JTMB
Well-known member
Hi everyone,
Well, I got back yesterday from my 11-day adventure in central Oregon. 6 days were actually on the river, plus two 6-hour driving days to/from the area, and 3 days sketching and birding around the beautiful Metolius River. The float trip itself was on the Deschutes River, of which the Metolius is a major tributary. I filled up 18 pages (36 sides) of a 12 x 9 inch Stillman & Birn Delta series sketchbook on the trip, so I was busy...which also means a number of the sketches (especially the birds) were done pretty quickly. And my quick sketches are of course not in the league of a number of the folks here - but were great fun and very educational. First off, here are some posts of primarily Osprey. There are dozens of nests along the river. 'Our' nest - located only about a hundred yards from our campsite - has really gotten quite big over the years as the pair continues to return to the same site. This year, they fledged three young. I wasn't quite sure at first, but eventually saw all five birds in the (very crowded!) nest - with the youngsters identifiable by their orange eyes. (In the US, most hawks start with yellow eyes as juveniles and their eyes are orange as adults, but Ospreys are the opposite - starting orange and ending yellow). Anyway, the first image here was very fast sketches of an Eastern Kingbird that was flycatching by our first night campsite. The sketches are probably 30 seconds or less and are done with fountain pen. Then I did the same thing with the Osprey, trying to get various profiles. For these sketches, I had only binocs - I hadn't even unpacked the scope from the dry bag yet. In the second image, I used the scope and the lower right Osprey was done in a bit more time...pen first, then added watercolor later. The third image, with the page of Cliff Swallows, were also done quickly. The fourth image is of two other species I saw on the trip - Western Scrub-Jay and Green-tailed Towhee, the latter a species rarely seen in my home area and one I always look to find when in central Oregon. The 5th image (and the 6th, in the next post) used the scope and a bit more time. In the last image, in the first headshot sketch, when I added watercolor, I made the bill too 'hooked'.
Well, I got back yesterday from my 11-day adventure in central Oregon. 6 days were actually on the river, plus two 6-hour driving days to/from the area, and 3 days sketching and birding around the beautiful Metolius River. The float trip itself was on the Deschutes River, of which the Metolius is a major tributary. I filled up 18 pages (36 sides) of a 12 x 9 inch Stillman & Birn Delta series sketchbook on the trip, so I was busy...which also means a number of the sketches (especially the birds) were done pretty quickly. And my quick sketches are of course not in the league of a number of the folks here - but were great fun and very educational. First off, here are some posts of primarily Osprey. There are dozens of nests along the river. 'Our' nest - located only about a hundred yards from our campsite - has really gotten quite big over the years as the pair continues to return to the same site. This year, they fledged three young. I wasn't quite sure at first, but eventually saw all five birds in the (very crowded!) nest - with the youngsters identifiable by their orange eyes. (In the US, most hawks start with yellow eyes as juveniles and their eyes are orange as adults, but Ospreys are the opposite - starting orange and ending yellow). Anyway, the first image here was very fast sketches of an Eastern Kingbird that was flycatching by our first night campsite. The sketches are probably 30 seconds or less and are done with fountain pen. Then I did the same thing with the Osprey, trying to get various profiles. For these sketches, I had only binocs - I hadn't even unpacked the scope from the dry bag yet. In the second image, I used the scope and the lower right Osprey was done in a bit more time...pen first, then added watercolor later. The third image, with the page of Cliff Swallows, were also done quickly. The fourth image is of two other species I saw on the trip - Western Scrub-Jay and Green-tailed Towhee, the latter a species rarely seen in my home area and one I always look to find when in central Oregon. The 5th image (and the 6th, in the next post) used the scope and a bit more time. In the last image, in the first headshot sketch, when I added watercolor, I made the bill too 'hooked'.