I did this little sketch (5″x5″) in October, but wanted to post it before too much time slips away! I did it while waiting for my car to have it’s oil changed, at a small dirty table in the car garage waiting room. I used water-soluble graphite pencils in three softness’s and a waterbrush to wet it. I really am having fun playing with these pencils, they’re new to me. I did most of this sketch in one hour…finishing it up at home. Hope you like it, I’ll have note cards and prints of it available.
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I brought my small art kit with me while on a road trip to the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling NY. , of course I wasn’t the driver! I experimented with drawing with my new graphitint watersoluble graphite pencils, They are colored but not as intense as watercolor pencils. I did the drawing then wet it with my waterbrush, this brings out the intensity of the colors. You can manipulate the values this way and if you like, work back into the drawing wet or dry. They’re very interesting and I am looking forward to trying them for more drawings. I took a couple pictures of them with my tiny digital camera, since I’m nowhere near my scanner, forgive the not so great color and clarity!
Later…some months I should say!… I sat down to finish it, he’s been waiting around too long for me! So I just looked for what needed to be made darker, stronger shadows under feathers to make them start to pop a little. I worked on the eye, the most important part of any painting I feel, I added more golden color then lifted out some highlight area with a damp brush, then when it was dry I carefully scratched out a tiny highlight with a razor blade. I will have prints available of this painting, without the shipping: A bit more about the Golden Eagle, when I was in college I worked as a zoo keeper in Binghamton, NY at the Ross Park Zoo. My favorite area to work was in the aviary; it was up in the woods on the mountain. Each bird had a cage, of course they weren’t big enough, but the zoo has made huge improvements over the years, as so many zoos have done. I never forgot the Golden Eagle(s), there might have been two? All the birds of prey they had were brought there because of injury, some wings, some eyesight. The eagles were huge, and yes, their feathers on their head and breast were more ‘pointy’ than other birds. It was only at feeding time that I didn’t really enjoy it, their diet was fresh killed rats from the lab over at SUNY Binghamton. Ok, Ok…I won’t go into details here!…but being a zookeeper wasn’t all fun and games! A little more reminiscing…last night I watched a old movie musical called “The Pied Piper of Hamlin”…ok..so I like old musicals!!…anyways…I noticed the feather the pied piper had in his hat was a very long, black and white striped feather. I never noticed it before, but now it popped out at me, it’s a “Lady Amherst Pheasant” feather! We had several types of exotic pheasants also in the aviary at the zoo, one of my favorites was the Lady Amherst…wow, so beautiful! I should do a painting of that one! Perhaps when I go home for a visit I can do a sketching and journaling day at the Ross Park Zoo where I used to work. It’s a really nice little zoo, if you’re in the area go visit and tell them I sent you! haha…they won’t remember me but it’d be fun. PS. I should mention that they have an amazing little aviary now where you can walk in amongst the birds! It’s beautiful, has water features, plants, birds everywhere..some hiding, it’s very well done! Well as my title alludes…I was in a car crash a few weeks ago, that’s why I haven’t posted. I was rolling right along preparing for my classes, going out hiking, getting ready to do plein air oil landscapes again when I got hit by someone who ran a stop sign! Sigh…well, thank God I wasn’t hurt worse, my car was totaled and I got out myself but I did take a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. I joked with the EMT’s that I guess you need to experience everything in your lifetime. I thought I’d be back to normal again right away but just as friends warned me, the pains and problems might show up later. Yup…they came! I won’t go into detail about all the pain and suffering, I’m trying to focus on the positive. The killer is the weather turned absolutely gorgeous in my area of the world, and I just didn’t feel like going out to draw. What I did do was carry my sketchbook with me to the doctors offices, I’ve never ever been one to ‘waste’ time sitting around waiting. This last sketchbook page is from a butterfly field guide, it’s an Eastern Tailed Blue. I did do more work on it since this was scanned, I’ll upload it soon.
On Saturday, March 15th, I went on an “Owl Prowl” with the Buffalo Ornithological Society. We started at the Niagara Airforce base..looking across the field (through chain link fence) trying to spot a snowy owl. All we saw was a coyote..looking for some lunch! Then we drove all over Niagara county, pulling over sometimes to look at Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. The stops were so quick that you’d no sooner pop out of the car, and they were ready to drive on again! I didn’t even get to see the Horned Larks to add them to my list.  Short Earred Owl We tried to spot a Great Horned Owl on the nest, but I think with so many people walking into the woods to see it, it got spooked. A few crows were chasing it around in the near by field. We left right away so it could return to it’s nest. The photo of shadows on the snow is from the woods where the nest was. I just loved the dried golden leaves with the cold shadows on the snow. The next stop was to see a Short Earred Owl that was known to roost in a pine tree next to a house. (see the picture of the owl with the dead branch in front of it) It was quite difficult to see without the experienced members pointing it out. When he did fly off, I was amazed at how large his wings were!  Saw Whet Owl  Saw Whet Owl The next photos are of the Saw Whet Owl…oh that was exciting! We went to see it roosting in a pine tree at the Wildlife Preserve in Gasport. I read in the field guide that these owls will roost in the day and be very docile, it’s true. I was amazed at how it didn’t budge with all these people photographing it, talking quietly, creeping around. The darker picture of it I took while laying on my back in the snow! Well, sometimes to get a good shot, you have to be creative! Lucky I had my snow leggins on that day. What I find interesting, is if you look at the owls markings, his head blends in with the pine needles. His breast is heavily streaked and you’d think this would make him stand out, but no, it ‘broke up’ his profile, made him sort of disappear. It was really amazing how hard it was to see him at first. I was about 15′ away and had to look very hard, I looked for his shape to stand out from the tree branches around him. Once you had him spotted, if you moved to get another view, even just two feet, you’d lose him again. Everyone struggled with this and I thought it was pretty interesting, as we are all experienced birders! By the way, this is a tiny owl, measures 7″ and that is from head to tail tip! He’s a very cute little thing! I will definitely be doing some kind of painting of him. The last little picture is on our way home, taken at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. As we came out of the woods where we viewed the owl, the sound of the Canada Geese was deafening! Wow! We had to pull over and just experience it firsthand, you can see in the picture they were swarming…the sky was alive with them. The picture reminds me of a Vincent Van Gogh painting, I can almost see the curls in the sky of where the geese are flying together…it looks like they’re moving when you stare at it. Maybe I’ll do a painting of that too. I hope you liked the photos, sorry there’s no sketches, I’ll have to work on some soon. There is a small video clip of the group also… I was inspired on Tuesday (19th) to paint a Cooper’s Hawk when I saw one (or a Sharp Shinned Hawk) swoop over my bird feeder. I talked about it in my post on the 19th. So I did this small study from a field guide in my 5″x81/2 ” sketchbook.
This photo shows how I used a plastic bag to block the birds breast so I could brush right from his breast out, without getting him green! It’s a little trick you can do to protect your areas you’ve painted. I would be holding it down with my fingers normally, but I had to hold the camera! (I need a camera man!) Please have a fun visit to my Zazzle Shop where I have my bird paintings on glossy notecards, mugs, canvas bags and t-shirts! More coming all the time.
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