Goldfinchs - watercolour in cheap 15 x 21cm sketchbook
Sunflowers for art and birds
Sunflowers for art and birdsWe seem to have more birds than ever visiting our Tuscan garden. I tried in vain to feed them during the winter but none showed interest in my plastic feeder of mixed seed. This spring HWEM planted some small sunflowers for me to paint and now they are going to seed I finally have birds feeding right outside my window. I am really excited about the beautiful goldfinches and am spending a considerable amount of time watching them through a tiny pair of binoculars that were a giveaway at the Stingers launch years ago.
My Nikon 18-55mm lens isn't any good for birds so when I do get a photo I still have to do a lot of guessing about colour and detail. I'm sketching the goldfinches from a combination of photo and life, hoping that I'll become so familiar with their form I will eventually be able to make quick sketches from life.
My Nikon 18-55mm lens isn't any good for birds so when I do get a photo I still have to do a lot of guessing about colour and detail. I'm sketching the goldfinches from a combination of photo and life, hoping that I'll become so familiar with their form I will eventually be able to make quick sketches from life.
8 comments:
Lovely watercolour sketches, Robyn! Birds are so incredibly difficult to capture but your plan to work from both life and photos is a great idea.
Two of my favorite things - sunflowers and birds. (Yes, Dermott, I know that isn't a complete sentence.)
Robyn, your goldfinch sketches are lovely. I clicked on them to get a better look. You did a great job. Even the background is perfect - simple and lovely.
Felicity - Thank you. It's hard to leave them just as a sketch though, isn't it. I just keep fiddling.
Candy - Dermott seems to have lost interest in my blog lately. It could be a good thing! I'm glad I hit on two of your favourite things :)
P.S. I forgot to post my little sunflower sketch. They are always a scary subject because they are such a Tuscan cliche.
Robyn, Your bird paintings are really lovely and I'm impressed that you can draw them from life at all. I just about look at them, put my pen to paper and their gone. And I'm very jealous of your sunflowers! Don't forget to show us your little painting....
Shirley - Many thanks but I would hate you to think I actually captured the line of these birds from life. What I was able to take from life was the colour because my photos didn't capture close enough detail. I can see better through the binoculars but I'm afraid I am a long way from sketching through binoculars :)
Buongiorno amica mia! I am sitting with my morning cafe, still in my nightshirt, savoring all of your lovely work. I love the pieces with the birds. The pigeon sketch is just lovely and evokes a calm resting feeling. The finches here are lively and skittish and I can feel that too. As for the girasol.....well, you should become Tuscany's poster girl! They make me want to hop on a plane and have moring coffee with you tomorrow! I think HWEYou should buy you a new lens. I am taking a photography class and am learning so much, hoping it will help with my art work as well. Un abbraccio forte!
Hi Marta :) Thank you for your kind words so early in the morning. I'm afraid HWEM has bought me rather a lot lately, so I'm trying not to beg for a new lens.
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