The greatest pleasure of all the bird work is learning to field sketch, be out in the world of the birds watching them either with bare eyes if they are close enough, or with aids like binoculars or a scope. Each kind of view brings you into a different relationship to your subjects. Every trip has some new thing, they don't call it the present moment for nothing, each trip is really a gift to be opened by your fresh encounter with the birds, the time of day, the weather and just being present.

Here are some recent sketches from Bodega Bay and Bodega head, and one watercolor study for an oil portrait of a beautiful captive osprey that cannot be returned to the wild. As a young bird she had a broken shoulder, it never healed but she had a very patient and loving caretaker raptor expert who taught her to eat dead fish, which normally an osprey will and do and so they cannot be kept captive, this one eats trout,




Since I tend to go tight with oil and pastel I made a conscious effort with watercolor to stay loose. I'm greatly indebted to a wonderful group of bird artists, mostly British, who hang out at Birdforum.net on the wildlife thread. From them I learned a lot about how to use watercolor in the tradition of the English watercolorists, and also could not have managed to field sketch without the top notch sketchers there. I'll do a special post sometime on one of my favorites Tim Wooten, he is my major mentor for watercolor and field sketching, I learned most of what I know by studying his thread at Birdforum http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=77927&page=3 sorry the link process is not working on my posts so you can copy and paste.









love these little plovers, my first sighting of them.



















My favorite cormorant place is Bodega Head, and this freely done work was the first in a challenge I set for myself of 100 watercolors in 30 days. I was looking to get over my fear of watercolor, and to learn how to use it in the field or on my field sketches when I got home. It is the only major media I didn't know much about. The challenge was tough, but it did the trick at the end, I was pretty easy with it, and no longer intimidated.

For the Birds

Can't believe the last post was in Aug. I've done so much since then. I actually spoke to and touched the sketchbook of the great Lars Jonsson,( hoping some magic would rub off) and listened in on a conversation of he, John Busby, and Barry van Dusen. I heard my name in the role call of the artists for Birds in Art 2009, where my tom turkey hung on the walls of the Woodson Museum with Bateman, Seery-Lester, Chris Bacon and others.....talk about stars in my eyes. The Woodson treats the artists like rock stars, and for a hermit like me it was beyond words, and a bit overwhelming. But wow, did I love seeing the art and hearing real bird artists and bird lovers talk.

Here I am at the afternoon at the beautiful Hazelhurst estate where they bussed us all after the 2 days of events, to just relax, go out on the lake to see the bald eagles fly, eat drink and be merry all afternoon. In the pic are John Busby, Master of the Year, the very tall Lars Jonsson, and Barry Van Dusen who has done the Artists in Nature series with both of them and gave a funny and personal speech about Mr. Busby at the opening. I had my sister take this pic( with their permission) because I wanted to remind myself it really did happen. I just happened by as they were talking and they let me join in, I just listened and tried not to faint, these men are considered some of the top bird artists living. Busby is considered the greatest living artist who works from life, and his book Drawing Birds is my bible. Jonsson is such a huge power that his work has influenced nearly every bird artist living, one way or another.

You can see more of Lars Jonsson and some of the art at the show just google Birds in Art 2009 sorry the link thing didn't work
I'm at work on a project for a local Bird Rescue so I'll post some of that work soon