Long-tailed Duck Pencil Sketch p87
Long -tailed Duck is a bird that we don’t see too often in central Michigan, so it generates excitement when they do show up. I remember seeing them in fairly large numbers on Jones Beach on Long Island in the winter. My aunt and uncle live a few miles from there. On our summer visits to New York City to see our grandparents and cousins, we’d usually head out for a day at Jones Beach.
I had no idea that locale is such an amazing place to see birds in the winter. All I ever saw there was a fairly disturbing cross-section of humanity. From overly-tanned octogenarians with floral swim caps to young roughs with Popsicle-stained faces using the F-word, it was all there. The population was exuding an olfactory assault that was a haunting amalgamation of sun tan lotion, salt water and sweat. Of course it was suntan lotion, NOT sunscreen. Back in the 70s scientists were hard at work designing fluids capable of amplifying the UV rays and bronzing one’s epidermis. Later in their careers those same scientists probably made a fortune switching to formulating wrinkle creams and quack remedies for the basal cell carcinomas they helped us create.
We would begin our trip with a one-hour drive from Grandma’s North Bronx home in the Country Squire Station wagon. That was followed by a long hike from the parking area across the road, hauling a beach umbrella and a cooler that felt more like a bank safe. Looking at the distance on Google Earth today, I can see it wasn’t that far, but it sure felt it as a kid holding a cooler full of ice.
By the way, if you got out of cooler duty, you were tasked with transporting the beach umbrella. Now, as a little kid it might seem natural to use a beach umbrella as a lance to prod along your father, but it isn’t a stellar idea… especially if you use the pointy end. You will be “educated of the fact” in no uncertain terms and will quickly be switched over to the dreaded cooler duty. Fortunately, for the hike back to the car we could empty the ice out of the cooler so it was lighter.
Of course the station wagon was “preheating” under the scorching sun for 4-5 hours. Now that it was properly up to cooking temperature, you’d be blasted in the face with a jet of scorching air when you opened the oven… I mean “car” door. Of course there were no oven mitts inside, so you inevitably burned yourself on the seat buckles. On the positive side, that hour-long drive back to Grandma’s gave time for the glowing pain of the sunburn to start to mature into its full glory. You would also curse the designers of the Long Island Expressway as you felt every seam on the highway amplified by a full bladder and the diamond-abrasive lump of sand in your swimsuit. Upon getting back to the Bronx, my grandmother always had some ice-cold Cokes and snacks ready. That was the best part of the day.
My grandparents always sat out that day trip. Smart people.
Twenty years later I discovered that once the crowds of people leave for the winter, birds take their place. Jones Beach is a pretty fun place after all!
I show my age when birding because I have a tendency to use old names. In this case I opted for the less politically correct “Oldsquaw” name. It’s hard to rewire one’s brain, especially mine!
I got photos of this bird at the Toledo Zoo. I usually don’t paint many ducks, but I have an idea bubbling around in my cerebrum that calls for a ton of them.
Jumping Spider on Peony Transparent Watercolor and Time Lapse
Yes, another Jumping Spider! I can’t get enough of these endearing arthropods. I’m looking forward to seeing them again this spring. Occasionally I’ll come across one in the house in the winter and wonder what the little guy is finding to eat. Maybe other spiders? I wouldn’t mind if they took out a few of the Brown-marmorated Stinkbugs that have been infesting central Michigan homes for the past few years. I’m tossing at least 4-5 of those out of the house every day. I don’t feel right killing them outright, but once outside, they’re on their own.
This painting was fun in that I got to play with a lot of bold, saturated color in the background. The spider itself didn’t take long to paint. Developing the richness of the background was the biggest investment. It’s interesting that often the background makes (or breaks) a painting.
Spectacled Eider Pencil Sketch p86
Eiders are fascinating birds, and I’ve long wanted to paint them. Common Eiders are the only ones I’ve seen in the wild so far. Sadly, they were too far away for me to get a workable photograph. I’ve sketched a few species in museums and gotten photos of others in zoos. Thankfully, the Toledo Zoo had the cooperative Spectacled Eider this is based on. Although beautiful in its subtlety, it wasn’t in peak plumage. If I end up painting it, I’ll probably include showy breeding feathers.
