really wasn't for very long. She alternated between eyes closed for a power nap, eyes open and looking around, and a variety of head angles that changed fairly quickly. So I tried to do the direct front-on view without screwiing up the foreshortening too badly. I'll hopefully have plenty more days to practice this until it gets harder when the youngsters are hatched and don't need quite as much constant attention from the parents.
The observers for the past years have told me that food transfers (mid-air spectacles) often happen in mid-afternoon, so I'm going to try to get down there not only in the morning, but also in the afternoon. The light on the subject is better in the afternoon as well.
This is in the 15 x 11 sketchbook in graphite.
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timwootton
Well-known member
Brilliant John - just brilliant!
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Never seen a peregrine on her eggs John. But this one looks bored, as you say, but also very believable. I think it's great that you've gotten that sense of character and scene actually viewed into this.
JTMB
Well-known member
Thanks Tim, Mike and Ken!
Yes, having the opportunity to be able to see into a Peregrine's scrape, even needing to use a scope, is a wonderful treat. There are many/most places where an accessible vantage point simply doesn't exist. I'm going to try to get a lot of visits in.
Here are two more sketches one from this morning and one from two days ago. At this point there's not much action as the female is sitting tight on the eggs. Periodically she will stand up and rotate the eggs to keep them evenly heated, but so far I haven't attempted a sketch of her in that situation. I've been concentrating on getting the head and bill to look decently accurate first. And there is a concentration problem in this location. Because it is a tourist location, and I like educating people on birds, I spend a high percentage of the time while I'm there showing the bird to tourists through the scope and then answering their questions.
The first page of sketches from two days ago had her facing toward the scope, more or less. I also put in a quick sketch of the three visible eggs when she was off the scrape briefly. They are the color of regular brown chicken eggs, perhaps with a little more reddish color to them. The second sketch, which I felt is my best one of her head so far, was done this morning and she was facing to the right as I viewed her.
The tiercel was around briefly this morning, although at about double the distance to the female on the scrape. There are a couple of dead snag trees on the ridge above the cliffs where he likes to sit. The next time I'm over there, I'll try to carve out some time to sketch the layout of the cliff and the surrounding area to give some context to the scrape location.
Anyway, here are the two pages of recent sketches.
Yes, having the opportunity to be able to see into a Peregrine's scrape, even needing to use a scope, is a wonderful treat. There are many/most places where an accessible vantage point simply doesn't exist. I'm going to try to get a lot of visits in.
Here are two more sketches one from this morning and one from two days ago. At this point there's not much action as the female is sitting tight on the eggs. Periodically she will stand up and rotate the eggs to keep them evenly heated, but so far I haven't attempted a sketch of her in that situation. I've been concentrating on getting the head and bill to look decently accurate first. And there is a concentration problem in this location. Because it is a tourist location, and I like educating people on birds, I spend a high percentage of the time while I'm there showing the bird to tourists through the scope and then answering their questions.
The first page of sketches from two days ago had her facing toward the scope, more or less. I also put in a quick sketch of the three visible eggs when she was off the scrape briefly. They are the color of regular brown chicken eggs, perhaps with a little more reddish color to them. The second sketch, which I felt is my best one of her head so far, was done this morning and she was facing to the right as I viewed her.
The tiercel was around briefly this morning, although at about double the distance to the female on the scrape. There are a couple of dead snag trees on the ridge above the cliffs where he likes to sit. The next time I'm over there, I'll try to carve out some time to sketch the layout of the cliff and the surrounding area to give some context to the scrape location.
Anyway, here are the two pages of recent sketches.
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Strandman
Well-known member
well done with that last three- bottom sketch of the left to really catches my eye
I'm always really intrigued to see how different artists "do" Peregrines: some interpret them and give give them neat small beaks, some give them bigger beaks with quite a large and prominent cere area at the base of the bill
yours in this latest set really look look like a real as-is peregrine
I'm always really intrigued to see how different artists "do" Peregrines: some interpret them and give give them neat small beaks, some give them bigger beaks with quite a large and prominent cere area at the base of the bill
yours in this latest set really look look like a real as-is peregrine
timwootton
Well-known member
Agree with Ed's assessment - classy work, John.
JTMB
Well-known member
Even eagles better not mess with nesting falcons...!
Thanks Ed, Tim and Russ!
