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From 2006 sketchbook (2 Viewers)

Thank you very much, Tim, your comments have made my day! It's very much what I'd like to do, beyond dabbling!

timwootton said:
Hi VB - I've just visited your site - Ilike what you say and how you say it. I think, looking at your work there as a small collection, you have a real basis of skill and insight. You must get out and do it (If it's what you want to do!)
Good luck - put some more stuff up soon.
 
timwootton said:
More the merrier, I say Woody! Let's see if we can get a few more out of the woodwork, too. Why not start a thread along those lines???? I'll follow you in, Captain.
And thanks Alan - I must confess I'm always a little anxious when posting drawings of birds I'm only starting to get to know (artistically), and your avatar states your position re these birds. They make a beautiful shape when they flex the rump plumage as it also makes the tail point almost vertically downwards. A real change for divers/grebes in that they actually 'finish' - instead of blurring away, if you understand what I mean.

I wouldn't get too anxious Tim! Your sharp eye is reflected in the artwork and there for all to see...
Have taken a lot of photos of Black Throats this year, have posted a few here for your enjoyment. The plumage gives them remarkably good camoflauge at times, must be hard to see these birds from above as well as the side. Would not imagine they have many natural predators, as far as I know they have a long life span.

With regard to the more the merrier, I say great news. The art forum has a nice buzz about it at the moment and it would be nice if more people posted their work, regardless of status, right across the spectrum from beginners to full time professional artists.
 

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timwootton said:
You getting any time to draw, Woody? I'd like to see some more of your work sometime. Did you follow the post about the merlin (I think it was a gallery photo from the US - id as 'some kind of hawk') - I found the discussion really interesting. I didn't know they had such a huge range.
See any Marshys?
OK Tim, you've got me started now...
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=72551

Woody
 
Been cold and windy the past few days (yesterday never got light at all), the divers have been showing really well - close views, and this one in particular has an extraordinary amount of summer plumage remaining - just the hint of grey around the eyes stretching to under the chin. Lovely bird. The same cannot be said for the puffin, unfortunately, cute though it undoubtedly is. I saw the bird whilst trying to sketch GND (it was far too active in a very choppy sea for me to catch enough info to draw) and watched as it made a bee-line for me from open water (well it was actually coming to the pier, not me, but as I was standing on the pier - you know what I mean). It swam almost directly under where I was standing and worked its way towards the jetty where it finally hauled itself ashore to sit and doze. It's either extremely tired or on its last legs. I'll check the area tomorrow - but this bird also retains a lot of its nuptial plumage - the bill horn is hardly reduced at all and has a lot of colour (although its legs are decidedly yellowish).
 

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buzzard12 said:
I wouldn't get too anxious Tim! Your sharp eye is reflected in the artwork and there for all to see...
Have taken a lot of photos of Black Throats this year, have posted a few here for your enjoyment. The plumage gives them remarkably good camoflauge at times, must be hard to see these birds from above as well as the side. Would not imagine they have many natural predators, as far as I know they have a long life span.

With regard to the more the merrier, I say great news. The art forum has a nice buzz about it at the moment and it would be nice if more people posted their work, regardless of status, right across the spectrum from beginners to full time professional artists.

You sent me back out to the shed with that posting- this work-in-progress started life as larger diver but I decided rather late in the day that it looked more like a Black-throated. So I'm left with a bill that needs fining down a bit..unfortunately made out of steel rod.
 

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Wow Ed - this is fabulous. I think (sculpturally) you can easily title this r-t diver. As everyone discussed regarding the paint/not paint GND, it's about art - not identification models. This piece has all the liquid flowing lines I, personally, would look for in a r-t d. I'd be interested to hear Buzz's comments.
I really love it.
(Do you sent stuff to the SWLA? - if not, you ought to. Also - contact 'The Land Gallery'. Andrew and Debbie Tyzack - they know their stuff and I'm sure they would like yours!)
PS - I'll send you a prelim sheet for the diver studies next week.
Cheers, Tim.
 
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I think it is a fabulous piece of work Ed, really, really fabulous. Think it looks good for Black Throated due to the large feet, dont think you need to lose too much of the bill either, which Im sure you will be glad to hear seeing as it is steel!
Great to see these threads and interactions are inspiring people to go out to sheds and produce works as great as this Ed! Please keep us updated on this piece if you would,,,
 
As always Tim, extremely impressive set of field sketches...

