Sketching Cuckoos, Vireos, Flycatchers

It's a bit difficult to explain the appeal of field sketching to someone who either doesn't sketch from life, doesn't know birds, or both. When I started seriously with field sketching birds about three years ago it was incredibly frustrating. Not only do most of them not sit still but often they're obscured by leaves, branches, etc. It's often easy to ID a bird with partial visual information. But it's much harder when you actually want to sketch it accurately.
I've gone over this theme before so I won't pursue it more here. Suffice it to say that even with the mistakes you see here it's now gotten to the point where it is thrilling to be able fo sketch bird lives.
The bird at bottom left of two pages of field sketches above is supposed to be a Red-eyed Vireo. In the top drawing I was disappointed as I almost always am with my Red-eyed Vireo sketches. I look at them as long as they're visible, try to remember everything I've seen and then put it down on paper. Splat! Another failure. Often I'll check guidebooks afterwards to see what I've gotten wrong. In this case I got a great but brief look at another Red-eyed a day or two later. One thing I noticed, particularly when seen from below, was how short the tail is. That is added information that is added to the second drawing. And I think it makes it seem a little more believable.
I've been lucky enough to see Black-billed Cuckoos each of the last two springs in Philadelphia. But this years, which is shown at the top right of the top drawing is much more successful. After my disappointment with last year's sketch I paid more attention this time. The sketch above it by the way is a cuckoo in flight. I saw this before I actually saw the Black-billed Cuckoo. I had no idea what it was but couldn't ignore the extremely long pointed tail. When I actually found the cuckoo, perched horizontally on a branch as they often are, I knew what the long-tailed bird had been.
All of these sketches are based on my visual memory a few seconds after staring at the bird. The one exception is the Yellow-throated Vireo at the bottom right of the bottom drawing. We saw him as we got into our car after birding at the Wissahickon this morning. In fact I'd already put away my binoculars and had to get them back out. Often these birds seem hidden high in the leaves, singing vigorously but completely invisible. But this one was at eye-level at one point. My sketchbook was also now in the back of the car. But about a half an hour when I got home I did the sketch, based on what I remembered.
Other birds portrayed include numerous Acadian Flycatchers, and Eastern Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat and singing Veery all seen at the Wissahickon over the last two days. The top drawing includes a Black-throated Blue Warbler, Solitary Sandpiper, with badly drawn legs, and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow most seen last weekend as part of the Pennsylvania Migration Count.
Though there can be a certain evocation of the actual even when looking at photos taken of birds seen I always find it very thin. I end up responding to the photo not to my memory of the experience. For evoking the experience itself there's nothing better than a field sketch. I think many artists who draw from life, regardless of subject, will understand this.
As a long time abstract artist I always realized what I was missing by no longer working from life. I gained other things that made up for it, especially an almost total formal freedom. But I'm quite happy to be back drawing from life. There is still plenty of room for abstract freedom.

Feathered Refrigerator Mouse

After a few hour out birding and sketching on a winter day it's always nice to come home and settle down with a book about the birds seen. Because it's not a picture book I often forget about Pete Dunne's 'Essential Field Guide Companion.' But when I remember to pull it out it's always a pleasure to read.

Birds I wanted to look up that we'd seen today were Belted Kingfisher and Red-headed Woodpecker. But we'd also headed out to the Wissahickon today specifically hoping to see a Winter Wren. We found one a few weeks ago quite close to the tree where the Red-headed Woodpecker has been hanging out for months. But no luck today. Jerene caught a glimpse of a small wren but we never saw it again. Most likely it was a Winter Wren. But I really wanted to sketch it and a brief glimpse by someone else just wasn't enough material to work with. In any case I also read the entry on Winter Wrens.

If you've ever read this book you know that you always need to pay attention. If you don't some clever thing is going to slip right by you. Today I was reading about a 'feathered mouse', which seemed factually accurate, which hops from "brush pile to uprooted tree stump to discarded refrigerator..." You can guess the part that's easy to miss. And yet it strikes you as true. It's not unreasonable to expect a discarded refrigerator along a stream where a Winter Wren might hop along like a mouse.

