Monday morning, 21st May, it's raining, but this is Ireland, we expect it to rain, so make the most of it, at least we won't die of thirst.
Had a nice surprise yesterday evening, my wife said she heard a Cuckoo, haven't actually seen or heard a Cuckoo in the village in 40 years of birding here. Luckily it started calling again and I spotted it in a Sycamore tree in the garden next to mine.

                                                                         

I'm back working with coloured pencils on my Birds of Ireland series, Only about 400 left to do.Lol
Here's a work in progress, "Song Thrush" using coloured pencils on Bristol board.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Grey Heron

Juvenile Grey Heron

Pastel Pencils on Mi Teinte Pastel Paper

8"x12"

I love Herons, they remind me sometimes of sentries outside Buckingham Palace, they can stay so still, both when perching and fishing, when they can stab like lightning and bring out a fish which they swallow whole.

Swallows

                                "Swallows" Coloured pencil on paper. 30cmx21cm(A4)

The next in the series "Irish Birds"

Very soon now the young swallows born in Ireland will begin to flock together before they make their way to Africa, an amazing feat of navigation considering they have never been there before. A month or so later after feeding up after the hectic breeding season, the adults will follow.

The first of many (I hope)

The first 4 of the series “Irish Birds” prints. Overall size with the frame is 12x10 inches and they will be available for sale online soon, on this blog and my website The Art of Phil Davis , until then they can be purchased from my studio, Studio 2, Downstairs in Shanagarry Design Centre , Shanagarry, Co Cork.
Price: €49.95.
I would be grateful, if you like this post, that you would share it with your friends, Thank you.

Reworked Kingfisher

 

Painted this in 2007, but was never really happy with it, being fairly new at the time to coloured pencils I found it difficult, or maybe I didn’t have the patience, to build up the colour to the extent needed. I hope I have made a better hand of it now!

When, years ago, I first started painting, it was birds that were my main interest and I spent hours in the field trying to sketch through a telescope and then making finished paintings at home. I never felt that I managed to transfer the life from the sketches to the paintings, so gradually did less and less birds.

 

I think I’ll give it another try, for a long time I have wanted to do a series of common Irish birds, so maybe nows the time.

Foxy Lady

I was inspired by another artist Karen on UKCPS to try this one after seeing her picture of a vixen on her blog http://wildaboutart.blogspot.com/ . Its coloured pencil on black Canford paper and it's one of the few paintings I have finished using CP. I have to say that while I love the overall effect it can become quite tedious building up the colour and I am always comparing the time taken to what I could achieve with paint , however I am reasonably happy with this although I have changed it around the mouth after receiving some very helpful critiques on UKCPS, I must re scan it and show the improvements.

While I am writing this blog, I am watching through my window at the bird feeders I have in the trees opposite and it occured to me that maybe I should try to encourage more people to feed their garden birds, it does'nt cost a fortune and is a huge assistance to small birds during the cold winter months when it can be hard for them to find enough food, also it can give hours of free entertainment.

Directions???????????

As another New Year fast approaches I once again start to agonize over which direction my art should take....big landscapes in oil, small watercolours of birds and all things nature, flowers in acrylic...watercolour, coloured pencil ? I move from one to the other like a nomad in the desert, never quite reaching my destination! For many years I have had the idea of painting the birds I have seen in my village and surrounds and maybe producing a book, given that I live in one of the best birding spots in Ireland and so far would have seen over 250 species in the area, this could prove to be a mammoth task so the faster I start the better.

I am at the moment painting a display board depicting the "Birds of Ballycotton" which will be displayed at the entrance to the village, and the painting here was the cover of the last Cork Bird Report and depicts a pair of Little Egret.