Just go for it Matt!
Just my penny's worth, others will have different advice: Try experimenting with loose drawings and messing around with splashes of colour - ie. quick cartoons etc. Perhaps using charcoal and chalk, or pencil and watercolour. Maybe try experimenting on flowers too. (Do guys paint flowers? Van Gogh did, and very well - looking at some of the post-impressionists might give you some ideas about light and colour use) I wouldn't worry too much about technical correctness at the moment - think one of the problems I found, (still find!) especially with trying to start on birds, was I was looking at plumage detail and missing the all important 'form' - ie. Shape and colour Jizz - the danger being one can end up with a totally lifeless flat diagram of a bird with all its feathers in perfect alignment! You have powers of observation as a birdwatcher already and will have a trained eye, so you are halfway there.
The other thing: and this is the hard one - try not to worry what anyone thinks. I kept my drawings hidden away for years after leaving Art College, too embarrased to let anyone see them - in fact I deleted several paintings from the Forum Gallery for that very reason! Now, I'm beginning to have more confidence, as such that breeds the desire to keep going - Going to Scotland and being inspired by the landscape and birds there has been an enormous help (as was actually having the time to do some sketching as well as birding). What is even more of a help, has been the encouraging remarks from people like yourself - it's amazed me that people have actually enjoyed some of the stuff - guess point is, we can be overly self-critical sometimes, to the point of not doing any drawing at all!
As for drawing, painting, photography, music, dance etc etc (as with birdwatching of course), its PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE - every human being is 'artistic' by nature, but not everyone has the patience to master their chosen media of expression which can be a lifetime's work.
If we were 'born artists' we'd be painting like Leonardo de Vinci, the moment we could crawl - he trained for years and so did all the greats. So, no Matt, I don't believe it's a question of you've either got it or you haven't - it's a question of using what's inside all of us, a creative being, and learning, through prolonged practice of observation, getting used to the equipment you are using, then playing around to bend the rules to suit your own taste when you've learnt some basic techniques.
(sorry for the long post, but you've given me so much encouragement with my work, I wanted to offer some back)
Ps. In response you your previous query, I'm not particularly inspired by Japenese art, however, changing light and colour in nature does inspire me and I find water colour, a fairly new medium for me, is actually one of the most enjoyable ways I find of expressing that inspiration.
Another PS! I'm not particularly bothered about 'owning' anything I post on the Internet - if people want to download sketches and paintings for themselves, that's fine by me - I don't sell my work, never will - I only ever give them away. If they want to download them and sell them off as their own, so be it - the One who gave me the inspiration to paint will get you in the end :'D