Plum-colored Starling (Violet-backed Starling) Transparent Watercolor and Ink
This bird is a great example of why they use scientific names with a genus and species. It has at least three common names: Violet-backed Starling, Plum-colored Starling and Amethyst Starling. Granted, they are pretty spectacular, so maybe one name just doesn’t capture everything? Plus, Cinnyricinclus leucogaster doesn’t seem super accessible to your average Joe.
I had decent photo references for this bird from the Toledo Zoo. The photos were serviceable but not fantastic, and the backgrounds left a bit to be desired. I decided that they would translate better into a faster, splashier painting with a bolder color. I haven’t done a pen and ink and watercolor in a while and thought that style would suit the bird. Usually with zoo specimens I spend a lot of time researching the appropriate plants and backgrounds for each bird. In this case I was pretty time limited and decided to extract the bird entirely from a natural environment. That allowed me to do something fun that would work with the bird’s colors. This isn’t my typical style, but it was a fun change of pace.
Red Squirrel Transparent Watercolor Painting and Time Lapse
Red squirrels are just about as cute as it gets for common rodents. Ok, flying squirrels are cuter, but they don’t qualify as common here in central Michigan.
When choosing what to draw and paint, I usually follow whatever has my immediate interest and what I’ve managed to take good photos of. I have over a hundred sketches laying around that could be worked into a painting easily enough. Some never make the grade. Others go straight from the camera to the sketchbook and are almost immediately painted. Every so often I’ll ask Liesl and the kids what they think should be painted next. This time there were a lot of votes for a Red Squirrel.
In looking through the most visited pages and Pins of my website, my family seemed to hit on something. The most visited pages are for Halloween Hats that I made for the kids. Those account for about 3/4 of the visits to the blog! A distant second is a pencil sketch of a Red Squirrel. You have to move way down to #5 to hit a bird painting! So I guess squirrels are more popular than birds!? At least that seems to be what my very non-scientific, low-sample survey showed. I knew that spiders and insect art would yield low scores, but I didn’t picture there being such a strong squirrel fan base.
So, here comes the squirrel! Honestly, I didn’t paint this for a long time because it was too straightforward. In general I like doing paintings that balance several elements on the page. This one was basically a squirrel on a stick, which makes it more of an illustration than a complex piece of “art.” I’ve done a few paintings like this over the last year, but I usually prefer something more composed with more elements on the page.
Maybe this is just art school baggage? While there I was frequently told that none of my work could be considered art because it featured animals. Worse yet, it was representational! That was the kiss of death in art school, where Post Abstract Expressionism seemed to be king. The preferred insult was to refer to your work as “renderings” and to call you a “renderer,” which meant,“That’s not art.”
Whatever! It’s kind of funny to me now because the pieces I was creating at the time were—by my current standards—pretty darn loose.
Sure, animals are a bit overdone at times. I almost never paint raptors or ducks for this reason. I tend to avoid super simple compositions, but occasionally they are the right choice. It seemed to work for this little guy, even if it is more illustrative than art.
Dunlin Transparent Watercolor Painting and Time Lapse
Because of Christmas, New Year’s, two family birthdays and a road trip all within a month’s time, I’m way behind on posting artwork. A Winter Dunlin is the subject of this recent watercolor painting, and it presented a good set of challenges.
Here in Michigan I tend to see these guys in big flocks zooming around as they drop into a muddy field. Given the bold, stripy wings of each bird, a mass of Dunlin in fight is hypnotizing to watch. Up North they are always seen from a great distance, but you can usually make out their rusty backs and signature black bellies. When I find them in Florida, it’s often in smaller numbers, and they usually lack black on their bellies, but there I can get right up close as they comb the beaches for whatever it is they eat.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Transparent Watercolor
I haven’t done a straight “bird portrait” in a while. Instead, I’ve been painting entire birds—each with a portion of its environment serving as part of the subject. I used to paint portraits regularly, but I think they work best on a larger scale, and I’ve opted for smaller images lately. For a watercolor artist, large is relative. A big oil painting is measured in feet. Watercolor on the other hand, is limited by paper size and practicality. Large paintings for me are typically in the 18 x 24-inch range. Not huge, but big enough that they make a different impression on the viewer than life-size or smaller.
