First in a long time (2 Viewers)

[solitaryVSong]

Very nice. He looks like he's looking very intently at something just outside the picture frame.

 

[colonelboris]

Very nice. He looks like he's looking very intently at something just outside the picture frame.

There was a female in the shot, but I didn't get round to drawing her in.

Here's another one:

 

[nickderry]

nice! great depth in there.

 

[colleenc]

you got a lot of depth in the eye, looks like I can see right into it.

 

[Woody]

Good to see you back with the drawing, it's certainly been a while, but what great birds to return with.

Mike

 

[colonelboris]

Thanks!

I've got a couple of days off, so might get round to doing a few more. In the meantime, have a different type of flying thingy.
Based on a photo by kind permission Mike Freer of Touchdown Aviation (original here at Airliners.net).

 

[colonelboris]

For the first time in months, I've been able to sit down with the pencils for a bit. I've had a four-day stint at a synchrotron with not much else to do...
As you can see from the Long-tailed Tit, I'm a bit rusty, but I'm getting my eye back in.
Cheers,

Tony

 

[Lykos]

love all your paintings :t:

friendly greetings Gaby

 

[solitaryVSong]

For the first time in months, I've been able to sit down with the pencils for a bit. I've had a four-day stint at a synchrotron with not much else to do...
As you can see from the Long-tailed Tit, I'm a bit rusty, but I'm getting my eye back in.
Cheers,

Tony

Alll very nice, but I particularly like the middle one Tony. And 'sychrotron' got the better of my curiosity so I went and looked it up. Happy you had the time to do these.

 

[phil baber]

Tony,

Very nice. And no BFC to be seen!

Keep posting the delights!

 

[colonelboris]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!
Just another quick sketch - this time a Passenger Pigeon. Over at Opus, they're short of pictures for a lot of the extinct species:
http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Extinct
Normally, I work from a single photo, but in this case to make sure I'd got the features right, I used half-a-dozen photos (of stuffed birds) and paintings.

Cheers,

Tony

 

[colonelboris]

Another sadly extinct species: the Labrador Duck. No matter what I did with pencil, the tests for the background lookd rubbish, so I scraped chalk pastel onto the paper and smudged it in with a brush.

 

[solitaryVSong]

I like both the new ones Tony. And truth be told it's the first time I've really looked at a Labrador Duck, I guess because the extinct ones don't show up in the field guides. It reminds me that I should pay more attention to them.

 

[nickderry]

nice work - always sad to see extinct species, I always feel somehow robbed of the opportunity to enjoy them in the flesh.

 

[colonelboris]

I've been very poor at keeping up with BF of late - too much work and too many job applications - but I have on very rare occasions managed a bit of drawing. I even had a go at painting, but gave it up as I just couldn't achieve the fine strokes I used to. It was that point I realised I'd been painting on the rough side of the canvas sheet...
Anyhoo, there's a small chance I might get to do some illustrations for a series of magazine articles, of which this Blue-billed Duck would be the first. There's also a Nankeen Kestrel and my first-ever go at a portrait.
I'll try to get round everyone's threads in a while as it'd be nice to catch up with what everyone's doing.
Cheers,

Tony

 

[Lykos]

great drawings Tony

 

[solitaryVSong]

Very nice Tony. That first duck has a real sense of weight, like he's actually displacing volume in the water.

 

[nickderry]

great to see some new stuff from you - these are really good, and the portrait shows somebody being really happy - the last time I tried portraits I got a slap!

 

[colonelboris]

the last time I tried portraits I got a slap!

It was the bit where you asked them to take their clothes off, wasn't it?

As it's a rainy Sunday and the kids are too ill to demand a day trip, I'll see if I can get something done today. Might even try for two drawings - either that or do my tax return...

 

[resparza]

Great stuff! I like the blue-billed duck in particular. I lived down under for five years but I missed out on that species (and hundreds of others for that matter). I hope you'll keep posting lots of Aussie birds. Cheers!B