Drawing Prompt #5; PenneJ, MP, Jean, JD

Away with the Birds

Well, it has been a quiet week - I guess it 'flew' by for many of you. But here are a few of the works that have been submitted.

PenneJ

PenneJ joins us for the first time this week with this drawing of a young figbird she rescued in her garden. The work is 20 x 20cm on Fabriano Hot Press in Graphite pencil with seclected colour. This is a good composition, the main focus on the bird in the lower left corner balancing out the space of the upper right. Your eye is drawn into and around the work natrually. The hint of colour around the head works nicely, bringing our focus to the eye. I would suggest a little more tonal contrast is needed in the dark areas. The darkest point on the work is the eye and I would like to see that same level of darkness used elsewhere within the bird's plumage.
The softness of the chick's fluffy feathers is well done, as is the the pose. I quite enjoy looking at this work - the image was a bit dark and I tried to lighten it up a bit so you could all see the great detail PenneJ has achieved in the feather work. This piece reminds me a lot of the stylistic works of   Hokusai - it has the same freshness and economy of line. She has taken great care to include a background as well; this frames the bird and gives it context to its' environment. A great first submission!

'Baby Fig Bird' by PenneJ

MP

This time of year the trees are filled with Rainbow Lorikeets seeking the early flowering eucalypt nectar, and MP has drawn one of the many visitors to her garden. Using A4 Art Spectrum 300gsm Hot press paper and Prismacolour watercolour pencils in a wash and dry technique MP has created a colourful rendering of this brilliant bird.  The intensity of hue of the Prismacolour pencils suit this work well. The arrangement and placement of the feather structure is well observed and detailed, especially across the upper breast area. Good proportions all over in a typical pose of this inquisitive bird. MP was concerned that the eye was not orange enough - I would suggest that next time to create this type of bright orange eye you begin with a layer of yellow, then add yellow-orange and magenta. For darkeness consider using a deep vermillion or violet rather than graphite or black. This is a well done drawing of a difficult bird, but I think MP could push the composition a little more. For your next drawing of this type maybe consider adding more interest to the branch by including some leaves, or branching twigs. But you can happily frame this one as it is!

'Rainbow Lorikeet' by MP

Jean

A portrait of a kookaburra preening was Jean's choice this week. He had just emerged from a dip in their pool and sat on the fence waiting for his portrait to be drawn. Jean has used graphite pencils HB, 2B, 4B on 300gsm Arches Hot Press. Once again I have to congratulate Jean on 'pushing the darks' as she has created a good tonal range from light to dark. The style of linework creates a soft feather effect - a few of the strokes are 'hooked' and you need to be careful of that, but quite effective overall.  I wonder if the beak needed to be a bit more substantial? Hard to say as the bird has its' head turned down and away so it is vanishing perspective. On the whole Jean has caught the pose well and it is certainly recognisable as a kookaburra! Did you consider adding a few drops of glistening water on the head or chest feathers Jean? As with MP's work above a little extra something would add interest to make a good drawing even better! 

'Preening Kookaburra' by Jean

JD

Our final submission is this distinctive Magpie by JD - he is standing there ready to take on the world! (or the next cyclist). JD has used her Windsor Newton visual diary 200gsm with Rexel Derwent watercolour pencils supported by Faber Castell B and HB pencil. I love that JD has tried to work in the environment of the bird with green washes in the background. She tells me she had some trouble with the paper buckling and balling as she tried to wash the Rexel pencils. Unfortunately this is a problem with the student brand of Derwent, but high praise for attempting it! Next time (with another brand maybe) try using some of the light yellow-green and light blue as well as the greens to create more natural colours.

The bird is great JD! I love his pose. Also the sheen on the head and the glint in the eye. Yes, you are correct, the beak is a bit too large in comparison to the body size, but totally forgivable as you have caught the expression so well. The feet are a touch small as well. However, as I said, the attitude and expression of the bird is very well captured. You have paid great attention to the ordering of the feathers and the details. I think you should be quite pleased with this result.

'Magpie' by JD

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