I'm not an artist who can work well from imagination. My wife, who claims NOT to be an artist, can draw a bird from her imagination better than I can. But all my field sketching is making me a bit better. I've got a much better mental image of birds than I did five or six years ago. In my field sketches I often now spend most of my time looking at birds then try to draw them from a briefly held mental image. I'm getting better at mental images of birds. Not that I don't still come up with some whopping mistakes.

In any case as I sat enjoying my coffee and reading about the Winter Wren hopping to the discarded refrigerator I couldn't resist trying an illustration of such from my imagination. It's at top.

I sometimes think that the best way to do field sketches of fast-moving birds is to have a mental image at the ready, get that down on paper quickly and then spend the real work trying to delineate the specifics of the bird just seen. So even though we didn't see a Winter Wren today I had some semblance of a mental image. So that's how this came about. It's partly for fun but I imagine will also help me to do a better field sketch the next time I actually see a Winter Wren.

Above it on the same page are two sketches of Chipping Sparrows. The one on the left is one that we saw at Houston Meadows in Philadelphia on Sunday. As with so many of my passerine field sketches I've elongated the torso. So the sketch at right is a mental image sketch based partially on the sketch at left but also on what I recall that I saw in my field guides and in actuality on Sunday. It seems like another worthwhile type of exercise.

Above a small field sketch of a male Hooded Merganser seen very briefly at Morris Arboretum about a week ago. Everything I've read says that you should only put down on paper what you actually recall seeing when you do a field sketch. Often that looks incomplete so there's a real temptation to embellish. I did that here and really shouldn't have. I remembered black markings on the breast but not exactly where they were. My guesses were a bit off.

Below him is a male Belted Kingfisher from today. There is a small bit of embellishment here but most of the sketch is from life. The odd thing is that the bill, seen at quite a distance through binoculars, really did look that thin. I have other field sketches where it looks more like the blunt shape it really is. Still I stayed true to what I saw.

Finally a Great Blue Heron seen along the Manayunk Canal almost a month ago. I've also made his bill a bit too thin and long. Perhaps I'm just out of practice with bills. There's only one answer: more practice!

This has been a bit of a ramble. But I did want to write some of my thoughts about field sketching. It's very difficult. And yet incredibly enjoyable. And it's these sketches from life that often lead to the best more finished art.

No End of Field Sketches

I'm very happy with the two watercolors I showed in the last post as well as two others done at the same time but not yet posted. They're indicative of what I'd like to accomplish in my bird paintings.

So why they keep showing these field sketches? I think it's obvious from them that I'm someone who probably has more of a background as an artist than as someone who has drawn many birds from life. This is largely true. But as I've said many times I both believe in the importance of field sketching and enjoy it, even though I may whine from time to time.

So I keep at it. There are people, many of whom can be found at links at right, who are thoroughly adept at field sketching. I'm not but I keep at it. So I show these both to show my improvement (I hope) and to serve as an example for others. I don't think field sketching is much appreciated in America, at least nowhere near as much as in Britain and I suspect much of Europe. How often have you seen people sketching when you've seen a large number of birders congregated? Very few if any I'd bet.

So that's the excuse for these. The sketches above are from my backyard: Carolina Chickadees, Northern Cardinals and House Finches predominate.


The page above portrays more yard bids on the left: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Carolina Chickadee, Mourning Dove and House Finch. On the right are sketches from Morris Arboretum wetlands. At top is just a hint of a very active Great Crested Flycatcher, gobbling down Cicadas I think. Also a Cedar Waxwing, young Wood Duck and young Tree Swallow.




Above on the top portion, turned sideways, is a Northern Mockingbird. On the bottom a young Wood Duck. I'm not happy with the Wood Duck. About the only thing right about it is the inflated chest. But I show it as an example of how a field sketch, perhaps coupled with photos taken at the same time can lead to a painting. That's what you see below. I'm not happy with it either. But the scene struck me: the lone Wood Duck with chest thoroughly puffed out, dominating the small log in the water. By making the field sketch I helped to burn the experience in my memory. I suspect another painting is on the way.