Well, today was an interesting day in the 'Falls Falcons' neighborhood. Unfortunately due to schedule and weather, I wasn't there to personally witness the significant events, but two of my friends were. It seems that a Bald Eagle (adult) innocently came flying up the river into the Peregrines 'no-fly zone'. The tiercel was on the scrape relieving the female from incubation duties at the time. He was not happy to see the eagle, and immediately left the scrape and went into attack mode, to great effect. The eagle retreated, protesting loudly in the words of one of my friends, and 'crying like a scared baby' in the words of the other fellow who witnessed it. Satisfied with his defense of the area, the tiercel returned to the scrape. Apparently the female did not participate in the attack, although in past years both have defended the home turf - one time several years ago a Red-tailed Hawk made the same mistake and came under attack from both falcons. In that case, the Peregrines drove the poor hawk so low in the canyon that people who saw the attack thought the bird would be driven into the river and drown.
A second bit of exciting news today is that it was confirmed that there are at least FOUR eggs in the scrape, with an additional one becoming visible today. Whether it was laid this late, or (more likely) was exposed to view when the female rotated the eggs we won't know. Hopefully all will hatch, and fledge. Time will tell!
One of the folks who witnessed the eagle turning tail and running is Scott, the friend of mine whose videos I mentioned earlier. He took a shot of the female taking a break by perching on a branch while hubby did the incubation and eagle defense duties. I sketched the following tonight from his photo, while watching TV in the background. She is a large bird, and was all fluffed up from the rain showers and breeze today.
Thanks Ed, Tim and Russ!
Well, today was an interesting day in the 'Falls Falcons' neighborhood. Unfortunately due to schedule and weather, I wasn't there to personally witness the significant events, but two of my friends were. It seems that a Bald Eagle (adult) innocently came flying up the river into the Peregrines 'no-fly zone'. The tiercel was on the scrape relieving the female from incubation duties at the time. He was not happy to see the eagle, and immediately left the scrape and went into attack mode, to great effect. The eagle retreated, protesting loudly in the words of one of my friends, and 'crying like a scared baby' in the words of the other fellow who witnessed it. Satisfied with his defense of the area, the tiercel returned to the scrape. Apparently the female did not participate in the attack, although in past years both have defended the home turf - one time several years ago a Red-tailed Hawk made the same mistake and came under attack from both falcons. In that case, the Peregrines drove the poor hawk so low in the canyon that people who saw the attack thought the bird would be driven into the river and drown.
A second bit of exciting news today is that it was confirmed that there are at least FOUR eggs in the scrape, with an additional one becoming visible today. Whether it was laid this late, or (more likely) was exposed to view when the female rotated the eggs we won't know. Hopefully all will hatch, and fledge. Time will tell!
One of the folks who witnessed the eagle turning tail and running is Scott, the friend of mine whose videos I mentioned earlier. He took a shot of the female taking a break by perching on a branch while hubby did the incubation and eagle defense duties. I sketched the following tonight from his photo, while watching TV in the background. She is a large bird, and was all fluffed up from the rain showers and breeze today.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Keep at it John. My guess is that you'll be thrilled at the end of this project( If you're not already!)
ARTHUR BISHOP
Well-known member
lovely pergr. and looking forwerd to the updates
timwootton
Well-known member
Terrific, John - keep at it.
Woody
Well-known member
Missing my grins John. I had it confirmed yesterday that they've moved elsewhere. They are on the top of a tower block about a mile or so away and I doubt they will be visible from the ground, so I'll just have to hope that they decide to bring the young back here when (and if) they fledge.
Keep up the observations and show us the sketches, that way I can feel involved with the fortunes of your grins!
Mike
Keep up the observations and show us the sketches, that way I can feel involved with the fortunes of your grins!
Mike
JTMB
Well-known member
Well, the horrendously wet spring we are having (cold, also, almost ten degrees F below normal) has conspired to prevent any sketching on site. The rain also resulted in a fairly late in the season flood on the Snoqualmie River, which has settled down now but the water flow over the falls is such that you get a misty bath whether it's actually raining or not. Today some sunbreaks happened and I packed up the gear and headed over. As I was finishing setting up, it started to rain, and hail. Back to the house...
So instead of drawing from life while looking through the scope, I finished this sketch which I started in graphite two nights ago. I decided to add watercolor and did it in multiple short sessions. I used a reference photo from a photographer friend of mine. I think I'll use this pose in a painting with some more context and taking some more time on it...maybe an oil piece down the road a bit.
So instead of drawing from life while looking through the scope, I finished this sketch which I started in graphite two nights ago. I decided to add watercolor and did it in multiple short sessions. I used a reference photo from a photographer friend of mine. I think I'll use this pose in a painting with some more context and taking some more time on it...maybe an oil piece down the road a bit.
