Sunday 7 November 2010

Scotland holiday

My first good drawings (to my eyes) in ages. Stuck on the Levellers, sat in my bedroom for a few hours today and yesterday and came up with these. They were copied from photos I took while in Scotland for half term...


Ringed Plovers, Newhaven Tide Mills, (not from scotland but I had the pics to hand so did my best!)
Personally I prefer the left-hand one.


Common Gull, Longniddry


Oystercatchers, Longniddry, a collection from all the different photos I took of these.


Waxwings, Loch of Kinnordy RSPB. My favs out of all of these!
 The four above were all done yesterday, while I did the ones below today.


Black-headed Gull, Loch Leven. More of a warm up before I sketched some of the more impressive birds today


Whooper Swans, Loch Leven. These are my second favourites after the Waxwings!


Goldeneyes, Loch Leven. You may have noticed one is circled yellow.
I hideously cocked that up, then carried on drawing it anyway, and I
thought it came out as a very, very weird, but somehow interesting drawing.
The female is turning her head away in disdain!


Female Shoveler, Loch of Kinnordy RSPB. In a way she was nicer than the
dazzling males, her subtle orangey-brown hues go well with the season. The bottom picture shows her
preening.


Cormorant, Threpmuir Reservoir. A bird i had previously overlooked
for sketching potential, but they are fun to draw and a nice challenge to
make look real.


Mute Swans, Musselburgh Lagoons. By now I was fairly knackered and realised
I wasn't doing quite so well any more!


And, finally, I did a quick, '15-minute flash' of one of the Longniddry Oystercatchers.
The same bird as the bottom right of pic. no 3, copied from that little sketch.



3 comments:

  1. Liam,

    Love these! Your sketching is more and more revealing the essence and jizz of your subjects.
    There is more "3-dimensionality" to your recent work. The birds are almost tangible. I feel I could wrap my hand around quite a few of these beauties! That Common Gull, for instance, is very full-bodied. Nice lines, and great outline capture.
    The pages of "tryout sketches" (exploring the birds from various angles and postures) are superb. This method is what I use to get to know the subject and reveal the elements that make it what stands apart from other birds.
    The more you do this, the more you will understand your subjects. It is definitely the way forward!
    It also improves your birding skills!
    Don't even get me started on the Waxwings! (Narked with jealousy!)
    Keep up the sterling endeavour, and keep posting.
    Best,

    phil

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  2. Sorry it took me so long to reply, but thanks Phil. just the inspiration I need to get out the pencils and go on another 'sketching discovery!'

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  3. Hi Liam , its the first time in ages i have checked out your art blog , and i am really impressed , your art has come on in leaps and bounds , i really like the waxwings and you have captured the Whooper swans very well indeed .
    atb Rob

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