The first Swallow

I saw the first swallows arriving in Somerset last week while out walking Tilly in the fields. It was a fine afternoon, briefly between showers. A small group of  4 or 5 were skimming across the fields taking advantage of the sunshine and picking up the odd insect to get their strength up for bringing a new brood into the world. It is difficult to believe that they had just completed a huge marathon all the way from South Africa.

A Few More Birds

Thought I would post up a few more of the birds I am currently working on, I have completed around 25, but wont post them all, they may get a little too much. There are 44 in all.

They are all watercolours and are done on an A5 piece of paper so not too large, but big enough to get the detail needed to recognise the bird, without going over the top.

 Whitethroat

 Little Greebe

 Lapwing

 Widgeon

Teal

Love This

I could not resist posting a link to this vibrant, colourful painting. The choice of colours is amazing and the execution is without fault in what I consider one of the most difficult of mediums to master, but Amanda Spencer has definitely mastered it!

 'Summer' by Amanda Spencer
  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxStxkdIiQqplXuvyhTHxIZl9cOHYxkfM0xI8tNSK37LphVHuHNh74PKHsqoxilwquZy3mF7gKr43I1iXBz0_Z8OCRyc6lopd3dUa6qyK0TrBPktogAhGmLSYoXRGQwfWX1mm26RWgnYq/s1600/Summer1600.jpg

Time Out

A quick one, for me. It took me about 5 hours and was a new experience, I was trying to work in a looser style and started out with an abstract in mind, but as usual my love of realism got in the way. But I am happy with how it has turned out.

Size: 18" x 6"

Support: Fabrianno Clasico HP

Medium: Watercolour paint, Faber Castel Polychromos coloured pencils and Derwent water soluble cp.

Interpretive boards

Wow, where did the time go! I did mean to update my blog once every couple of weeks at least, didn't seem to be able to get to it recently. I have been busy illustrating and designing some interpretive boards for the Environment Agency and thought I would post two of them here so you can see what I do when wearing my other hat, so to speak. These boards are A1 in size so quite large. I have used mainly watercolours for the illustrations with a little coloured pencil just to crisp up the details, especially for the creatures. I use a much looser style for these boards as I cant go taking months just to get one illustration done. 

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

 

This is the completed panel showing the location and some of the wildlife that can be seen in the area.

Below is a close up of the background illustration.

  

This is a board done for the Curry Moor pumping Station with a little of its history and some of the wildlife found in the rhynes (pronounced reens) or ditches. Below is a close up of the river bank showing above and below the waterline.