Capturing feathered friends

You need not go any further than your garden,local park, a pond, lake or stream to sketch birds. The top illustration on Figure 1 is of a duck coming in to land. Note the way it fans out its tail to act as a break.

Small dark birds are often to be found where there is water. You may have noticed that it is the male birds which are the most colourful or striking. This is because the females are drab in colour so that they blend well with their environment especially when nesting. Have you heard of a small falcon called the kestrel which hangs around mid air as it hunts for various insects? It is a very attractive creature. Look at the male kestrel drawn in Figure 2. I sketched in each main feather shape before shading it in with close lines. Then the black markings were put in, with dot stipple used for the head feather markings. You can also attempt to make a nice sketch of the kestrel using a soft pencil.

Most bird pictures are much better done as paintings, but before you can start to paint you need to learn how to draw your subjects accurately.

Experienced bird artists can recognise some birds by the way they fly. I have drawn six different birds in flight in Figure 3. Try sketching these interesting shapes. Draw a garden bird from life. It is a good practice to keep a small pad and pencil with you when you go into the garden so that you could quickly jot down impressions of the birds you see. Capturing feathered friends in paper is an interesting way to develop your artistic skills. However, you will find that a soft pencil makes the job simple, and you can obtain tone and texture to a very fine standard.