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.
Suffering from painters block again, this is becoming a pain.Have so many unfinished paintings, and seem to be at a total loss as to how to fix them. Have been making myself sketch everyday, just ordinary things around me, so at least I’m doing something, hopefully it will lead to picking up a brush.
I used a black biro for these sketches, I really like the effects you can get with them, I would usually use a pencil, but I think a pen makes you braver.
I thought today I would show some sketches of another type of fisherman- Northern Gannet.
I did these sketches a few years ago on the Saltee Islands off the Wexford coast. A brilliant place to practice sketching birds as during the breeding season there are thousands of Gannet, Guillemot,Razorbill, Puffin, all very approachable if you are patient and can stand the smell.
Who sang that song, Supertramp wasn’t it? I think they must have been living in Ireland at the time. What would we moan about if we didn’t have weather. Anyway have been sitting at the window again watching the birds on the feeders
There seems to be an heirarchy amongst the house sparrows , they line up on neighbouring branches and take their turn at the feeders. Among the males this seems to depend on seniority, depending on the size of the black bib under the chin, this fellow is a real junior.
The blackbirds however have a free for all and constantly push each other off the apples.
I find birds very hard to capture from life, they are constantly moving so when I manage to get a half decent sketch I then work it up from photos that I have taken of the same bird, I know several bird artists that seem to have photographic memory and are able to get the image down immediately , but I am not one of them.
There seems to be so much activity on EDM at the moment, that it is very hard to keep up with all the images being posted. I have received so much support in the short time I have been posting that I feel it encumbent on me to support others in the same way , so I am trying to look at as many peoples work as possible and commenting when I can.
Here’s a couple of pics of my incredibly tidy studio, with some of my students at work.
This is a very obvious way of pushing the fact that I hold several classes a week , if any body is interested.
My contacts are in my profile.
