Azure Kingfisher
Week 4 of Term 1 'Away with the Birds' was drawing the bird from a taxidermy model. As we cannot bring a caged bird into class this is the next best thing to drawing a living model.
Why draw from life? Why not just use photos. IMO, working directly from life is the best way to learn about your subject. You begin to see in new ways and notice things that you had not seen (or are not able to see) in a photograph. Studying the real thing informs you in ways that a photo cannot - how the changing light falls across the subject, its form and structure in a three dimensions allows you to observe it from different angles and details are more easily observed. Even a rather moth-eaten stuffed bird like this kingfisher allowed the students to intensely study the bird in a more holistic way than a photograph.
In between assisting students, I worked on my own sketch of the bird. Using a non-reproducing blue pencil to create the initial structure lines, the form was build up using Staedtler Mars Techno 2mm pencils in HB, 2B, 4B and F. This is on Art Spectrum Smooth Drawing Pad paper, 300gsm. A crochet needle was used on the head area to indent prior to adding the graphite to allow for the little white feathers this bird has across it's skull. A bit more than an hour to complete to this stage.
Check out John Muir Laws website on drawing birds: HERE
...oh, and the ant was just a random visitor who strolled across the page as I took the photo. 😁
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