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

Recent sketches (1 Viewer)

Great BNG, Phil. If time would have allowed I'd have gladly spent a few more hours in the company of this fine bird. Next time....

Green Sand sketches from my patch, which has had up to three of these portly waders. Watching intensely, I was really struck by how nice and rotund their bodies are (where I come from they could have been described a little differently!)

The preening bird carries the notes: keep it simple, don't over-do it - or something like that. The third and fourth sketches are attempts to catch the moving bird. I think the fouth has a fair bit of life in it - but, to me, the head and body don't 'sit' right.

A page of swallow sketches. Birds perched on wires calling, feeding young and preening. This is the style I'm tyring to adopt -loose, lots of volume, and ultimately, I hope - life.

Feedback on the head/body placement on the green sand would be most appreciated guys.

Cheers

Russ
 

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Ow!

Is all I can say!

Am so much in love with your sketches. Am gonna have to get a divorce fom my pencil...

So...so...nice Russ!

Perfect studied captures, full of love for subject!

And confirming also that Green Sands always, do seem to have taken too much "hydrogenated fat" on board.

Brilliant stuff!
 
instantly recogniseable green sands - I really should get out and find one or two before they've all gone this year!
 
Cheers, guys.
My last attempts for a while to catch the DFT or 'Definitve Preening Tuftie', as my patch has become much more 'birdy' recently, which I think is summat to do wi migration, and more engaging species have ben taking precedence. Nowt wrong wi the tufties, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
This time last year I almost packed these in as a bad job, and although these recent attempts won't get Sir Peter Scott casting an apraising eye over from the heavens above Slimbridge, they are a fair step forward for me. Still over-worked at least the heads, necks and bodies seem to belong to the same bird!

My latest inspiration has come from the pages of Martin Woodcock's 'A Safari Sketchbook' (not that there's any Tufted Ducks in it) but oh, what joy. Loads of rapidly executed African fare - Bee eaters, chats, akalats, kingfishers and weavers. There are also several species that would struggle to get my pulse racing but, to me, the envy comes from how they jump out of the page. Just simple lines, shading and a splash of watercolour - magnificent. I recommend it heartily - especially to one or two on the forum!

Russ
 

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some energetic work here - and beautifully done. If I were to offer any advice in your quest for the definitive tufite preening sketch (which is obviously going to come your way sooner rather than later), I'd check where the beak joins the head, in many angles you see the head come vertically down and the beak seems almost an afterthought of nature with virtually no visible join, but in some of the angles you've captured here, I'd think you'd see that subtle Mona Lisa Tuftie smile - but then it's been so long since I've seena tuftie close to and awake, I'd go with what you see in the field.
 
Brilliance!

From the ultimate "Preening Voyeur!"

Very special observational recordings Russ!

The World is THIRSTY for MORE!
 
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Hi Russ,

New member here, and I really enjoyed going through this thread and seeing your very well executed sketches and drawings. I'll check back regularly to keep up with your work!
 
What I love about your approach is that you seem to be utterly fearless and you tackle awkward and tricky poses with the same vigour as the easier ones. More power to your elbow is what I say!

Mike
 
Just love the sketches Russ.
You would have got more advice from Mr Gilmore about laying Lino as he can cut it rather well.
He actually lives in the house I grew up in on Cley Hill.(bit of trivia)
 
What I love about your approach is that you seem to be utterly fearless and you tackle awkward and tricky poses with the same vigour as the easier ones. More power to your elbow is what I say!

Mike

Have to agree with Mike. It's great to stay you sticking with poses, difficult though they may be.
 
Thanks for the encouarging words Nick, Mike, Arth, Ken and Phil. Also, welcome to BF JTMB - I need to check your stuff out, mate.

You're right about the tuftie bill too, Nick. I think Ennion did say something along the lines that 'looking' is not something to be done half-arsed, or somethiong along that line!

Jonsson called part of his Gotland trilogy 'En dag i maj' (one day in May) so here's part one of my take on a rather productive day in August: 'Won day oop at resers in Oregust'

Three greenshank studies. I hope you like greenshanks as I've scrawled on many a page in the last few weeks trying to capture this bird. Resting and snoozing - not very difficult; feeding and probing around - oh dear! I try to get the whole shape down in seconds without ending up with a mounted specimen with stuck-on wire legs!
Ringed Plover looking a bit, er, constipated or trying to part with something! I did have my 'eye in' at the time so perhaps it really was in need of a dose of exlax!

Cheers
 

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Sketches - big ones, too - of male Common Scoter. What a stonker! Simply the best views of one I've ever had. Upland reservoirs do occasionally pull in these fine birds and this one was swimming around like one of the local mallards.
I'll now get technical and ak if one wanted to produce a line drawing of this, would it be possible to block in the 'blackest' areas with hatching, or is something 'wet' always better with concolourous birds? The bill 'knob' was the yolkiest yellow I've seen in a long while, but not quite like Yellow-rumped fly or citrine wag!

Cheers

Russ
 

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I particularly like the Greenshanks Russ. It seems like you're getting more comfortable with the way that you add tone and texture as well as background. So the entire drawing is looking much more like a finished piece now, rather than a very well drawn outline with feathers and background being not quite as important. That seems to have changed and everything I think is fitting together really well. Time to congratulate yourself!

I also like the scoters though I'm not sure of your technical question so won't try to undertand it. You made great use of your opportunity here!
 
I also like the scoters though I'm not sure of your technical question so won't try to undertand it. You made great use of your opportunity here!

On your question- I reckon for a beast like a drake scoter in his pomp.. some truly black zones are the way to go- more Ennion than Tunnicliffe in approach

fine cross hatching- to me at least - tends to imply a softer, tinted dark
 
I missed these!

Crikey! You are a sketcher's sketcher! I adore every single one of these!
You are such a fine talent Russ! Pure, honest, and remarkable every time...

As to the Scoter question?

Male CS is a conundrum. They seem not to reflect back light at all. I recently tried to paint one from old sketches and could come up with nothing but solid black. I was disappointed with this. But realised that that is how they really are. No light escapes them! Except on the bill! And a rakish glint in the eye!

Ed's advice is a great way to build up form and contours. But you must solve this yourself. It is cutting-edge Scoter Art Science we have here. Experiment!

Cannot like all these enough!
 
fab Russ, my advice....use a nice soft graphite pencils 4b and start building up tone or cross hatch with that until it's nearly filled in.
 
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