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George – Great Grey
My latest commission now on its way to his owner – this is George and he is a Great Grey Owl. Although it’s one of the largest species of owl by length, much of its size is deceptive, as a dense layer of fluffy feathers keeps them warm in the cold northern climate where they live.
Although the colours were relatively straightforward, the patterns were incredibly complicated and almost drove me mad!! I chose drafting film for this one to enable me to get the effect that I wanted, but it was still the hardest owl I’ve completed to date!
16 x 12
Coloured Pencil on Drafting film
Kestrel
I recently had some painful issues with my neck vertebrae, resulting in nerve problems down my arms & hands. Frustratingly it meant that I wasn’t able to draw for some time. After some recuperation and treatment, I am now spending a few short hours getting back into drawing. It’s a slow process, and more treatment may be needed going forward, but for now at least I can be happy in the knowledge that I haven’t completely forgotten how to do this!
Original & prints available
9×12 Graphite on HP Paper
Jon Pauling
Blue Tit
To say this was a little bit out of my comfort zone is an understatement! Although it does feature a bird, I rarely draw flowers so this was quite a challenge for me. And those who know me well know that I also absolutely hate pink! I had to go and buy a load of pink pencils because I only had a couple-it was torture to pick them!!
I also used multiple references to create this piece as I didn’t want to copy a photograph directly but make something different. It’s why I try to use my own reference photos when I can so they are a bit more unique, but in this instance, I didn’t have a blue tit photo of my own.
9 x 12 Coloured pencil on HP paper
Great Horned Owl
I first started this drawing a year ago! I put it away several times as I had other projects & commissions to complete, then forgot about it for a while until now. For the owl fans, hope you like it (he needs a name).
Original for sale. Prints available shortly.
Great Horned Owl
16 x 12 Coloured pencil on drafting film
Caroline Ebinger
Harlan
I wanted to add a couple of falconry/working dogs to my print store to compliment the birds. I was really taken with this lovely pose, and although there wasn’t a lot of detail in the reference I concentrated on tone and used the grain of the paper to compliment the fur.
Harlan
9 x 12 Graphite
Naomi Hayne
Grouse
Back onto my favourite subject-falcons!
One of my preferred methods of working is to roughly block out all the elements first before gradually working the tones over the whole piece. It’s a common method used for painting which is something I used to do. But with pencil or graphite this can be problematic, as your hand rests on the drawing and can cause some rub off, even when using glassine to protect it. This piece, however, is small enough to avoid smudging and the coloured pencils are quite robust so I was able to build up the tones.
“Grouse”
9×12 Strathmore toned grey
Mulberry
Another piece completed before Xmas – this commission was actually a leaving gift for a member of bird staff at Muncaster Castle and depicts their barn owl Mulberry.
I am quite fond of barn owls, but drawing their complicated plumage usually results in a sore wrist and lots of swearing!
12 x 16 coloured pencil on Clairefontaine PaintOn gris (grey)
Miley
This is Miley the frenchie who was quite interesting to draw. Although you may think that single-tone coats are straightforward, they are anything but! There are so many colours you wouldn’t initially expect, such as pinky-purples, orange, blues, and silvery hues that your eyes don’t really see at first glance, but they give a drawing more realism.
9 x 12 Clairefontaine PaintOn
Bonnie
A commission recently gifted – this is the lovely Bonnie who has sadly passed over the rainbow bridge but was very special to their owner.
A first time using the new Clarefontaine PaintOn range of coloured papers, this one is the grey, similar to the Strathmore I’ve been using, but handles much better and was very enjoyable to draw on.
George – Harris Hawk
My latest commission now safely delivered – this is another “George” the harris hawk in his juvenile plumage. Many birds of prey will have different plumage in their first years, and they also have slightly longer flight feathers to help them when learning to fly.
This one was done on a slightly off-white/creamy paper to compliment the tones in the feathers.
George
12 x 16 coloured pencil on Derwent Lightfast HP.