• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent sketches (1 Viewer)

Many thanks for the 'technical advice' guys.
Sketches of juv. Grey Herons at one of my patches. Autumn offfers the best viewing, as water levels are inevitably really low and they spend the first few of hours after dawn just loafing around, which makes 'em very inviting to draw when time's rather limited. I used to really over-work these (an eternal problem) or really struggle with head/bill profile, even with relatively inactive birds. I've put these on as another 'bench mark' for myself and hopefully others who are striving to improve. I'll revisit this species again in a few months or so.

Cheers

Russ
 

Attachments

  • 11 September 2010 1.jpg
    11 September 2010 1.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 37
  • 11 September 2010 2.jpg
    11 September 2010 2.jpg
    65.5 KB · Views: 43
  • 11 September 2010 3.jpg
    11 September 2010 3.jpg
    76.5 KB · Views: 43
  • 11 September 2010 4.jpg
    11 September 2010 4.jpg
    90.6 KB · Views: 34
Herons are a surprisingly tough bird to sketch aren't they! In Hyde park there are some remarkably tolerant birds that will stay put even if you are within a couple of yards of them, you are inspiring me to get down there witha sketchpad!

Mike
 
Very lively Russ! They have that quality of being very well observed, something I think Phil has been saying from the very beginning about your sketches. As Mike says they do make you want to get out and sketch some herons.
 
some brilliant work with some brilliant birds, the young heron is particularly good and the greenshanks are just making me green with envy that I've seen just one distant one all autumn - you've captured the elegance of them to a tee.
 
Thanks guys.
Greenshank is a good bird on my patch, so I make no excuses for posting lots sketches of 'em. Resting bird and then one of dozens I made trying to catch the bird in mid-probe. Because of the very loose style I have to adopt with moving birds this is almost A4 size. I find the neck bulge and the angle of the head in relation to the body, not to mention the legs, all absolute pigs sketch right, but I don't think this one does capture something of the bird's character.

Pie waggy on barbed wire, juv Whinchat on the quintessential stone wall and snoozing BHG - an ever available bird and pose!

Cheers
 

Attachments

  • 19 September 2010 1.jpg
    19 September 2010 1.jpg
    91.9 KB · Views: 43
  • 19 September 2010 (2).jpg
    19 September 2010 (2).jpg
    73.9 KB · Views: 43
  • 19 September 2010 (3).jpg
    19 September 2010 (3).jpg
    73.8 KB · Views: 35
  • 19 September 2010 (4).jpg
    19 September 2010 (4).jpg
    90.2 KB · Views: 43
  • 19 September 2010 (5).jpg
    19 September 2010 (5).jpg
    77.8 KB · Views: 38
no excuses needed for greenshanks, never tire of them, and I could never tire of the rest either - more wonderful genuine sketching.
 
Great sketches! Any species is a good species in my book - plus here in the states we love seeing the 'everyday' birds on your side of the pond.
 
Cheers, guys.
A selection of sketches from a recent spell up at my local reservoirs. Like Lars' work they're big and bold and, er, well that's about it, really. I'm certainly envious of you guys who can nail four or five poses on one sheet! Like I've said before, I hope there's never a fall in the demand for sketchbooks!
It the only way I can really work but I'm trying to be more subtle with the pencil and use weight of line and more shading to show some form; there's a long way to go!
Bhg (plus aborted attempt), preening Greenshank, Cormorant in the difficult 'face-on' posture and a noisy honker. Give this to Lars, let him wax lyrical about the face pattern and let him loose with the watercolours and it could sell for hundreds!
 

Attachments

  • 26 September 2010 1.jpg
    26 September 2010 1.jpg
    107 KB · Views: 41
  • 26 September 2010 (2).jpg
    26 September 2010 (2).jpg
    71.9 KB · Views: 46
  • 26 September 2010 (3).jpg
    26 September 2010 (3).jpg
    111.2 KB · Views: 40
  • 26 September 2010 (4).jpg
    26 September 2010 (4).jpg
    76.8 KB · Views: 37
A few more.
Attempts at wheatears: oh, what lovely eyes and rotund bodies they have. The fact they pose for more than a nano-second also appeals. Looking at these now, they still look a bit 'flat' , but it's a good job I don't believe it when I read that 'learning to draw is just like learning to ride a bicycle' - I wish!
Ruff's a spectacularly scarce bird in my neck o' the woods, so I went out of my way to sketch this juv. I've tried to depict it wading through belly-deep water. I'm now beginning to understand that complex plumage patterns need to be suggested - please tell me I'm right, guys!

Cheers

Russ
 

Attachments

  • 26 September 2010 (5).jpg
    26 September 2010 (5).jpg
    103.1 KB · Views: 45
  • 26 September 2010 (6).jpg
    26 September 2010 (6).jpg
    87.6 KB · Views: 39
  • 26 September 2010 (7).jpg
    26 September 2010 (7).jpg
    79.7 KB · Views: 43
  • 26 September 2010 (8).jpg
    26 September 2010 (8).jpg
    64.7 KB · Views: 45
delightful set Russ. I love the honker, and you inspire me to try bigger, hope you get inspired to try color, how about just ONE color to start a pale watercolor brown brushed over the sketch?;)
 
Cheers guys,
First a quickie:could you tell me how I go about putting a pic or 'motif' (as lars calls 'em) by my name rather than the flag?

Back to the sketches. Finding it difficult not to mess around with things, I went over these with a cheapo bic pen (as used to great effect by Alan Dalton), mainly to give a smudge free line, but also to see how they may look in a different, more illustrative line style. This is a road I want to go down, and I'll be hopefully posting more efforts like this, so loads of critique, please! Couple of juv Shelducks, done during the millisecond they actually stuck there head out of the water!
Greenshank efforts, one preening, which is a classic case of over-doing things. The big question is: can you honestly tell it's a preening greenshank, rather than a headless one?!
Another rapid one of a bird patrolling the bank and another preener.

Cheers

Russ

Ps Are juv Shelducks strangely 'cute' or is it me?
 

Attachments

  • 03 October 2010 1.jpg
    03 October 2010 1.jpg
    77.1 KB · Views: 44
  • 03 October 2010 (2).jpg
    03 October 2010 (2).jpg
    117.1 KB · Views: 41
  • 03 October 2010 (3).jpg
    03 October 2010 (3).jpg
    89.7 KB · Views: 38
  • 03 October 2010 (4).jpg
    03 October 2010 (4).jpg
    51.2 KB · Views: 48
  • 03 October 2010 (5).jpg
    03 October 2010 (5).jpg
    61.9 KB · Views: 39
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top