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Jomo's Sketchbook (1 Viewer)

I'd planned to head down to Burlington yesterday morning (the peregrines are displaying regularly at the lift bridge, and a pair of Red-throated Loons have been hanging around the pier all week). Unfortunately the storm that wasn't supposed to arrive until the afternoon was already in full swing when I awoke, so I shut myself in to do some painting instead.

This is attempt #4 at a group of Horned Larks I sketched last weekend (the original concept involved a lot of blowing snow, but several compositional duds and a paper-rending liquid frisket incident encouraged me to change tactics). I see these birds running about the sod farms every morning on my drive in to work, and their presence is perhaps the only encouraging sign of spring I've had thus far this year!

Blackbirds are due back this week ... but I suspect they'll stay on holiday a bit longer.
 

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The fieldwork is as good as ever - no higher praise can be offered. The colour piece manages to retain all the freshness off the drawings, probably THE most difficult aspect to painting the living bird - and that's without any suggestion of a background, which leads me to ask; will there be a background/habitat to the lark painting Jomo? - Particulalry taken by the portrait format for the landscape - very nice.
Looks cold where you are !
 
Incredibly good sketches Jomo...

Totally agree on the larks as a sign of spring - but - wait for it - the first Canada Geese returned to the lagoon here yesterday - about ten pairs...so it must be coming!!!!

The portrait style sans background is very much to my taste and the larks masterfully painted!!
 
which leads me to ask; will there be a background/habitat to the lark painting Jomo?

Glad it was well received! But you've pointed out something that I've been mulling over, Tim. I was content enough with its simplicity when I walked away from it yesterday, but I'm feeling now that it needs a point of reference -- some all-out weediness, or even just a scattering of dry leaflets. So ... input, folks? Feel free to graffiti it up as you please!
 

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Ooo, I don't know. Like you, I laso love the simplicity of the piece, but a splash of something not too intrusive may contribute tot he whole thing. You are right though, nothing with too much impact - dry leaves, as you suggest? Beautiful piece Jomo.
 
Don't overdo it. The oriental type simplicity is working for me. A few leaves at the most, or maybe a pebble or two just to indicate a surface plane?

Mike
 
Agree with Mike - if you must add to this ( and I'm not at all sure it's necessary :) then I don't think it needs anything much...I kind of like the idea of a few pebbles in the same tones...

Just my two cents Jomo!!!
 
hypocritically, I'll tell you not to do anything too drastic. Perhaps putting in a light two tone sandy background (fading into white) just to give a sense of something more than a blank page. Think all options through before committing to anything! It really is a beautiful piece even if you leave it as it is.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone. I've posted the final version in the gallery. I didn't end up doing much -- a very pale yellow ochre in the foreground, a bit of payne's grey to the back (though I don't think either wash is visible in the photo), and couple of stray leaves. Not sure if I achieved what I was aiming for, but I do like it better this way.

I hadn't been down to Burlington in over a month, so I made the trip yesterday to see what I could turn up. The canal was choked with ice, driving the Long-tailed Ducks (the small flock that still remains, that is) out into the lake. They were much more tolerant of my presence today, coming right up to the edge of the pier so long as I stood quietly. A pair of Horned Grebes joined the LTDs, though they kept their distance.

As the wind shifted and the ice was swept back into the bay, a Red-throated Loon surfaced in the canal before me. Nice to see one this close up, though it didn't stick around long and was soon just a distant speck of white and grey on the lake.

The Peregrine pair have staked their claim to the lift bridge again this year, much to the dismay of the local pigeons. The pair were noisily calling to one another as the tiercel circled and swooped, and a small group of photographers and birders had appeared to watch the show.
 

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Wonderful. Making drawings such as the l-t ducks is hard enough (getting both jizz abnd the complex markings right) but to also give them such a life of their own is just remarkable. The red-throat is perfectly seen (although probably not for long ;) ) and your peregrine drawings are peregrine, through and through. The face-on bird is beautifully captured.
I love your work - more and more.
 
After a long, snowy winter, summer seems anxious to get going. With beautiful weather forecasted, I headed north to the Bruce this past weekend to finally get some dedicated birding time in. Temps were actually a little too high -- I like warm, breezy spring days, but 27 is a bit much for April.

Saturday morning was spent in the marsh at Isaac Lake, which was bustling. Lots of excellent birds -- Hooded Mergansers, my first spring warbler (a Pine), a pair of Bluebirds setting up house (or rather taking over someone else's flat, as the angry swooping and chattering of a pair of Tree Swallows attested to), a ground-foraging female Flicker who didn't seem to mind me getting too close, and the constant winnowing of Wilson's Snipe displaying overhead. Best was a Sora that I flushed from the roadside, a rail that I'm quite familiar with by sound but had never before seen in the flesh.

I'd planned to hit some flooded fields in Grey county on my way home that were reported to be harbouring a Eurasian Wigeon (would've been a lifer), but with the warm weather the ponds had disappeared and the waterfowl had vanished with them. No matter, as my consolation prize was a lone Sandhill Crane, who gave me a few minutes before strutting off behind a hill.
 

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