• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

John Costello Art 2013 (1 Viewer)

Some digital painting for a website design I'm working on about species numbers of endangered animals - rhino, spoon billed sand, some mountain goat, a water buffalo and elephants right tusk to do. Learnt loads and really enjoyed it! :)

Like this image a lot John, Gorilla adds a nice presence..
 
Recent and not so recent

Been really busy with everything but painting/drawing, the little I have done I thought I would share.

Here is a Fieldfare, Waxwing head and Goldcrest I painted in the winter, all done from my own reference photos (same applies for the rest I upload unless I say on the rest I upload)
 

Attachments

  • fieldfare.jpg
    fieldfare.jpg
    398.1 KB · Views: 39
  • waxwing.jpg
    waxwing.jpg
    405.1 KB · Views: 39
  • goldcrest.jpg
    goldcrest.jpg
    308.4 KB · Views: 33
Hawfinch and bee-eater from youtube video, Lapwing and White-wagtail from my own photos
 

Attachments

  • hawfinch.jpg
    hawfinch.jpg
    208.8 KB · Views: 41
  • lapwing.jpg
    lapwing.jpg
    195.4 KB · Views: 36
  • white-wagtail.jpg
    white-wagtail.jpg
    242.6 KB · Views: 35
Goosander in watercolour. Little Grebe and Water Rail in a cheap pen, washed over with water.
 

Attachments

  • goosander.jpg
    goosander.jpg
    371.4 KB · Views: 40
  • little-grebe.jpg
    little-grebe.jpg
    242.1 KB · Views: 44
  • waterrail.jpg
    waterrail.jpg
    332 KB · Views: 31
Goldeneye - watercolour, no pencil drawing.
Great Black-backed Gull, charcoal
Wren - pencil sketch then watercolour
 

Attachments

  • goldeneye.jpg
    goldeneye.jpg
    343.4 KB · Views: 42
  • greatblackbackedgull.jpg
    greatblackbackedgull.jpg
    411.6 KB · Views: 33
  • wren.jpg
    wren.jpg
    370.1 KB · Views: 53
thank you both, some I like better than others, all in the name of learning and improving. Does anyone have any constructive feedback to share? No words can be too harsh. Always good to to know how other people see the pieces. You're all so talented here
 
Thank you Gaby and John.

A few more small pieces, charcoal and pastel on brown paper. A singing Sedge Warbler and Yellow Wagtail I photographed last summer just north of where I live called Hjälstaviken, fantastic area, full of life and has it's share of rarities every year.. eager to get up there this year, maybe even with the sketchbook :)
 

Attachments

  • yellow-wagtail.jpg
    yellow-wagtail.jpg
    303.3 KB · Views: 62
  • sedge-warbler.jpg
    sedge-warbler.jpg
    257.3 KB · Views: 47
Last edited:
Thanks, I tried a trial version of Corel Painter and their "real watercolour/oil/acyrlic" brushes but it seemed to eat up my processor and slow the computer and tablet down far too much.. I bet it's fine on a Mac though..
Is there anyone I should look up that does digital? I haven't managed to find many people that do yet.

Hi John, some great stuff here; I admire your courage in trying out so many media so effectively. I've been developing my use of digital media too and have found Artrage - now up to version 4 - excellent and an absolute steal for the money (see www.artrage.com/‎). It has a much simpler and more intuitive user interface and a slimmed down but just as powerful range of tools as that offered by Corel Painter. Why not download the trial version? You'll never go back to Painter - or Photoshop for that matter! As with all digital painting software, a tablet is almost essential and it's much easier than using a mouse once you've got over the initial hand-eye co-ordination issues. You have used a photographic reference in your Whinchat illustration (second version for me also BTW); did you import your photo and then 'manipulate' it using the drawing package or is it 'scratch drawn'? I've enclosed a couple of my recent scratch drawn efforts using Artrage's pencil tools, just to show how effective it is.

Incidentally, I accidentally hit upon the new book by John Muir Laws on the net today. He's an American artist from the same stable as David Sibley. His website and blog (http://www.johnmuirlaws.com/) are real eye-openers and contain a wealth of tips, tricks and info for aspiring bird artists; feast your eyes!

LL
 

Attachments

  • GL.jpeg
    GL.jpeg
    57.7 KB · Views: 48
  • TS.jpeg
    TS.jpeg
    89.2 KB · Views: 48
Last edited:
Hi, I haven't tried ArtRage but shall be tonight :) very nicely done pieces you have. The Whinchat is just from scratch, all painted in taking a good 6 odd hours. Is it easy to create custom brushes in ArtRage? Photoshop is easy for that, Painter is a nightmare creating brushes, I still haven't worked out how to do it.
I came across John myself but via YouTube, he has some interesting videos about what he does and tips on drawing in nature, everything from drawing bird calls to flowers. I bought his book shortly after Tim Woottons and then finally picked up John Busby's book Drawing Birds, all brilliant in there own way.

Thanks for the tips, John

Hi John, some great stuff here; I admire your courage in trying out so many media so effectively. I've been developing my use of digital media too and have found Artrage - now up to version 4 - excellent and an absolute steal for the money (see www.artrage.com/‎). It has a much simpler and more intuitive user interface and a slimmed down but just as powerful range of tools as that offered by Corel Painter. Why not download the trial version? You'll never go back to Painter - or Photoshop for that matter! As with all digital painting software, a tablet is almost essential and it's much easier than using a mouse once you've got over the initial hand-eye co-ordination issues. You have used a photographic reference in your Whinchat illustration (second version for me also BTW); did you import your photo and then 'manipulate' it using the drawing package or is it 'scratch drawn'? I've enclosed a couple of my recent scratch drawn efforts using Artrage's pencil tools, just to show how effective it is.

Incidentally, I accidentally hit upon the new book by John Muir Laws on the net today. He's an American artist from the same stable as David Sibley. His website and blog (http://www.johnmuirlaws.com/) are real eye-openers and contain a wealth of tips, tricks and info for aspiring bird artists; feast your eyes!

LL

Incidentally
 
A small piece I done the other day, charcoal and pastel on brown paper.
Little-ringed Plover from my own photo
 

Attachments

  • little-ringed-plover.jpg
    little-ringed-plover.jpg
    135.2 KB · Views: 61
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top