Speaking of large, eyes are always fun to paint and this night heron had an enormous and beautiful eye!
Winter Black-bellied Plover Pencil Sketch, Watercolor and Time Lapse
This watercolor painting and pencil sketch of a Black-bellied Plover are from the stockpile of photos taken on last year’s trip to Florida with my brother Ted.
The drawing is p84 from the sketchbook. I’m getting dangerously close to finishing and having to start a new book!
Dunlin Pencil Sketch p85
I’m pretty bad when it comes to shorebirds. I can hold my own with birds of the forest and field as well as ducks, but if you take me to the shore, I start scratching my heard and looking through the field guide… often. On the upside, when I spend time with shorebirds, I learn a lot and sometimes come up with a life bird.
We have a ton of field guides at home. Honestly, it’s almost embarrassing. Some are ancient, others new. Some have photos, some illustrations and others both! We have guides that are specific to warblers, shorebirds and birds of prey. We also have guides that cover non-avian topics: wildflowers, weather, trees, snakes, insects, dragonflies, rocks and shells. With all these books on hand, I should be able to identify pretty much anything!
With such a huge selection of guides, it’s funny that the one I always bring with me is an older copy of Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America. The cover is taped, and the side sports a rather gross stain from decades of thumbing through the book. Apparently my digits are oily. I swear I wash them regularly, Mom! Those oils must magically attract the dirt later. Honest.
I modified this book by marking the fore edge of the book with permanent markers for faster access, grouping gulls, raptors, sparrows and so on by color. Peterson’s guide isn’t perfect, but it is well laid out, and I can find things faster with it than with any other book. Peterson spent a lot of time thinking about how to group things and how to quickly compare and ID birds.
Sibley’s guide is fine and usually gets tossed into the car for birding trips, though I think the original one is ridiculously large for the field. By the time I have binocs, camera gear and a tripod, hauling along a big, fat Sibley guide is out of the question. It wouldn’t fit in any remotely normal-sized pocket. It’s as if it were designed by André the Giant. My daughter carries one of his smaller guides, and my son usually has yet another option so we can compare books if we get stuck. My wife used to bring an Audubon guide with photos, but with three field guides on hand now that the kids bring theirs as well, she has replaced hers with a notebook and keeps our daily list.
Winter Willet Pencil Sketch p83
I saw my first Willet thanks to my friend Don Brown. While living in New Jersey years ago, I drove out to Jones Beach, Long Island, to go birding with him. Jones Beach is known for great winter birds, and it didn’t disappoint.
Birding with Don on that cold winter day was not only fun, but also different from outings with typical birders. His descriptions were pretty funny. Don instructed me, “Scan the dunes for plastic grocery bags. Those often turn out to be Snowy Owls.” Sure enough, we got a few snowy owls that way, and they were the same size and color as the grocery bags. Later he told me, “Watch the outlets of the little streams going into the ocean. Those are good places for Harbor Seals. If you stare out there, eventually you’ll see what looks like a Labrador retriever pop its head up briefly. Its nostrils will flap wide open, and then it’ll sink right back down.” Son of a gun. That’s exactly what they looked like.
Later we went back to Don’s place, where he showed me his studio and a stack of watercolors he was working on for an upcoming children’s book. His paintings always blow me away because we work in such completely different ways. I’m slow, methodical and use tons of glazing and layers, building lots of detail. Don is able to hit each page with a few key washes and ink things up to have a perfect, fresh, energetic painting. It looks like he just whips them off, but I know how much time is spent in preparation and the number of attempts it takes before things work right!
Have a peek at some of Don’s amazing work at Booksbybrown.com.