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

Seemingly the bird of the moment.. (4 Viewers)

birdboybowley said:
The precociousness of youth I reckon, eh Phil?? ;) Scariest thing is that that painting is 20yrs old this month....!
Click to expand...

That'd be your "Michael Caine Early Period" then? I have the Birdwatch issue with thyself and Derry in it. I was getting £20 a pop for line illos from them then..Still the going rate. But now is photos...;):-O
 
Well the illustration work is finally done - for the time being....been up since yday after only having 5hrs sleep then...so pretty shattered now. Plates for the 2nd edition of the Indian Subcontinent fieldguide have been sent off - I just hope they sort out the taxonomy order in this edition. Has anyone else tried to use it in the field? It has to be the most user-unfriendly book I've ever had! Anyways, now it's time to think of doing something more arty.....after lots of sleep. Night night

India Sub plate 106 (Large).jpgIndia Sub plate 107 (Large).jpgIndia Sub - Indian Yellow Tit drop-in.jpg
 
Astonishingly beautiful Adam! Mouthwatering pages of (for me) unachievable wonders.
A few days sleep perhaps?;) Look forward to an explosion of free-range art, now the deadline shackles are off! Welcome back to your thread...:t:
 
An impressive collection! The colors on that first page are really striking. It would be nice to have at least the slightest experience of the birds portrayed. I"m sure that would make them all the more enjoyable.
 
Ah, sleep....feel much better now!
Cheers guys, it's good to be back
And Ken, it was nice for me as I've actually seen most of the birds I had to paint this time - makes a change!! But gotta admit, as gorgeous a bird the Blue Pitta is, it's a real bitch to paint!
 
The plates are just exceptional! Glad to see your batteries are recharged and am anxious to see your next art pieces!
 
Hey guys,

Just about to start on this piece...inspired by our SA visit last year and after a couple of weeks pontificating (ok, buggering about on other things) over it. Finally got the composition I was looking for after playing around with the cut-outs again and again...and again...and - you get the idea!
Chose Southern Ground-Hornbills as they are just amazing birds: big, ugly but bizarrely charismatic! Background will be hazy/smoky with the fires still visible....nearest big tree will have smoke billowing from it (as seen in Kruger NP) and probably add a few Cape Glossy-Starlings in the foreground (maybe a roller on the end of the dead fallen tree) as I want it to be purposely busy as that's how it is after the bushfires spread - the birds dive in for the free BBQ. Probably gonna have the Ground-Hornbills feeding on a couple of deep-fried tortoises (I guess this must happen alot as they can hardly outrun the flames....)
Oh well, let's see how it goes....

Kruger BBQ - all you can eat! layout (Large).jpg

Sorry about the photo quality - it's a bit cr@p ;)
 
Tim, will do sir, yes, sir! ;) Keep nagging me - it's good!
Ed - funny thing with the plates, often hate them whilst doing them, yet weirdly miss them when not. Maybe it's down to I know I get money as soon as they're finished (well, sort of ;)) whereas with a painting you gotta hope someone else likes it! Have sold several plates from the Melanesia book already which is cool. Book is apparently due out in October (yes, this year!! ;))
Right back to the drawing board.....WIP photos will be following
 
will really enjoy the wip, and for me anyway, getting a group of birds in a comp is really tricky, and always takes me some time to get a balance I like, esp if you are putting in a natural environment...this one looks good
 
First of all, one of the most exciting sketches I've seen in many a while, cant wait to see this progress...the sketch is already dynamic...

The pitta plate makes me want to fly straight to Asia again. These are stunning, mouthwatering depictions of birds I dream of seeing someday...
 
This looks, indeed, like a supremely well-drawn and composed piece. Yes, it wil be interesting to see the WIP here.

I, too, am currently having a bit of a nostalgia trip with pittas. This plate and the Chris Goodie book 'Jewel Hunter' - which has me hankering to go back to a place like no other book has done in a long while - are the guilty parties!
Only read the first couple of chapters but if pittas are your thing then I really recommend getting a copy.

Russ
 
So.....
Splashed the first washes over the board. Built up the fire and smoke basically to see if it was actually gonna work! Looking ok at the mo so I'll build it some more later. Added several termite mounds to give some background interest, but there will be lots of twiggy burnt, bare bushes once finished....and the whole background will be 'pushed' further away by adding clinging smoke

Kruger BBQ - all you can eat! WIP (Large).jpg

Blocked in the birds themselves to see how they'll tally with the scene. I always knew it was gonna be a bit monochromatic - blackened, burnt ground...big black birds - so have broken it up with bare earth and will put in a few rocks, etc...and hopefully this, coupled with the smokier distance will bring the birds out...

Kruger BBQ - all you can eat! WIP (1) (Large).jpg

Made the bird facing us most the female so the blue on her throat is a slight focal point, and the bird stalking in from the left will be an imm as they live in family groups consisting of a dominant pair, other adult males and immatures of both sexes. Will be adding glossy-starlings in the foreground so their purple plumage should tally with the females throat and if the roller goes in on the end of the fallen tree then the blue colours should subconsciously lead your eyes around the piece....in theory ;)

Kruger BBQ - all you can eat! WIP (2) (Large).jpg

Now to find some burnt tortoise references!! :-O
 
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