Wings Over Winecountry, Colleen's place (1 Viewer)

[colleenc]

thanks Ken, it is a better work in rl has more strength of composition. That's the thing to me about abstract work like this. It may begin with an idea, but it is much more a dialog after that, me responding to what happening letting go of how to do it, and using the materials more freely...like on this using fixative until it ran in streams, and using the accidental to make changes in direction without knowing where its going...try to let the subconscious have more say than usual...

 

[username]

Wonderful 'finished' piece from the subconscious Colleen:t:.....look forward to perhaps seeing more...when the mood 'takes' of course....!

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

Hi Colleen enjoying the journey with you

 

[colleenc]

Well this is the first time in 15 years the mood has struck as you put it, glad that you enjoy it.....it is a novel use of pastels, that I can probably use in my other work as well so just technically it was worth while..

 

[raymondkphoto]

Cool work, Colleen! Love the choice of pastels, and the very subtle detail.

 

[phil baber]

Colleen,

You might know that I think this very special.

I love it to distraction!

 

[JTMB]

Hi Colleen,

A belated thank-you for reminding me about this wonderful site and forum, which is I hope going to be a big milestone in my bird art 'career'...! Your stuff is great. I remember all the egrets in your part of the world when I did some consulting work down there years ago. I did some photography at Point Reyes while in the area - unfortunately I wasn't really doing either birding or photography then. I really want to get back there down the road.

Thanks again!

 

[colleenc]

thanks Philo

John, I only recomend this site when I see someone start to sketch from life or say they want to...it is a treasure beyond all that it is here, isn't stuck in one approach, has world class artists who share and keep you motivated to do more....a unique in the world place for avian art...long may it rule!

Raymond, coming from a very subtle artist, that's a big compliment thank you

 

[Lykos]

Hi Coleen,


your paintings are very beautiful.

The Picture of the Gepard...i click it tree ,four times.....it is drawing :eek!:

no photography

friendly greetings Gaby

 

[Lykos]

Sorry Coleen,

i saw your Question what in mean Gepard,is my wrong word in German....

so i look at the translator ....cheetah,that is what i mean |:$|


friendly greetings Gaby

 

[colleenc]

thanks Lycos, that mystery is solved

 

[colleenc]

Still not doing much with birds between finishing some commissions, and slugging it out with plein air, which is still a disaster....but have wanted to do these sketches since last month...Sadly these little ones only made it 3 days before a peregrine got them, but it was a thrill to see one day old chicks, I did sketch from life, but these are from photos...they were small and very hard to see ever with my scope...biggest surprise was the Huge feet.

I've started sketching with my pencil held on edge, you know with the thumb and 4 fingers on it. so it feels awkward right now but I think I'm going to like it eventually as I can move it faster and get broad strokes and fills and it's not as controllable as the point so I tend not to get so bogged down in details.

I have others of older ones I want to do too, I actually got to observe from this stage to near fledging this year, some actually made it

black oystercatcher chicks one day old

 

[clive2604]

lovely!
its quite nice to alter the way you use a pencil now and again especially when you get the chance to lay in some lovely broad strokes of graphite,its quite therapeutic after using the pointy bit for ages!

 

[JTMB]

Very nice sketches of the chicks, Colleen. Too bad about their demise, though Peregrines are such a favorite bird for me. We've had some highly ironic (to me, anyway) discussion here in my area that shows how fickle us humans can be. Eagles were of course quite rare for some time, but (along with Peregrines and other raptors) have made a fantastic comeback. Birders were ecstatic...until the eagles started to predate some heron rookeries very strongly. Some birders actually started talking about 'controlling' eagles - at least by removing a nest where the primary offending eagle pair lived in one case. We also had an interesting situation in the hiking community (before I wore out my knees, I did a ton of hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail among others). The major hiking organization in our state was vociferously pro-reintroduction of all species into former ranges (e.g. the wolf). Then plans were announced to actively reintroduce grizzly bears into the North Cascades, a favorite hiking venue for many people. All of a sudden, a significant number of hikers in that organization (probably a majority) decided that reintroduction was a bad idea.

 

[colleenc]

yes it is a dilemma when ideal meets reality....

 

[phil baber]

Superb studies!

 

[RussB]

I love these chick studies, Colleen. Loads of life and done in a nice and bold style. The downy feathers are 'suggested' expertly and these little balls of fluff are ready to run off the page. Bravo!

Russ

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

Love the fluff balls Colleen

 

[colleenc]

thanks Phil Russ and Arthur,

I finally found my sketchbook with the field sketches, posting not because they are anything special, but because they are almost as good as the ones I did from photos, which is sure different than last year, the one exception is they are smaller, and I want to know from the pros here how to draw bigger in the field, they are always smaller, like I'm trying to draw the same size as I see them inside the scope...and I do try bigger but it takes more time and then I don't get the whole thing down.

On the r page are some sketches of an older chick, and some "baber" notes that would be great if I could just read my handwriting:-O

 

[sfrissell]

I have exactly the same problem, Colleen. I think we are subconsciously drawing the same size as we see them through the scope/binos! I think bigger field drawings would translate more easily into paintings. LJ often has only a single bird filling a sketchbook page. Probably easier to get a bit more info into larger sketches too. The answer is probably to draw some quick small guys then get to work immediately on a bigger version on the next page.

Let's keep bugging each other until we are both drawing bigger.