Morroco Sketches (1 Viewer)

RussB · Apr 3, 2010

Jeez, it seems aeons since I last visited the site. Some really mouth-watering work has been posted too. Just back from 10 days blistering birding in Morroco where most of the birds were wonderfully obliging. The dilemma with foreign trips is that there's always something else to look at, so once again it was a case of whiiping out the sketch book when the opportunity arose.
Cream-coloured coursers are irresistible with that great shape and purposeful movement - I could have sketched these all week!

Russ

RussB · Apr 3, 2010

Talking of irresistible birds, Caspian Terns are the biz! I got pogged down for half an hour at the Oued Sous National Park to try to immortalise one of these three. The light was very harsh due to the blue sky, bright sunlight and shimmer. Jonsson would have been in his element here, what with all the that shadow! Four attempts to get the jizz something like and it does remind me of something from ' Bird Island'

RussB · Apr 3, 2010

Oh xxxx! the light was playing tricks but surely not to that extent!
Great Grey Shrikes were a familiar site, and they alone warrant a sketching trip here. In his book Bird Impressions, Darren Rees says 'shrikes are the most perfectly proportioned of birds' or something like that. I have to agree, plus they also pose so much!
'elegans' form of Great Grey somewhere in the desert and a Woodchat sketched at Cape Rhir.

RussB · Apr 3, 2010

Oops, here's the Woodchat.

More to come.
Cheers

Russ

Woody · Apr 3, 2010

Well I hope there's loads more from this recent trip. Excellent work from a country that I'll probably never visit. Will you be working any of these up into full blown paintings?

I'll bet the Australian Caspian tern came as a bit of a shock!

Mike

nickderry · Apr 3, 2010

some very fine work here, the casp is a solid creature, beautifully done - really must get to see one of these delightful things soon. The coursers are as you say, irresistible, remember coming across a little group in the Canaries, they only stayed a minute before disappearing leaving me wanting more. Superb stuff all round.

solitaryVSong · Apr 3, 2010

Enjoyable to look at Russ. I've never seen a Great Gray Shrike but it's interesting to contemplate a perfectly proportioned bird: these are appealing and I can sort of see the idea of perfect proportion here.......

colleenc · Apr 3, 2010

It's interesting to me how you sketch with lots of crosshatching, which stands for the values well, and how much you give to the eye, it's placement and detail inc the catchlight, that make the sketch however brief come alive.

phil baber · Apr 5, 2010

Russ,

Welcome back!

I love this stuff!

The Caspians are smart. (Only seen 2 in Poland..but captures their essence. Fantastic!)

The rest?

A bit jealous!

CCC?!!!!

Take your time...keep on posting!

Glad you had good times!

phil

RussB · Apr 5, 2010

Hi again,
Thanks for the comments. Woody, I'd love to be able to work some of these, the casp in particular, into paintings....if only I knew how to! I've seriously thought of trying to get some kind of formal training under my belt for some time but it's just taking the plunge. Basically I just draw for the pleasure, but I'm sure I'll want to take it further very soon. Colleen, I picked up the cross-hatching technique in preperation for starting pen illustration, which I've not yet really tried my hand at! What I need is more of Phil's approach plus a week's sketching/pianting with a seasoned artist - anybody got any time free this summer?
Anyway, preening Ruddy Shelduck drawn almost without taking my eye of the ball (not sure how I managed this one!).
They say chasing rainbows is a waste of time, especially with just an HB pencil, but these Bee-eaters were so obliging they had to be nailed.

Glad people are enjoying these, more on their way.

Cheers

ARTHUR BISHOP · Apr 5, 2010

lovely sketches Russ. I love your style and the more you do the more it will develope.

phil baber · Apr 6, 2010

Russ,

Love the RS's and Bee-eaters.

Maybe you're setting parameters that shouldn't exist? Constraints perhaps?

IMO your joy should flow in your love of what you do? IMO it is already beginning to happen? Your subjects are free to do what they want, and so are you!

We discussed already doing colour experiments on photocopies?

I still thinh this is the best thing for you.

Get some cheap colours of various media. Maybe start off with water-colour pencil, with spit and finger to blend. Try soaking the "disposables" with a wash of water, then adding water-colour.

Experiment in private. A few drinks to loosen you up, and release your inhibitions?

My advice is to overlay your apparent need for preciseness with the freedom that colour will bring you.

Yes, the form/structure of a bird has to be put down. But then the colour can make it live.

Break down the walls, and let the colour rush in!

Try the photocopy tests!

Then post.

Try it on the Morroccan subjects. It'll bring back the memories and sunshine!

Whatever colour media you use.

And REMEMBER!

Only if it feels RIGHT to you!

If ever you're down this way, I'd be happy to show you a few tips on use of colour...

