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Jomo's Sketchbook (1 Viewer)

Thanks for the comments all, very much appreciated!

I'm beginning to feel a bit sheepish, the rest of you all seem so productive and here I am still putting piddly bits of paint down on the same sheet of paper. I'm anxious to get this finished, as I'm just not in the mood for lush, green vegetation at the moment (so much dry autumn colour and decay outdoors, better suited to migrant LBJs than bright summer warblers).

I'm wishing now that I'd moved that leaf over a little more. I wanted him to be obscured somewhat (as warblers always are once the foliage comes out), and he seems too obvious now that I've put the orange down. I really think I ought to attempt a 'realistic' warbler piece some day -- a clump of leaves overhead with nothing but the bird's arse sticking out!
 

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I'm wishing now that I'd moved that leaf over a little more. I wanted him to be obscured somewhat (as warblers always are once the foliage comes out), and he seems too obvious now that I've put the orange down. I really think I ought to attempt a 'realistic' warbler piece some day -- a clump of leaves overhead with nothing but the bird's arse sticking out!

I love the shapes and colours with this one, regarding your thoughts on the bird being ''too obvious'' ..because you've placed the bird quite subtlely to the left (and not dead centre in the canvas) and surrounded with plenty of vegetation it doesn't look too obvious in my humble opinion!, the bird fits in perfectly with it's surroundings and looks very natural to my eyes.

A fantastic image!

Matt
 
I don't know... This piece is really looking good. The leaves are AMAZING. I know what you mean about repeatedly putting paint down on the same piece though. Thanks for the comments regarding the pintail painting in the gallery. I too love getting the Birds in Art catalogue! My favorites this year are Lars Jonsson's pintails, James Morgan's hooded mergansers, Edwoud de Groot's caspian terns and Kathleen Dunn's brown creepers - along with many others!
 
You must work at your own pace, the amount of times I've looked over my paintings and thought, if only I'd taken a little more time! The composition is excellent, I can understand your feeling that you'd like it behind a leaf, but why not let him shine? Coming along very nicely, and no matter how long we have to wait to see the finished result, it's certainly going to be worth it!
 
Don't sweat it. I take forever too , But it never bother's me! as long as I'm
happy with the painting sometimes its better to take your time as nick
rightly pointed out.

The only time its sometimes worth starting something else is if
you have gone off the boil on a painting
 
Thanks Matt, I suppose you're right. The old bit about vision getting in the way of reality, perhaps!

Peter, I agree with you wholeheartedly on all counts (I love deGroot's orderly flocks, and Jim Morgan is the sh*t!).
 
Your redstart is shaping up to be an excellent piece. I love the colours and the way you're using the intrinsic properties of the medium. Looking forward to the final result!

Woody
 
Aargh, Sandhills! Rotten, rotten birds, they never want to be found (unless I'm with company or otherwise unable to find the time to pull over for a sketching session). A good report of cranes up on the Bruce this weekend, so with nothing planned I decided to head up and try my luck. Hours and hours of driving around, and not a one to be found. And then to return home and check my email, only to find that a sizable flock -- 250 birds! -- was reported off the highway just south of Hepworth, at the exact same time that I was detouring around said town deliberately to check the back roads for ... Sandhills! GRRR!

Ah, well. Here's some Ross's and Snow Goose sketches done after visiting the Bateman exhibit the weekend before last, and a small piece for the only pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers to give me the time of day last month. I'll be back up north again this weekend with friends, perhaps I'll get another chance with the Sandhills.
 

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Another breathtaking collection of work Jomo - your drawings are crammed with character and exactly the detail required to make advanced work from, whilst still standing as excellent works in their own right - tremendous.
Sorry about the cranes - you'll catch'em soon.
 
Beautiful sketch work Jomo. I love the 'soft roundness' in your sketching sorry if that doesn't make sense, but I can't think of a better way of putting it!

And best of luck with the cranes from me too (I'd like to see the drawings really!).

Woody
 
I adore your yellow-rumped warbler, so beautiful against those leaves. I can empathise entirely with the cranes, our European ones don't like me at all, and I always get messages saying things like 60 flew over such and such place (while I was there drawing a chaffinch or some such and not looking at the sky!). I'll get them one day!
 
Ross's Goose

Daily reports of Bohemian Waxwings from the nearby Arboretum have been coming in since early last week, except, it seems, the only two days of the week I'm free to bird the Arb. I was unfortunately too distracted searching for the absent Bohemians to get much sketching done, but I'm oddly in the mood to put some paint down at the moment, so it was back through the past few weeks' pages for some inspiration.

It's always tough to keep a white bird from turning into a big muddy grey mess in watercolour, so we'll see what happens with this.
 

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so far so good, you've got a lovely softness to the plumage, looking forward to seeing the progression.
 
Not sure if I'm done with this, but I think it's time I leave it alone before it all goes to mud.
 

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