If you would like to receive encouraging comments on
your artwork, leave encouraging comments for others!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Lorrie #32 - Bird sketches

Crow and Brewer's Blackbirds, pen and watercolor sketches (each about an inch square)
As we know birds are everywhere and so fun to observe! I'm always trying to understand better what makes a bird look real (as opposed to an awkward thing drawn from memory). One day at an outdoor cafe I sketched some of the blackbirds nearby, using a water-soluble black pen and then spreading the ink with a damp brush, sometimes adding other colors wet-on-wet from a travel paint set. The crow is watercolor only. I've cut-and-pasted a few different sketches together here.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

These little studies are awesome! I love the gestures of the birds, especially the legs of the one on the top right. A trick I've learned for drawing birds (not that I have gotten good at it yet) is to pay attention to different feather groups, because they act kind of like muscle masses on other animals. David Sibley's little book about bird watching basics is a really good resource (because he has a lot of good illustrations in there).

Claire M said...

Very interesting page with your different birds. That was great that you painted at the spot at the outdoor cafe!!

Kelly said...

I love it, Lorrie!! (You know how much I love birds!) This looks really fun.