RussB · Apr 6, 2010

Hi Phil,
I need a collective kick up the backside by the sounds of things! Seriously I feel I need to learn wet media in monotone first. I've got some black water soluble pencils Derwent Graphitone (they look nice in my pencil case, you know) and if yourself or anyone else has used these I'd love to see some examples. I want to try 'em out in the field but I'm not sure if they'll work on normal 180 GSM paper without me having to stretch it first, which means a lot of mucking about. I don't really like watercolour paper as I rely on speed (not amphetamine, mind) when sketching and I feel this would hinder my technique. The Partners sketchbook I use actually says its suitable for watercolour so I'll give 'em a try this weekend. Watercolour pencils sound the next step. Thanks for the offer of a lesson - I might just take you up on this.
Anyway, Crowned Sandgrouse sketched out in the 'dune sea' not far off Los-Iz-lee space station - c'mon you star wars fans what's it's proper name? I could have ben transported to another world if I'd had a lot more time with these.

More to come

Cheers, Russ

nickderry · Apr 6, 2010

seriously, you just need to remember that you can stick any media on any sort of paper and it'll be fine - I know it may be daunting to experiment as it may turn into a big mess, but if it does, you just carry on until it stops being a mess, or just go with the flow, you really should let go of your own reins and say "f*** it, I'm going to do it!"

Seriously - you have talent, you don't need lessons, tuition, starting off in the shallow end or any of that, you just need to dive in and find your way, because then it will be your way, and not somebody else's idea of how you should make art.

RussB · Apr 6, 2010

If Great-black headed gull is 'The king of gulls' then surely Audouin's is the dashing prince. Morrocan folk kneel to the East but when I was here I was generally looking west towards the mighty Atlantic, paying homage to these superb birds. Sat on the shingle at Tamri (Bald Ibis safely under the belt but not a patch on these, I'm afraid) with the roar of the surf and the evening sun low in the sky, watching these I was totally in my element, and could have sat here all month. In the short time sketching I noticed the unique jizz of the bill, eye and head shape, and how hard it was to capture it. Give me a week here I might have got it cracked!

Hope your not all bored yet!

Russ

RussB · Apr 6, 2010

Thanks for these words Nick - I really have no excuses.

Cheers

nickderry · Apr 6, 2010

great Audouin's, the last one is drenched in sunlight and is gorgeous. They really do have something unique about them, they sort of remind me of a horse with a long muzzle. I've only spent about ten minutes with the species, and quite distant at that, certainly not enough time to get to grips with such a charismatic species.

phil baber · Apr 7, 2010

Hey! I'm getting gripped off all over the place here!!! :eek!: :-C

Fantastic sketches! But, more's to the point, a personal etching into the Universe of your love and involvement with these sublime experiences. That makes them precious beyond belief!

Photos are great. But to have an experience like this channelled through a human life is beyond compare.

It is not any finished artworks of mine that I revere, it is the field sketch. The capture of the essence of a moment in life when you were at one with something that affected your being. They are precious, because they are truth, without embellishment.

This is why I like your stuff. It's honest recording of your own love of what you see, and that is commendable. It is also reassuring that you are out there, keeping this alive. At the nub end of Nature. Drawing it in and translating it back to us through your work.

Nick is right! It is up to you how you proceed! Feel your own way, and be yourself to the hilt!

Sometimes though, it is good to see how somebody else does something. A person can struggle for years to get the right technique, and have it unblocked in seconds by seeing somebody else do it. Personally I've had to do it the hard way, through continued practise and happy accidents...

Tips and techniques will always be found here. All you gotta do is ask!

Fly free! In your own way, in your own time!

The more you do, the more confident you will be. The better you will be.

solitaryVSong · Apr 7, 2010

nickderry said:
seriously, you just need to remember that you can stick any media on any sort of paper and it'll be fine - I know it may be daunting to experiment as it may turn into a big mess, but if it does, you just carry on until it stops being a mess, or just go with the flow, you really should let go of your own reins and say "f*** it, I'm going to do it!"

Seriously - you have talent, you don't need lessons, tuition, starting off in the shallow end or any of that, you just need to dive in and find your way, because then it will be your way, and not somebody else's idea of how you should make art.

This is true in so many areas, including art. Don't waste your time plotting a slow methodical path to where you want to go. I did the same thing working with watercolor pencils when I should have gone straight to watercolors. Sometimes the inhibitions that occur with such a gradual method just hold you back from really getting into what you're doing. Nick is absolutely right: just dive right in. I'm willing to bet you'll be happy you did.

colleenc · Apr 7, 2010

the gulls are so touching, pardon me please if you guys think this offensive, but there is a tenderness to your sketching I hope you never lose. What Phil called your love of your subject.

forget the damm pencils and go for the brush and a pan of color, you can be as timid as you like at first just dab in a few touches. You can't mess up with Phil's suggestion of photocopy of your sketches, the rejects and just go in the bin till you find your way. If you want to monochrome, then all you need is a black and some water to find the shades of grey, but that is harder than just using color.

Morroco Sketches (1 Viewer)

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C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.

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