Sketching the Natural Wealth of Cape May - Part Two and a Half

I never finished putting up the fieldsketches from our recent trip to Cape May. After the first batch I got distracted with new works and new birds seen in Philadelphia. So here's the remaining group. The sketch above is of a group of Short-billed dowitchers trying to find places to perch on a small fallen tree at Heislerville WMA near Cape May, NJ. I think part of the fun of fieldsketching is capturing real life moments like these.





Following up on the shorebird theme the two drawings above include another Oystercatcher as well as a Green Heron, and a page of Black-bellied Plovers along with a Semi-palmated Sandpiper, and a Laughing Gull. We did go to Reed's Beach by the way to see if any Red Knots had arrived yet. Nope, just hundreds of these raucous Laughing Gulls. Our single Red Knot was seen at Heislerville.







Next we have Glossy Ibises. They were everywhere. In the sky they just look like dark birds. Up close as many of these were they are wonders of iridescent colors, somewhat like the green and maroon of Green Herons, but toned down about 6 notches, to where they are very dark.

The top drawing shows a Glossy Ibis in an awkward but striking pose preening itself. Above it is an Eastern Willet. The middle drawing includes another ibis as well as many Purple Martins at the house at Cape May Point State Park and a Piping Plover on nest. The bottom drawing includes one more ibis as well as another Laughing Gull, rabbit and Osprey.



Finally two drawings of an immature Bald Eagle seen at Heislerville and one almost indecipherable Osprey, most likely also seen there.

Finally I should say that these are all done with a Faber-Castel 'Pitt Artist Pen.' I've had these pens for a long time but only recently started using them for fieldsketches. I think the fact that you have to live with what you put down and not worry about erasing makes for both more sketches and more spontaneous sketches.

Watching Warblers

I think it was probably about 15 years ago at a 'Warbler Weekend' at
Pocono Environmental Education Center that we first saw the video 'Watching Warblers' by Michael Male and Judy Fieth. At that time PEEC's workshops started on Friday night and ended on Sunday afternoon. It was always thrilling to watch the main Friday night presentation, a teaser for what was ahead. These presentations were almost always successful and made you eager to get out early the next morning and see the birds. But one time this video was also played. That was enough to nearly give you a heart attack - just too much excitement! All of the colorful eastern wood warblers on one video, mainly in breeding habitat, and often singing their songs. What more could you ask for? Well outside of seeing the birds themselves I mean.

May is the month of warbler migration in Philadelphia. A few have arrived but nowhere near as many as you'd expect by now. But barring some sort of horrific fallout from the Gulf oil spill, which is always possible, they should be here soon in greater numbers. Just today I saw a couple of Canada, Black and White and Common Yellowthroat warblers. And Ovenbirds were singing away though I didn't see them.

It's generally difficult to even see warblers let alone draw them. This year will be worse than usual because the trees are already fully leafed out. We may easily hear warblers but seeing them will be hard. And yet this is the only chance I'll have to draw them in their breeding plumage. If you can barely see them how in the world can you draw them?

Another birder asked me this very question last week in Cape May as we searched Higbee Beach for warblers. Well I've never been successful at it. But I hope to change that this year. I did at least get the head of a Prairie Warbler last week at Cape May. One problem, outside of being distracted by their beautiful colors and patterns, is that I just don't really grasp their basic shape. I can never figure out how the head fits with the torso, and where the wings fit on the torso.

So this afternoon I played 'Watching Warblers' and sketched as it played. Though I could have stopped the DVD and had an easier time drawing I didn't do so. When I'm out in the field the birds aren't going to stop and pose for me. They're busy hunting for food. So the best way to get ready for drawing them was to just draw as the tape played. You see the results.

I like them, even though they're meant to be an exercise, not finished drawings. I think that they've accomplished that somewhat. We'll see what happens now when the warblers finally arrive.

Even if you have no interest in drawing birds I'd really recommend this DVD. If you have any interest in wood warblers I think you'll enjoy it. And if you have no interest in wood warblers, well you are missing one of the wonders of the natural world. Enjoy them while you can.