solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Thanks so much Mike. If I can keep my work vibrant, and true to the birds I see, I'm happy!
-
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.
revivingKensArt (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter solitaryVSong
- Start date
Thanks so much Mike. If I can keep my work vibrant, and true to the birds I see, I'm happy!
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Hi Beach Birder,
I'm happy that you like my work! Hopefully I'll also include some new work seen in areas familiar to you. Today I was at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia and did a few fieldsketches there. I know the Ridley Creek area is supposed to be very good for birding. A number of years ago I flyfished there. But I've done very little birding. This may serve as an excuse to do so though!!
Best wishes,
Ken
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
I, and my wife Jerene, have spent part of each of the last three Sundays at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. It's only a few miles away from us and usually has a variety of birds. More importantly it's got a lot of open space in the wetlands area so it's easy to set up a scope and try some fieldsketches.
I'm including some from today. They include a number of Wood Ducks, including adult females, juveniles and one duckling. Also a Great Blue Heron that landed on the top of a 30 foot tall dead tree. And finally one Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The watercolor pencil sketches are from the backyard last week. They include a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that just wouldn't sit still, and a Sunflower. The Hummingbird didn't really turn out that well but I'm sure all the practice I can get with hummingbirds will pay off eventually.
I'm including some from today. They include a number of Wood Ducks, including adult females, juveniles and one duckling. Also a Great Blue Heron that landed on the top of a 30 foot tall dead tree. And finally one Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The watercolor pencil sketches are from the backyard last week. They include a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that just wouldn't sit still, and a Sunflower. The Hummingbird didn't really turn out that well but I'm sure all the practice I can get with hummingbirds will pay off eventually.
Attachments
timwootton
Well-known member
All very nice, but the two heron sketches are outstanding.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Thanks Tim,
The heron was the last bird to appear as we walked out of the arboretum. He picked the perfect spot to pose, up on top of a bare-limbed 30 foot tree. If all birds did that I might stand a chance of getting some decent drawings from life!
Ken
Beach Birder 561
Member
I know this dark BlackBlurry shot will be of no use to you,
but I'll pass it along anyway. We have a few different types
of Heron that inhabit our lake and I really enjoy watching them.
The Little Blue(?) is really neat to watch as he purposefully struts
the marsh looking for feeder fish. I love the graceful manner they
commit to flight at a moments notice.
Attachments
colleenc
Well-known member
ah the blues are showing up in my life too right now, I found a roost tree by Bodega Bay, and they are fishing the sardine runs, I saw two have an arial dance, don't know if it was territory or love.....they are nice to draw standing still or at least very slo mo for period of time. you got it well in the sketch.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
A very nice, and atmospheric, photo. You'd think that they might be ungainly what with their long leg and neck. But no they are as graceful as can be. I always enjoy watching herons and egrets.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
They are a pleasure to watch, and draw, aren't they? We saw about 9 of them fly in and settle in trees at Cape May, NJ all at the same time last fall. Now if I'd been a little more practiced at fieldsketching at the time I might have made a desperate attempt to get it down on paper..........
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Another watecolor, based on a photo I took of an Acadian Flycatcher at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia this spring. I've stopped before I overwork it and get rid of all of the freshness and lumnosity. I may go back to work on it but for now think it's best to just leave it sit for a day or two.
Attachments
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Thanks for your input Colleen! Sometimes it's so difficult to know when a painting, especially a watercolor, looks done. I'm really reluctant to go back into this and overwork it so I've let it sit for a few days. On the other hand I don't want to leave it looking half-finished. So it's very helpful to me to know that it looks done as is to others!
Ken
Ken
Beach Birder 561
Member
I agree, Colleen....
Sometimes less is more.......
I like the way the Flycatcher totally stands out from the limbs and leaves
but the colors are the same.... Excellent highlighting and technique :t:
I think you can end it on this perfect note....
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Thanks very much Beach Birder. Another vote for leaving it just as it is! That's the way I've been leaning but it's nice to hear some supporting opinions.
Ken
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
I snatched an hour from this morning before work to try some live sketching of mallards, Canada Geese, and a stray pigeon or two at Valley Green, a quiet stretch of the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia.
More than anything I think they convinced me of the possibilities, and thrills, in working from life. All were done with my naked eye. I mistakenly brought my wife's binoculars and couldn't figure out how to get the eye cups down so that they'd work with my glasses. I know this is a very simple task, but I just couldn't figure it out and decided my time and energy was best spent drawing, not fiddling with binoculars!!
More than anything I think they convinced me of the possibilities, and thrills, in working from life. All were done with my naked eye. I mistakenly brought my wife's binoculars and couldn't figure out how to get the eye cups down so that they'd work with my glasses. I know this is a very simple task, but I just couldn't figure it out and decided my time and energy was best spent drawing, not fiddling with binoculars!!
Attachments
timwootton
Well-known member
Some very nice preening shapes with the mallards Ken and the Canadas are just spot on. My personal fav though, is the single mallard, which is full of 'duckiness'. Good use of an hour, methinks.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Hi Colleen,
I knew I'd really enjoy live sketching if I could ever force myself to do it. You and the rest of the people here at the forum have been the impetus I needed to get out and do it! I think a few more weeks of it and I'll have gotten far enough that it will become an everyday habit.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Thanks Tim,
Your example and that of others here has been a great impetus for me to get out and work from life. It really is just what I needed.
The "ducky" duck was the one duck that came out of the water for me. In fact he was only about a foot away when I drew him. I knew he wouldn't stay so maybe I made an extra effort to get him down quickly. And sure enough he was gone just as I finished...........
It's my favorite as well.
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
I was happy with my last pastel and charcoal drawing of the Piping Plovers so decided to go back to that medium for this drawing. One thing I like about it is that it allows me to improvise quite a bit. I improvise in watercolor too but seem to get myself painted into a corner much more quickly.
I wasn't sure where this would go. It's based on another of the photos of the Acadian Flycatcher I took this spring. Like the last watercolor it tries to keep the sensation of brilliant light of the sun shining through the leaves. I'm not sure how much more I'll work on it. So it seemed like a good idea to post it here and see if anyone had any comments.
It's really somewhere between naturalism and abstraction. I just have the hardest time being patient with background foliage. I think part of this is just impatience but part of it also is, I think, the desire to be expressive and also to let the bird take precedence. Anyway enough talk, here it is!
I wasn't sure where this would go. It's based on another of the photos of the Acadian Flycatcher I took this spring. Like the last watercolor it tries to keep the sensation of brilliant light of the sun shining through the leaves. I'm not sure how much more I'll work on it. So it seemed like a good idea to post it here and see if anyone had any comments.
It's really somewhere between naturalism and abstraction. I just have the hardest time being patient with background foliage. I think part of this is just impatience but part of it also is, I think, the desire to be expressive and also to let the bird take precedence. Anyway enough talk, here it is!
