Gull ink image (1 Viewer)

Paul Collins · Dec 18, 2007

Hello all,

This was a picture that I did 2 years ago, when I was fifteen years old, of 3 black-headed gulls. I created it with various coloured inks, and a lot of water to create that blotchy effect. The heads and legs were painted in with grey watercolour paint.

To create the identical gulls, I drew a gull and then cut it out, drawing it three times on a sheet of paper. Some sections of the gulls are extremely similar due to this - i.e. the head and legs are the same. However, if you look at the wings, some of the colouring is identical. This was done by dribbling ink over the wings of one bird, and then pressing a cotton cloth down onto it. I left this to settle, and then lifted it onto the wing of the next bird, transferring some of the ink. (if you are interested in mimicking this idea, do not rely on this info too much, because I may have missed out a few details by accident).

Please give me any criticisms that you have.
Paul

P.S. This is not my normal style - I much prefer drawing with pen and ink in another manner.

nickderry · Dec 18, 2007

lovely, strong and graphic, hope to see some more of your stuff!

timwootton · Dec 18, 2007

Agree - very interesting approach. Lets's see some more, eh?

Woody · Dec 18, 2007

Certainly interesting. Looks very much like the sort of effects that photoshop can give. Of course digital tools are a perfectly valid way of working.

Let's see more, it's great to have you on board.

Woody

Paul Collins · Dec 18, 2007

timwootton said:
Agree - very interesting approach. Lets's see some more, eh?

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the comment. How do I attach more pictures to future posts, without having to start a new thread? I tried to reply to you by adding a further picture, but I was not allowed to do so.

timwootton · Dec 18, 2007

Paul Collins said:
Hi Tim,

Thanks for the comment. How do I attach more pictures to future posts, without having to start a new thread? I tried to reply to you by adding a further picture, but I was not allowed to do so.

Hi Paul,
If you open the 'POST REPLY' box (the yellow one at the top or bottom of each page), you can add a new message and also 'Manage Attachments' - here you can add your new image(s).
Alternatively, not that many of us do this, but you can also 'paste' images into your reply by using the 'Quick Reply' box.
You click on the little paperclip icon and browse for your image, like thus:

ARTHUR BISHOP · Dec 18, 2007

Welcome Paul lets see more.

timwootton · Dec 18, 2007

timwootton said:
Alternatively, not that many of us do this, but you can also 'paste' images into your reply by using the 'Quick Reply' box.
You click on the little paperclip icon and browse for your image, like thus:

Actually, that didn't work in the way I thought it might.

Paul Collins · Dec 19, 2007

Hi again,

This picture, of a long-tailed duck, is based on a photo that I took at the WWT Arundel Reserve in Kent. The bird was not actually on water, but on grass, so the bottom parts, as well as the tail, were obscured by grass (please tell me if the tail seems a little too stumpy, and how to improve it).

I did this yesterday evening, using a black ballpoint pen (one of my favourite drawing implements after the biro, which I often draw with). I have also used graphite pencil in parts, smudging it in to create a shadowy effect, in particular on the cheek. Unfortunately, part of the clouds overhead were cut off in the scanning, but of course the bird is the main focus of the image.

All views are welcome,
Paul.

timwootton · Dec 19, 2007

Lovely technique with the pen, Paul. Very difficult medium, in my opinion. I think (maybe) the duck is sitting a little high in the water (this is probably due to you having to imagine the waterline), but I like the facial detail very much. Keep at it, there's definitely talent here.

dryslwyn · Dec 20, 2007

Hi Paul- nice work- you have a very graphic feel to the drawing which works well. If I use pen I get the same sort of feel. For a change you could try with just the pencil usig light and heavy pressure to get the form of the bird. Now- is that bird sitting on the water or grass?

If it is the grass then you need to put in some spikey bits overlapping the body that stand for blades of grass. Do some more and enjoy it |=)|

Paul Collins · Dec 20, 2007

timwootton said:
Lovely technique with the pen, Paul. Very difficult medium, in my opinion. I think (maybe) the duck is sitting a little high in the water (this is probably due to you having to imagine the waterline), but I like the facial detail very much. Keep at it, there's definitely talent here.

Good observation. The original photo shows the bird sitting on the grass, and hence I did have to imagine the water line, which I drew a little too low. Perhaps I shall adjust that.

Paul Collins · Feb 11, 2008

I've finally got round to uploading another drawing. This is based on a photograph of two ptarmigans in winter plumage, from David Attenborough's book 'Life of Birds'. Unfortunately some of the detail has gone from the scan, so I might try to upload a better quality image.

I did it using biro (I will try pencil at some point), and created the darknes in the tail and bill using a ballpoint pen. The eyebrows are done with red pen.

nickderry · Feb 12, 2008

nice to see some more of your work Paul, I love the composition on these Ptarmigan, it's very chinese style in its simplicity and balance, lovely.

Paul Collins · Feb 13, 2008

I did this picture of a ptarmigan the other day, using my favourite medium, the black biro. It is based on a sighting that I had last year on Braeriach in the Cairn Gorms. I am considering doing a painting of it at some point. (after my AS exams, I plan to do a lot more painting, in the summer)

timwootton · Feb 13, 2008

That's a lively little drawing Paul - excellent.

nickderry · Feb 13, 2008

good strong clean lines, excellent! Something I should make an effort to achieve more. Certainly hope you'll get plenty done after the exams, but also remember, painting is an excellent way to take a break from revision.

cjoakley · Feb 14, 2008

I like your style Paul - welcome keep 'em coming...

Andrew Ellis · Feb 15, 2008

Welcome Paul. love the drawings and you should defo do that Ptarmigan
painting. Hope to see more

Paul Collins · Mar 20, 2008

Finally back to doing a bit of art work. I've just thought of a new technique when going through some slightly out-of-focus photographs of a female blackcap on the computer (forgive me if anyone else has done this): I pasted the image onto Microsoft Office Paint. Then, I used the "pick colour tool" (the one like a pipette) and held it over the cap of the blackcap. It gives the approximate colour of the cap, translated into a paint colour. I coloured in most of the cap in this colour, except for shadow areas (where I used the same technique). This is what I have done so far.

I'm thinking of just keeping the blackcap, the berries and the foreground like this. I don't really want to colour in the background, to add a different depth of field, and also to make it look as if I have done a painting with a photo background. What do you think?

Paul

(p.s. I've just made a photography blog - www.paulcollinsbirdphotography.blogspot.com)

Gull ink image (1 Viewer)

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