I can see you getting more and more familiar with these birds.(the btd's) The preening bird with outstretched leg is outstanding. Love the head studies.

Puffin drawings are also really well executed. I miss seabirds a lot, not many here Im afraid. Never really have actually sat down and sketched Puffins, usually saw them zipping by on passage a mile or so out!!

(Making an effort to see an elusive Ural Owl tomorrow though north of Stockholm, so there are serious compensations!!)
 
buzzard12 said:
I think it is a fabulous piece of work Ed, really, really fabulous. Think it looks good for Black Throated due to the large feet, dont think you need to lose too much of the bill either, which Im sure you will be glad to hear seeing as it is steel!
Great to see these threads and interactions are inspiring people to go out to sheds and produce works as great as this Ed! Please keep us updated on this piece if you would,,,

This one has been gathering dust in the shed for a couple of years whilst I mused on where to take it next- but the above is a strong enough vote for me to blow the dust of it and paint it as a Black-throated. It's not a life-size this time (it measures about about 25cm) so I really ought to be able to crack on with it.
 
Divers have been a major area of interest for me recently (as regular readers - if there are any - will know). This black-throated is a studio colour sketch from a drawing posted earlier.
To start to wean myself off these sleek and elegant birds, redshanks pose a totally new and refreshing set of challenges.
 

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Redshanks are superb Tim. Love the top left bird...

The watercolour is stunning. Love the backlit diver and general tone of the water, its just so very well done...
 
Although I had intended to leave Great northern Divers alone for a while, whilst delivering a piece of design into Kirkwall, about 50 yards (sorry 40-odd metres) offshore was this superb bird. The bay was extremely calm and the opportunity to make some studies was too good to miss. The bird was making regular dives, but not making much lateral movement, so re-focusing wasn't the bind it can be when seawatching (still lost it several times, though!). The bird slowed its activity after catching the dab, and this allowed more detailed study for several minutes. The bird was joined by a whole flottilla of diving stuff - long-tailed ducks, slavonian grebes, shags (of course) and eider. There must have been quite a larder underwater.
 

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excellent divers, and I love the redshanks, I suppose I'll have to get out and do some sketching this weekend.
 
Two cracking pages of fieldwork!! Really great stuff there Tim. Thought by now you would be all divered out, so to speak! Mind you, such oppurtunities should not be passed up, not when the results are something like these...

No Ural Owl today on my side, walked way far too! Eternally optimistically have taken a day off tomorrow to give it another go, it will be my third day out of the last five trying to connect with this horribly mobile beast! Have you noticed when you are hunting down a good bird like that you never stop to sketch anything else! Gotta get this one out of my system!
 
Tim, I missed this thread earlier, don't know how. I really like the spontaneaity of your work, it is so fresh and immediate. You are obviously very at home in your environment and it shows. I'd love to see your paintings in reality sometime. |=)|
 
Hi Joanne - thank you. If you're ever in Orkney I have a gallery here. I'm also hoping to exhibit at the Birdfair (if not this year then certainly next) - I suppose this would be 'closer to home' for you. Also my website has a few finished pieces on it:
www.tim-wootton.com
Thanks for your support.
 
Superb stuff, as ever, Tim. I'll try to get to the Bird Fair in 2007 if I can get the time off and see your work in the flesh.
We have got Great Northern Divers in the Solent at the moment, I went looking for them after work this afternoon, but came up with 'just' four Great Crested Grebes and three Red-breasted Mergansers!
 
Hello VB - 'just grebes and mergs' sounds okay to me - did you get time to sketch? Feel free to post here if you don't want to start a new thread (although I think you ought). Just been back on your blog - very, very good. Particularly like the 'sketching the birds' text and drawings - get some done this weekend (maybe lunch hour if you're working? - don't forget - sparrows are birds, too) and let's have a look, eh?
 
Hence 'just' being in quotation marks, Tim. I think they're great birds and the mergs, in particular, made my day being a year tick. I didn't do any sketching as it was pretty freezing by the Solent and I didn't have any gloves with me. Besides, I'd come straight from work and apart from optical aid, I was unprepared (tsk tsk).
I'm off on Sunday and Monday so I'm hoping to get some sketching in then. I've also got a week's holiday coming up immediately prior to Crimbo and am hoping to get quite a bit done then.
 
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