Seemingly the bird of the moment.. (4 Viewers)

Ooh I love plates. I love your plates! And the sketches - plates and sketches are my favorite art. Fantastic. Will you/your work be at Birdfair? I think I'm going this year... I think.

Awesome Adam.

But a major criticism?

They are too good!

Wow! I'll echo what everyone else said...as I'm picking my jaw up off the floor! Fantastic.

Thanks for the compliments guys
Here's a couple more plates, tits for Central Asia and a full plate for the Indian Sub book. Keeping the wolf from the door but leaves little time for anything else. Nearly time to think about SWLA submissions but not sure if I can be bothered this year...see how it goes...



Russ, as far as the sketching goes it really depends where I am or how much time I have. At home I often like to sit around and draw but if I'm abroad on a tight birding schedule then usually I just haven't got time to sit and draw a bird for an hour - as much as I'd like to - so if I video it for say 10mins, that will give me enough reference for as many sketches as I'd ever need, and thus I can still bird from dawn 'til dusk and not miss anything either! Video enhances the whole thing for me as on a crappy day back here I can bring up the film from a far distant land and sketch away, totally lost in it again as all the noises and sounds are still present and just as evocative. Some may say it's not pure sketching but I've just moved with the times. I don't have the luxury (or time) to spend hours in the field when on a birding holiday so this way I can do both!
I once had a conversation with Ian Lewington about this and he was in complete agreement...it takes a bit of pressure off almost and gives you time to enjoy everything more. It happened to me years before in Majorca (before vidcam birding) when I was sat sketching Balearic Warblers and the people I was birding with got bored and wandered off and flushed out a Corncrake....it would've been a lifer then - gutted!
I do touch up sketches if they're particularly loose as these type of sketches are of no use to me - if I do a loose drawing and don't tart it up whilst it's still fresh in my mind then if I look back at it a year or two later it will mean nothing to me and I'll end up having to make it up anyway with no recent reference in my head. I guess I'm just too fastidious for my own good, I paint realistically and sometimes I wish I could loosen up and splash it down like Nick, but it just ain't me!

Very nice Adam.

love the little tits....and what kind of camera do you vid with?

I particularly like the tits Adam. They almost jump off the page.

And I know what you mean about 'it just ain't me.' Every time I veer toward a tighter , more realistic style than my usual one I feel my skin start crawling, like I'm doing something horribly, horribly wrong, being completely untrue to myself, etc., etc. I'm not sure if it's at all true, but the queasy feeling sure is.

At the moment I use a Panasonic HDC TM300 that I can fit onto the scope too...or use a 2x converter on it for handheld stuff.
And Ken, agree it's about being true to yourself. I'm a realistic painter, the realer (is that a word??) the better....which is why I think me and the SWLA don't always agree!! I can't do a sqiggly drawing that captures the 'spirit and movement' of the bird as it means nothing to me. I know birds, I know how they work, which bits go here and which bits go there so I can quite confidently fill in an outline if i have to but having a permanent reference to hand is invaluable as it means I can go back and re-live it whenever i need to.

birdboybowley said:

Here's the completed plate 102 for Birds of Central Asia....and sketches of the best-looking ssp of LG Bee-eater out there - cyanophrys. Really brightened up any day we saw them in Israel....

View attachment 325086View attachment 325087

And, shock-horror, the Birds of Melanesia is almost done - just spent two days putting the tags onto the book plates which was a nightmare as I don't have Acrobat Writer so what should have been simple texting with that became a bit if a mission using Word. Oh well, at least they know which bird's which now!!

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Bee-eaters are just stunning.

Lovely work as usual Adam - and a very well thought out assessment of where you are and what you do. Insights such as this help us to understand what makes the Artist as an individual tick. Excellent.

Hi Adam,
Many thanks for a very educating insight into how the pro works. I know what you mean about fellow birders getting bored! I do keep meaning to take off somewhere exotic and just spend day after day sketching. It can be done of course, but look at what you'll miss! Ideally, you'd spend a morning sketching followed by serious birding in the afternoon/evening, or vice versa, but then I know how hardcore birders operate so your better of on your lonesome, I think!

More excellent illustration work, by the way.

Russ

Fantastic work. I love seeing them all on the same page. That shows off your great control and observation even more!

Hey Adam!
Indeed the tits are so sweet. I've got loads of them in the garden, but none of them look as beautiful as yours O

Ulrike

There's no other way to say this; Great tits Adam!

Mike

Woody said:

There's no other way to say this; Great tits Adam!

Mike

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Cheers Mike And thanks Russ, Matty and Ulrike too

RussB said:

Hi Adam,
Many thanks for a very educating insight into how the pro works. I know what you mean about fellow birders getting bored! I do keep meaning to take off somewhere exotic and just spend day after day sketching. It can be done of course, but look at what you'll miss! Ideally, you'd spend a morning sketching followed by serious birding in the afternoon/evening, or vice versa, but then I know how hardcore birders operate so your better of on your lonesome, I think!

More excellent illustration work, by the way.

Russ

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Yeah it's so difficult to balance it. When I travelled around the world a few years back I found myself up against the clock even then! At the end of the day I'm an obsessive birder first - missing birds on a trip kills me!! The trip I did to Uganda would never have allowed for sketching in any form whatsoever but sketching by video in the evening presented no probs at all so it's a win-win situation!

Was digging around in the cupboard (or is it a closet...watch far too much American tv, pants, fannies etc...) and found a couple of A1 folders containing my old college stuff from 90/91....ha, gave me a good laugh anyways and found one of my actual A-level pieces inside too. I still like this one, although my tutor was a bit unsure at the time..... I remember we had 10hrs to do a finished piece and I'd started by doing something completely different on motorbikes (my other love!) but halfway through decided it just wasn't working, so jumped on my bike, sped home, grabbed some elephant references, came back, ripped up the original stuff (much to everyone's consternation!) and pulled this out of the hat.....good times!



(Always loved comic artwork - if I could draw people better that's probably the route I'd've taken)

That works really well Birdyboy...have you any more comic book style stuff lurking in your closet...?

ps...i have many original Marvel comics...i could never part with them...the artwork is stunning...!

All the best....:t:

undeniable and powerful statement...the tutor must have recognized that,

Stunning as always Adam! Loved the "precocious" Graphic Novel Elephant Statement!