I’m having one of those moments where it’s simply too difficult to do anything but enjoy the moment. Mother Nature is playing a nasty trick on us – making us think spring is here already. It’s a bright, warm day out… ohhhh… we are going to pay! I just know in my little heart that winter will have at least one last gasp left in it. When it hits, it will feel worst because of the lovely weather we’ve had the past few days. I found myself sitting on a bench sunning my face, not thinking about anything except how lovely it felt.
I was positively giddy with excitement when I heard all the birds singing their feathery hearts out earlier today. Speaking of birds:
I looked and didn’t see this little fellow posted, if he has been, well.. think of it as a spring repeat. I was testing out different types of pencils with him. Parts worked very well, other parts were a bit heavy handed. Initially I didn’t like him, but looking at him again, I rather like him. The head shape is just about correct.
I haven’t drawn much since I started feeling kind of ill. I’ll try again this week… I’m getting that itchy feeling when I get around pencils and paper. I’m going to take another stab at drawing cats again. Well… still a bit of daylight left to the day. I’m heading back out to enjoy it.
Oh baby it’s cold outside. Way too cold. I think when I went out earlier the weatherman said it was about -25c. Gawd I hate the winter. I know, I know… I’m Canadian and by default I’m supposed to love playing in the snow, skiing, hockey skating… everything snow and ice related. Somewhere in my genetic makeup those specific DNA markers went rogue and never took over. I loathe the snow. Sorry, I realise that is terribly disloyal, but I can’t even get excited about the Winter Olympics. Sigh… I want to go sit at an outside cafe sipping lattes and drawing little birds. I want to go out and not have to dress up like Nanook of the North. Know how to tell how old a Canadian is? Count the salt rings on their pants. Oh god now I’m whining and it’s only January!
To make up for my whining here’s one of my latest little birds for you. I did this Tufted Titmouse during the holidays. I’m using both the classic Staedtler Mars Lumograph B 2B and 6B for the darkest parts of the birds. For the lighter softer downy feathers I’m using Cretacolor Fine Art Graphite pencils 2H HB Fine. The Cretacolor leads are terrific for creating a soft fluffy look and the leads are very durable. I tried some other brands but found the lead tips kept snapping off. Staedtler and the Cretacolor hold a sharp point beautifully. I haven’t settled on either brand yet, but I’m enjoying a great deal of success in using them. The mechanical pencils were great but using a variety of pencils allows for more detailed and softer sketches. Well enjoy the bird, I’m off to the cafe for a latte and to draw a bit and dream of spring. Oh… spring… outdoor cafes, sunshine and warmth … sigh….
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It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s .. no .. no I’m pretty sure it’s a bird.
Well… yes I am. I hate the cold. I’m consoling myself with the knowledge that we really aren’t cold – at least not compared to the -50 degree weather Alberta stumbled through last week. One place in Alberta was even colder than Siberia – that’s how cold it was out there. Edmonton has now risen to a relatively balmy -17 today! So… I am just muttering a bit about how I hate winter.
To make amends for the endless snivelling about snow, cold and wind you are about to endure this winter, I present you with …. a bird:
A Scrub Jay I drew back in the fall. I’ve been drawing a bit here and there this past month, but have been so busy with my new computer I’ve not spent a lot of time drawing. Well except for the unfortunate looking sparrows … but we won’t go any further with that short lived experiment. They are best left unseen. Let’s just say Frankenstein’s monster meets the Birdman comes to mind. See, I’m still struggling with new pencils and techniques so some of my pictures are a wee bit embarassing. Although the other day I did manage a passable attempt at a song bird. I haven’t hooked my scanner up yet, so I can’t load up anything new. I’ll stop being lazy today and hook it up so I can show you some of my newer birds.. or maybe tomorrow…is it spring yet?
I don’t have a lot of time today so this will be a fast post. Part of my rush is my itouch seems to be channelling dead people. I was a bit startled yesterday when I was getting into an elevator to see a customer and, when I checked their suite number, up popped an address from 6 years ago. 6 years and 2 addresses ago. I scrolled through the address book and found 3 people I had removed because, well, they died. Couldn’t find some of my newer customers either. Now I have no idea where this address book from the nether world popped up from but it’s going to take a bit of time to fix it. The truly odd thing is the address book that has replaced my current one was 2 whole computers ago. Somehow I managed to move a copy over to my new computer without knowing it.
Hmmm… who knew Itouch had an App for contacting the dead.
And now the tweet:
From Catpaw’s Art work – birds
Rather striking little Flycatcher, isn’t he. I’ve been working on sketching leaves this week. On Sunday I went out and collected a load of them and then ironed them in wax-paper. I felt like I was 6 years old again! Cheap ass wax-paper company sure skimped on the wax though. Most of the leaves are extremely dry already because there was so little wax on the paper. So I’ve thrown some of the best leaves into a book to keep them.
Leaves are a lot harder to draw than you would think. You just know you are likely going to see a lot of leaves in the next few weeks as I practice getting them right.
Been working on lots of bird bits again. Here is a little something I worked on earlier in the year:
I find that if I can get the eye correct, the rest of the bird comes along fine. If I screw up the eye, then the bird ends up looking like a Disneyesque parody of a bird. It’s like the eyes speak to me. I loose track of time when I start filling in around the eye and watch the feathers appear.
I’ve been wondering why, for years I felt unable to draw. Then this year, I picked up pencil and paper and, well, just started to draw. My first attempts were comical. My drawings were adrift until I decided to try and draw a feather. From the feather grew eyes and then the birds just came. When I was younger, I really wanted to draw animals and birds but could never figure out how. I keep pondering why I suddenly was able to produce realistic birds. Maybe it’s best not to think about it and simply enjoy the ability.
Next on the artistic board? I’m going to try leaves and berries. Leaves are harder than they look… wish me luck.
