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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Untitled... (1 Viewer)

Well.....i woke up this morning feeling quite 'rough' and out of sorts....but your illustrations have just given me a real 'boost'....:t:

Bloody marvelous....!

Love the orioles...[a lot]...and the shrike n dartford warbler page...those color combination's are superb...

The expression on that stone curlews face in lower left of page made me laugh...he looks well p----d off.....;) Excellent stuff....!

As Tim said...you've got an amazing awareness of how a written/illustrated page should look like...tis an artform in itself....and so pleasing to the eye as such pages show 'the passion' of birders...[and talent]...!

All in all...brill....:t:
 
Frabjous observations, so much detail in them. I love the little short strokes you use to build up the colours. Great stuff! I'm sure you've got a rich mine of goodies to share.

And living on a boat sounds great to me!

Mike
 
Teeming with life Phil.! As others have said you have a great knack for combining text and images into a captivating and rich whole. And as username says they show 'the passion of birders.' Exactly right.
 
"The expression on that stone curlews face in lower left of page made me laugh...he looks well p----d off..... "

Was only drawing what I saw! Yet somehow they do look overall happy when you see them. Returned to Martin Down last Summer, but they had not nested in that particular area. Thanks for the complis Username.

"Frabjous observations, so much detail in them. I love the little short strokes you use to build up the colours."

Frabjous is a BIG compliment Mike! :eek!: The "strokes" were done using water-colour pencil to build up texture on top of gouache. Am a big supporter of "mixed-media." Using whatever's to hand to get the effect desired.

"...great knack for combining text and images..."

Ken, that comes from many years drawing strip-cartoons for comics and magazines! It seems to be a "transferable skill." These were done to capture the feeling of the experience for my own purposes. So I could revisit the experience. They were never done for public show. And no punchlines or cheap gags! ;)

An example of this "strip cartoon stuff" is attached. But other egs are on the link to my "website"...;)
 

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Just to get it back on the "bird-track"?
A scan left over.
Do not like the big image. But the Pec Sand sketch in the right corner summed up the bird perfectly for me.
As we know, sometimes one has to do a lot to get one good one. One that captures the essence of that particular bird!
 

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And a Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England wild Lesser White-Front to finish on. From Jan '95...

Must go now and work on posting some stuff from this century! ;)

Have a great day everyone. A FRABJOUS DAY! :cat:
 

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More blasts from the past...

Thanks Tim!

Loving the new backlit Eiders BTW!

As my next post I thought I'd barrage you all with a bit more "archive footage." Just wanted to give you a wider view of my work. The vast majority of this stuff nobody has ever seen before....

Then, when that's out of the way, I can start showing some current works in progress. As stand-up pieces of art.

So here goes another set of note and sketchbook stuff....B :)
 

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...more...
 

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...et plus...
 

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Hope you enjoy this little gallery...

Maybe more later after Wallander has finished! ;)
 

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Phil,
I could pore my eyes over these 'all day and all of the night' as The Kinks sang, or was it The Stranglers? Whatever, sensational stuff. I know some folk who'd say ' that bill's too long and that head's too big and blah, blah, blah. Stick to taking pics, matey. Seriously I think appeciating art can take a trained eye as mush as it does to produce it. There is indeed, a certain 'something' about your style. They're grrreat!

I particularly love the lesser Whitefront, its cuteness you have nailed admirably.

More, More, More, as the whatsit experience/foundation sang. Pop trivia and bird art on this thread.

Russ
 
Still grinning at the Kentish plover - I don't think I;ve ever seen a more characterful drawing using so few lines; outstanding, mate. Again - all so beautifully composed on the page. Lovely, indeed.
 
Wallander was good!

When they found the poor girl's body there was a Black Woodpecker calling in the background! Is Ystad, Southern Sweden, a good birding place I wonder?

Thanks you lot! Kentish, in my mind, is like a wind-up clockwork toy. Or some kind of weird chick (as in "young chicken!") Yeah! LWF has got to be one of the most endearing geese Russ! And "charming" User? I must be going soft in my old age? But Hey! I'm much older now than then! :eek!: Maybe "Prints Charming?" ;)

I guess all these pieces show someone trying to capture a bird's essence. That, of course is not always possible! Or to "film it" in sketches? Sooner or later, after drumming your head against the wall, the wall might give way a bit? Sometimes at that time, my cartoonist sensibilities would interfere with the process. And, I think that is most evident in the Kentish sketches!

But, I guess now I'm more interested in the sparseness of line, and the impressionistic qualities of a birding experience. (Getting all "poncey poseur" already! ;))

It took me a long time to realise that I couldn't draw like Ennion or Busby just like that. To be able to draw in this way you have to have experience. And, sometimes, that can take a long time.

But I think Eric Ennion has always had a strong effect on me. He was a total iconoclast. I admire that! The freedom and looseness in his work, under-pinned with a deep love for the subject involved. Not that I try to ape him of course!

So, maybe I'll post a few more oldies.

But, am almost ready to begin posting from now.

I appreciate all your comments.


It is helping me to form some idea of where I am going with all this.

And, that is, back to the drawing board! :t:
 

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Why thank you Dave.

Was just about to post the rest of today's retro scans, when I saw your kind post!

Noticed you picked up on the driving/comedy thing? Excellent!

Just wait a while. I'll open the taps again.

All the very best!

phil
 
A 1st W Rough-Legged Buzzard Breakdown? In the 90s?

I think the dates are in the pieces?

A Rough-Leg had appeared on the Imber Ranges, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, UK. Around Xmas/New Year.

The good old army get 2 weeks off around this time. And civilians can trapse in past the videttes and wander off-road, and blow thenselves up on UXBs. A BRILLIANT place to visit. Imber is still used as "training ground practise" before Iraq/Afghanistan, etc...

I went down in 2 separate car-loads to try and understamd what makes it different from a Common Buzzard.

Ok! Ok! Maybe I twitched it as well! ;)

But to this day, these scribbles have always reminded me of a struggle, sometimes, to get to a point where you understand something IS what it IS...

From the scribbles I did a couple of conclusion "summary" pieces.

Personally, I like some of the "real time vignettes...."

Wade through the "pencil awfulfullness" and you'll see a pattern emerging.

A pattern that leads to understanding of what El Lagopus really is! :cat:

Sometimes we have to "wade through some muddy waters before we can drink from the stream!" ;)
 

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And, these are the two summary pieces I did for my own learning purposes.

OK, but, not inspiring, It is pic 5 from the post before, which I always hold dear.

That is my favourite of all these scribblings and screevings. Honest, true to the bird, and reportage!

It was a very tame bird though! A sub-Arctic confidant! B :)
 

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what an eye Phil , I love how you point things out...like "arm raised , hand flat " on that simply beautiful flight sketch.
 

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