Monthly Archives: October 2023

This week we have moved back to birds that definitely spend very little time flying, the coots and moorhens. Both inhabit similar riverbank situations nesting among reeds and waterlilies, however the coot prefers more open areas of water then the moorhen. Coots are the birds with a white oval shield which extends from the pale beak to the forehead. They have large feet with pale grey lobes rather than webbed feet like ducks and geese.

Try painting this bird either relatively close up with its reflection or as part of the wider landscape. Alternatively you may like the challenge of painting a coot on its nest among a calligraphic pattern of reeds; the pale straw colour of the dead leaves used for the nest contrasting with the green of the live leaves.

The Moorhen is also black but with a red and yellow beak, white under-tail coverts and some white wing feathers; see below.

This week make a painting that is as much about the habitat of one of these birds as about the bird itself. We’ll discuss this during the session.

Your paintings;

This week we’ll be looking at gulls, on the coast and further inland. Gulls spend a lot of time in the air and during the session we’ll be sketching birds in flight, on the water, and standing, before planning a painting. The herring gull above is probably one of the most familiar. It’s neck is quite stocky, head and front are pale/white, wings a slate grey with black and white wing tips and its legs are pink.

You may like to start drawing with the head, but another way is to look at the body shape as it appears from the angle the bird is being viewed. From the side the body and wings when folded form an almond shape, flatter along its back and with an added point for the wing tips. The thick neck and head shape scan then be worked on, the beak added and then the legs positioned. To ensure the bird is well positioned with relation to what it is standing on, it’s a good idea to draw this in early on and then draft the main shapes tentatively at first so that adjustments can be easily made before adding more definite marks. As you become more accustomed to the shapes, accurate observation will allow more confident and accurate lines to be made earlier on in the work.

Remember to look at the overall length and breadth of the bird and where it is to be placed on the page. If much of the landscape is included think about the scale of the bird in relation to its surroundings.

You may like to consider a painting with more than one bird and/or different kinds of bird.

The photos below were taken in Kensington Gardens where there were herring gulls, great black backed gulls and black-headed gulls; some of which looked distinctly brown headed!

As in previous weeks think about the composition of your painting.

The image above gives a good clue to next week’s session when we’ll be looking at Coots and Moorhens.

Your Drawings and Paintings: