Welcome to Nick's dining room table. (1 Viewer)

[dryslwyn]

I really like it too. Your work often has an sort of 'abstact' feel to it and very contemporary. One for the SWLA?

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

Another lovely painting Nick I like the stronger tone, but the water colour still has it for me.

 

[nickderry]

I thought I'd finally found a good place to sketch here, Lac de Vaivre had whiskered terns and yellow-legged gulls flying around upon arrival and I was looking forward to setting up all my painting stuff in the hide and enjoying a good day's proper sketching. As if that could happen! Instead the hide was firmly locked up and I got stuck outside in a torrential downpour, carrying all my painting stuff on my back - the rain caused the terns to bugger off aswell!
At least I got a bit of sketching done, one whiskered tern, one juv y l gull,a moorhen brooding her chicks and a black kite in the rain, I was soaked already so why not stop and draw!

 

[Woody]

Nick, all great sketches again. The black kite is terrific but the moorhens are outstanding. Definately worth getting a bit damp round the edges for. I was out on sunday but didn't even bother getting out of the car for fear of dissolving.

Woody

 

[dryslwyn]

Really inspiring work - I am interested to know if you draw outside and paint or paint when you get back if you can make sense of that.

 

[timwootton]

A truly outstanding group of drawings Nick - with references to all the great exponents of our genre, but with that value-added Derry touch. The gull is brilliantly done - I would love to have made this drawing.

 

[Mouldy]

Just superb, a great talent you have Nick.

 

[Vectis Birder]

Fantastic. I especially like the juvenile gull, the detail in the plumage is great.

 

[nickderry]

thanks all, to answer your question Wendy, I would like to paint more outside, but with the weather we've been having! These were painted as soon as I got home from memory (ie no field guides or photos) When I know I'm going to be sitting sketching in one place, then I'll paint in the field too.

 

[nickderry]

finished, bedtime now....

(shame about the shine, don't know how to photo acrylic.)

 

[Dave B]

finished, bedtime now....

(shame about the shine, don't know how to photo acrylic.)

That's a CRACKERR Nick! One of my favourites to date. Love the contrast and tension between the two adult moorhens. Excellente!

Cheers

Dave

 

[dryslwyn]

Fabulous nick- it really tells a story.

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

All the moorhen pictures are great , I love the expressions on the faces. That juv gull is a peach of a sketch to. Im'e glad we are not the only ones getting rain.

 

[On-Firecrest]

some random admiration

Hi nick
i felt compelled to comment on your moorhens and black kites (and everything else really) as they are crackers especially the mood in the black kite.
Why cant my watercolours be like that!:C

Steve

 

[nickderry]

Thanks for your comments Steve, my comment would be why couldn't the weather be nice just for once, though I suppose the mood in the kite pic reflects the mood I was in (thoroughly p*ssed off and all ready to get on a plane and leave France behind for good!) Hope you'll post some of your watercolours, don't be shy, we're all very friendly on this forum!

 

[deborah4]

Absolutely fantastic set of sketches above there, Nick. That juv gull is superb - tones of plumage just perfect. (btw. Is that the Gull that you put on the ID thread, it looks very very similar?)

Good luck with the Exhibition (There are at least two amongst the selection that I would have chosen)

 

[nickderry]

Absolutely fantastic set of sketches above there, Nick. That juv gull is superb - tones of plumage just perfect. (btw. Is that the Gull that you put on the ID thread, it looks very very similar?)

Good luck with the Exhibition (There are at least two amongst the selection that I would have chosen)

Thanks Deborah, and well spotted, it's the exact same gull, I knew it was a yellow-legged but wanted to see what people would make of a blurred photo. To be honest, if I'd have seen the photo I'd have gone with your gut reaction and then gone to find somebody who needs a domestic mallard id'd! Gulls are lovely but not my cup of tea when they don't look normal. It's the first time I've seen a juv YL Gull, the dark mask is very distinctive.

 

[deborah4]

Thanks Deborah, and well spotted, it's the exact same gull, I knew it was a yellow-legged but wanted to see what people would make of a blurred photo. To be honest, if I'd have seen the photo I'd have gone with your gut reaction and then gone to find somebody who needs a domestic mallard id'd! Gulls are lovely but not my cup of tea when they don't look normal. It's the first time I've seen a juv YL Gull, the dark mask is very distinctive.

Very interesting Nick. I couldn't conclusively ID the blurry photo, although a shot in the dark as a secondary thought suggested YLG/or Casp, as Jan confirmed. However, as soon as I saw your sketch, I immediately thought YLG which is a great testament to your sketching abilities. Another thing occurs to me, re: IDing from sketches rather than (poor?) photos, is that drawing somehow captures a livelier jizz than a 2d photo, so I wonder whether there is something ''essential'' to the structure/character of a bird that's missing from photography but is captured by someone as yourself, who draws/paints his observations rather than just points and shoot so to speak. I've often thought for example, Tim's Divers etc are easier to ID from his sketches than most (even quite clear) photos I've seen. The camera flattens plumage, distorts light, deadens 'movement' and veils true structure IMO. While painting and photography are 'arts' in themselves, I'm leaning towards sketching/painting as a better way to recognise the ID of birds one hasn't seen even if the sketch is fairly basic but well executed and accurate as yours are - perhaps that's why the best field guides use drawings rather than photos. Obviously, actually in the field, I don't think there's any competition, personally I retain to longterm memory far more details/jizz of a bird I've looked at to sketch than one I've photographed or just mentally observed even for extended periods. Maybe, during the process of sketching, painters ''feel'' their subject in a way that somehow translates to the page but the camera is 'blind' to an essence of a particular bird which is fundamental to it's identity.

 

[timwootton]

That's a very good point Deborah. I think that what happens during the drawing process is that the artist (grand word, but you know what I mean) has to distil the cacophony of visual information into manageable chunks - the salient bits. This distillation possibly filters out the 'background noise' leaving a cleaner (dare one say, purer) version of the vision seen. A simpler image is more easily categorised (or identified, in this case) - voila.
Just my opinion of course.

 

[dryslwyn]

Thanks for your comments Steve, my comment would be why couldn't the weather be nice just for once, though I suppose the mood in the kite pic reflects the mood I was in (thoroughly p*ssed off and all ready to get on a plane and leave France behind for good!) Hope you'll post some of your watercolours, don't be shy, we're all very friendly on this forum!

Don't get that plane to Wales. It has been raining forever it seems!