From the sketchbook... (2 Viewers)

buzzard12 · Mar 13, 2012

Took a while to find the thread! Anyhow, winter is over here and its 12 degress out and spring is on the way. Finally been able to draw outdoors and the birding has been amazing here this last few weeks. Great Grey Shrike here was a recent highlight, as were displaying Eagle Owls. Watching the latter is an incredible experience, there is a pair not far from where I live in the city here in Stockholm, the species making a big comeback and finding city suburbs to their liking. The males white bib expands as the throat is inflated before calling..

spizaetos · Mar 13, 2012

Superb!!

Paschalis

buzzard12 · Mar 13, 2012

Best of all is this Great Grey Owl, not far from Stockholm. Yesterday was my second visit to see the bird and it gave incredible views from 2.40pm right through the afternoon until dusk.Too good an opportunity to miss and spent time sketching, never found owls easy to draw, but eventually familiarity with the shapes gets you there. Lars Jonssonn turned up and was sat beside me, along with a dozen birders, everybody delighted to see such a bird so well. Rather surreal to be standing there sketching a Great Grey Owl with the master of fieldwork scribbling away furiously...

buzzard12 · Mar 13, 2012

The later drawings here. Lots of good photos on my blog of this amazing bird for those interested...

colleenc · Mar 13, 2012

great work on the owl, and stunning shrike, at least on my iphone I get someting will look forward to seeing it bigger when internet comes back

Bigshent · Mar 13, 2012

Brilliant Buzz. All of them have something going for them. also excellent blog pics

Ill have a good read through later when I have more time

JTMB · Mar 13, 2012

Great sketches, and what a great opportunity both for a wonderful owl species, and then to be seated next to the master himself...! Wow!

RussB · Mar 13, 2012

Great stuff, Alan!
The owls are very impressive but love the GGS - who doesn't! Tell me, how did you manage to hold your nerve in the company of Great Grey Owl and Lars Jonsson? A gibbering wreck I would quickly have become......without noticing the owl!

Russ

mattybohan · Mar 13, 2012

Great work. I especially like the shrike.

nickderry · Mar 14, 2012

words cannot describe! wow!!!! (did you do any sketches of Lars?!)

solitaryVSong · Mar 14, 2012

RussB said:
Great stuff, Alan!
The owls are very impressive but love the GGS - who doesn't! Tell me, how did you manage to hold your nerve in the company of Great Grey Owl and Lars Jonsson? A gibbering wreck I would quickly have become......without noticing the owl!

Russ

I loved the drawings from yesterday even before all these owl sketches and LJ story. If I saw a bunch of artists grouped together sketching a bird I'd first nearly have a heart attack, then I'd recover and realize it must be a group of travelling European birders. I've seen one artist sketching birds in all the time I've been birding and sketching myself in the US. Here you'd hope to be able to even see the bird through all the large lenses. It's almost impossible to imagine seeing a whole group of birders sketching, though I have seen photos of Barry Van Dusen and some others as a group so I know that it does happen.

buzzard12 · Mar 14, 2012

solitaryVSong said:
I loved the drawings from yesterday even before all these owl sketches and LJ story. If I saw a bunch of artists grouped together sketching a bird I'd first nearly have a heart attack, then I'd recover and realize it must be a group of travelling European birders. I've seen one artist sketching birds in all the time I've been birding and sketching myself in the US. Here you'd hope to be able to even see the bird through all the large lenses. It's almost impossible to imagine seeing a whole group of birders sketching, though I have seen photos of Barry Van Dusen and some others as a group so I know that it does happen.

In all honesty it's unusual to come across a birder, head down sketching here too Ken. It seems the preserve of a very few. In eight years birding here in Sweden I have only come across one, which was LJ a couple of days ago. I only know of a handful here in the Sweden, which is a shame. The same applies for Ireland where there are but a handful. So the USA is not alone in that regard..

solitaryVSong · Mar 15, 2012

buzzard12 said:
In all honesty it's unusual to come across a birder, head down sketching here too Ken. It seems the preserve of a very few. In eight years birding here in Sweden I have only come across one, which was LJ a couple of days ago. I only know of a handful here in the Sweden, which is a shame. The same applies for Ireland where there are but a handful. So the USA is not alone in that regard..

Thanks for that information Alan. I had the impression that there were many more. But what an amazing story it leads to: only one birder sketching in eight years and that's LJ!!

buzzard12 · Mar 15, 2012

Making an effort to see owls at the minute as they are displaying here in March. Not the biggest, but perhaps one of the very best, got two Pygmy Owl last night. Called them in with a digital recorder, the reaction was amazing, these guys sitting close by scolding. Account on the blog, here are the couple of usable sketched made. Managed not to notice the dark flanks these birds have in the failing light, sometimes stuff gets missed!

ARTHUR BISHOP · Mar 15, 2012

Just brilliant sketching Alan.
Hope Lars didn't bother you too much asking for tips.

RussB · Mar 15, 2012

buzzard12 said:
In all honesty it's unusual to come across a birder, head down sketching here too Ken. It seems the preserve of a very few. In eight years birding here in Sweden I have only come across one, which was LJ a couple of days ago. I only know of a handful here in the Sweden, which is a shame. The same applies for Ireland where there are but a handful. So the USA is not alone in that regard..

Another great owl sketch!

In 12 years regular birding here in Yorkshire I've come across two 'serious' guys. One of them regularly shows first class work on the art forum, and it's not me! Do you think field sketching the 'preserve of the few' because A: it's not easy, or B: most folk can't be axxxd to do it ?

Russ

Strandman · Mar 15, 2012

buzzard12 said:
Making an effort to see owls at the minute

what a fine reward for enduring the darknorthernwinter

and that extra level of authenticity in the drawing: clearly its not just any Pygmy Owl- its the one was sat in front of you

buzzard12 · Mar 15, 2012

ed keeble said:
what a fine reward for enduring the darknorthernwinter

and that extra level of authenticity in the drawing: clearly its not just any Pygmy Owl- its the one was sat in front of you

Thanks Ed, they are more than enough reward too

Heres a quick colour piece I did quickly this afternoon....
Not quite what I was after, I should revisit this one..think my problem here lies in the drawing off the owl, though perhaps an approach in watercolour might be the way forward here..

In dire need of new brushes, anybody recomend some reasonably priced makes before I raid the art suppliers..??

timwootton · Mar 15, 2012

Thoroughly marvellous - just superb.

mayoayo · Mar 16, 2012

Nice Little Owl!...The Great grey profiles and the Shrike are just wonderful...

Edit:..I am taking a backwards tour of this thread and ALL the work here is impressing me in the same manner..
Very good

From the sketchbook... (2 Viewers)

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