Time to get back to drawing

Well, this long has been on a hiatus for far too long, it's time to get back to drawing. I have done some drawings and paitings in the meanwhile - some of them having been published in Finnish publications regarding birds - which I'm quite happy about. Nothing too big yet, but still, these little acchievements have meant a lot to me.

It's rather ironical that after having painted the above picture of a lesser white-fronted goose, I've been drawing and painting very little. I worked on that goose for two days, day and night, before I was happy with it. And I still think it's my best painting - even after one year.

One of the pictures for publications has been the above "surinam swallow", a fictional bird I was asked to draw, or rather create, for our areas bird publication. It's time to go ahead and start developing my sketching skills - something I still lack in the field - and overcome my fear of brushes again.

Me and my brushes are back, and so is this blog.

Pygmy owl and Hawfinch

It's been a while since I last saw a Pygmy owl, so I was more than happy when encountering one while birding with a friend of mine.

I also got to take a very close look of a Hawfinch over a week ago, when one of those appeared into a mist net while ringing. Though getting to take a real close look helped in determineing how I would want to draw a Hawfinch, though it took me a while to get the right feel into my drawings. This one is decent - though the wing is too small and the patterns on the wing aren't correct and the head is big... But the attitude is what I had in mind (so at least something went right here).

Nuts, what hatches out of nuts?

Nuthatches are definitely among the most fun birds to draw. For some reason they are simply irresistible drawing subjects. These few sketches were done during some lectures (if I've got pen and paper at hand, it is impossible for me not to draw).

Sitta europaea, Roadrunner edition.

The drawings were done with black biro - thus not a single line could be taken out and mistakes had to be dealt with in some other way.

This one must have seen a nut.

More LTTs

I just had to have another go on Long-tailed tits. This time watercolor on cardboard.

Long-tailed tits

Oh joy, I was birding with a friend of mine when we encountered a fellow birder ringing Longtailed tits. I got to hold one, and to release one. Seeing them up close was quite special, Long-tailed tit has always been one of my favorite bird species. I was grinning for the rest of the day.

The painting wasn't done very "seriously" - just a quickie with no idea on how I wanted it to turn out. It's all paint (gouache), there was now drawing on the cardboard, even no sketches. I started by jotting down beaks and eyes all around the board and then working forward from there.

I've now signed up to take a ringing exam.

Smew, Smew, Smew

This is an older painting - and reminds me of why I eventually decided to pursue painting and drawing birds more seriously than photography. It was the very first male Smew I've ever seen. I only got a short glimpse of it through my binoculars as it was hurrying away and almost instantly took flight with the other Smew.

What my camera got out of the situation is this:

Thus, when I got home, I took out my paints and worked the image I had in my mind into a painting.

Fortunately it wasn't the last time I got to see a Smew up close. Since then I've actually seen one even better (another white male), from around 5 meters, calmly preening. And even though the white male is a beauty, I've got a soft spot for the species itself. This Fall I've had the chance to enjoy dozens of Smew on a nearby lake.

A flock is quite a lot of fun to watch when it's fishing. They're constantly on move - and almost impossible to count. When one dives, all the others follow, popping up one by one after a while. When they rest, they are just as much fun. Some of them are preening, some are taking a nap, and some are still patrolling for fish.

Magpie

The magpie is a pretty bird - and fun to watch every time one manages to remember that though quite common, it's worth having a look at. This fellow kept me company while I was fixing my bike. I was crouching behind my bike, the maggie was scooting around in front of me, chasing a lunch most probably.