Cheers, guys.
They say education is everything in life, and trying to sketch whoopers was certainly an education! I'd been waiting what seems an eternity to try and capture these superb beasts. When four (2 ads, 2 imms) dropped in at Calder wetlands one afternoon I thought these would be a tad, ahem, easy - big, ponderous movements, simple shapes, doing nowt in general except loafing on the water! Not so! At the time I thought these only passingly resembled the real bird and I found them a real challenge - (felt a bit like the England rugby team after being stuffed by the Irish for some strange reason!) but on a second viewing a few capture something of the grace and beauty.
A mate of mine who also endeavours to draw birds in the field, (and probably has more talent in his little finger than I do but isn't to keen on spending hours stuck in one place trying to draw) spoke recently of the difficulty of capturing the head and bill shape of these and how it all falls apart if everything's not in place - too darn right!
I think, at the end of the day, it's the unfamiliarity of the species, that or they're just bxxxxrs to draw!
Notebook page of whoopers from my patch in March 07 (no room for swans anymore due to canoing, anglers and muts!) and recent efforts from Calder Wetlands. I cheated a bit with the last face-on sketch, as it was added to from a similar pose earlier. If you can't do it with these beautys then what can you do it with?
